OLSAS and Similar Personal Statements

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

Can we write very similar personal statements for different law schools, considering they ask the same instructions? 

[PlayALawyerOnTV]

Short answer: Yes, you can write similar personal statements for all of the law schools. 

Long answer: You should try to do a bit of tailoring of your personal statement for each school that you apply to. Tie in the experiences in your personal statement to the individual strengths and interests of the various schools. You don't have to write a completely unique PS for every school, but a little bit of tailoring will serve you well.

[StephenToast]

1 hour ago, Dee said:

Can we write very similar personal statements for different law schools, considering they ask the same instructions? 

I copied and pasted my PS with minimal alterations and faced no issues. Just don't be a dumbass like me and end you PS for UOttawa with "and that is why I would like to pursue my legal education at Osgoode." 

[TobyFlenderson]

There’s not much to add beyond what’s been said, although my recommendation is usually to write one master draft that includes everything you want to say, based on various prompts from different schools. Consider this your master copy. From there, you can cut out things that certain schools don’t want. For example, when I applied, I had a handful of experiences I wanted to talk about and how they had prepared me for law school. That was sent to every school. But some schools want to know why you want to go there specifically, and some want to know why you want to be a lawyer (or at least, they did when I applied). So I just cut that part out when it wasn’t necessary.

It is undoubtedly easier to write one master draft that largely encompasses everything, and then trim where needed, instead of making a totally unique PS for every school. I like to suggest making one large draft and trimming, rather than a base copy of just the core stuff that you then add to when a school asks why them/why X/whatever, because if you write it as a big draft and you’re meticulous, you’re more likely to put the same care into the whole thing. I know people that spent a ton of time on the core of their PS, but then half-assed the unique parts because “most of it’s done”, “I don’t know what to say”, whatever. Write it all when you’re in the headspace for “I want this to be perfect”.

[Peanut Butter]

1 hour ago, StephenToast said:

Just don't be a dumbass like me and end you PS for UOttawa with "and that is why I would like to pursue my legal education at Osgoode." 

Did you actually do this? Did UOttawa reject you for it?

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

5 hours ago, StephenToast said:

I copied and pasted my PS with minimal alterations and faced no issues. Just don't be a dumbass like me and end you PS for UOttawa with "and that is why I would like to pursue my legal education at Osgoode." 

can you imagine the admission officer's reaction 🤣

[StephenToast]

8 hours ago, GorillasAreDelicious said:

Did you actually do this? Did UOttawa reject you for it?

I got in, I don't think they noticed.

[CleanHands]

It's worth mentioning that @StephenToasthas HYS-level stats so they probably autoadmitted him without looking at his PS. The experience of mere mortals might vary.

[Piffle]

FWIW, the deans of admission at Harvard and Yale do a podcast together, and during this episode at ~24:45, they talked about writing the wrong school’s name in your PS. According to them, it’s apparently not an automatic death sentence for your application even though it reflects badly on you. (Obviously, I’m not encouraging anyone to be careless when writing. By all means give the PS the proper attention it deserves. But I suspect that their comment is indicative of typos being a lot more common on applications than we think)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2d9VMTXEUGPVynWVMIuenk

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Piffle

[Rashabon]

It happens. I typoed my firm's name in my original cover letter. I don't think they even noticed.