Personal Statement questions/advice

[cookies04]

Hi everyone, 

I’m beginning to write my personal statements for the upcoming cycle. When schools ask questions like “why law?” Is it appropriate to discuss personal matters that led you to wanting to become a lawyer/attend law school? 
 

I don’t want to be too personal but I have a couple experiences within my family that have influenced which type of law I want to pursue and why I want to become a lawyer in general. I just want to be cautious about details - how much is too much? 
 

and if the PS prompt isn’t “why law?” but rather something more broad, is it appropriate to still include personal experiences that led me to pursue law school? 
 

Any guidance or advice is much appreciated, thank you!! 

[Ice]

15 minutes ago, cookies04 said:

Hi everyone, 

I’m beginning to write my personal statements for the upcoming cycle. When schools ask questions like “why law?” Is it appropriate to discuss personal matters that led you to wanting to become a lawyer/attend law school? Yes
 

I don’t want to be too personal but I have a couple experiences within my family that have influenced which type of law I want to pursue and why I want to become a lawyer in general. I just want to be cautious about details - how much is too much? As long as it's relevant and ties into your story just write whatever you feel needs to be said. 
 

and if the PS prompt isn’t “why law?” but rather something more broad, is it appropriate to still include personal experiences that led me to pursue law school? Yes

Any guidance or advice is much appreciated, thank you!! 

 

[Whist]

It's totally fine to write about personal experiences that led you to law school/wanting to be a certain kind of lawyer. If, as a random example, someone was a domestic violence survivor and they were driven to law to advocate for other survivors in court, and thus wanted to include that in their personal statement, that's fine. Writing graphic descriptions of the violence itself would obviously be too much. Just use your good judgement. It's also fine if you decide not to wind up pursuing the kind of law you talked about in your personal statement (what I originally wrote in my statement is definitely not the kind of law I want to pursue now and isn't what my summer position is in).

[cookies04]

Thank you!! 
 
The experiences I would be referring to didn’t happen to me directly but to my mother - obviously still having a direct impact on me though. I wouldn’t include anything too specific or graphic but I just wanted to talk about the story and how it affected me as a person and made me into who I am today. It also had an impact on my grades in first and second year undergrad (for good reason) so I feel as though it’s necessary to explain. 

Would this be an appropriate approach/idea then for the PS? 

 

10 hours ago, Whist said:

It's totally fine to write about personal experiences that led you to law school/wanting to be a certain kind of lawyer. If, as a random example, someone was a domestic violence survivor and they were driven to law to advocate for other survivors in court, and thus wanted to include that in their personal statement, that's fine. Writing graphic descriptions of the violence itself would obviously be too much. Just use your good judgement. It's also fine if you decide not to wind up pursuing the kind of law you talked about in your personal statement (what I originally wrote in my statement is definitely not the kind of law I want to pursue now and isn't what my summer position is in).

Thank you!! 
 
The experiences I would be referring to didn’t happen to me directly but to my mother - obviously still having a direct impact on me though. I wouldn’t include anything too specific or graphic but I just wanted to talk about the story and how it affected me as a person and made me into who I am today. It also had an impact on my grades in first and second year undergrad (for good reason) so I feel as though it’s necessary to explain. 

Would this be an appropriate approach/idea then for the PS? 

Edited July 16, 2022 by cookies04