Questions about Personal Statement

[Goku560]

Hi all I am applying to Law School this fall. I have some questions about OLSAS and would like some answers to them

 

Questions are listed below:

 

1. Can my verifier be my reference or referee as well?

2. How many references do I need to have?

3. I am seeing I need to write a lot of stuff. For every university Personal statement will be different. This is my first time writing one is there any examples I can look at to get an idea on how to write one?

 

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

 

[luckycharm]

https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=How+to+write+a+Personal+Statement+for+Canadian+Law+School&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[Renerik]

I'd like to think that self-sufficiency is an important quality for law school applicants. I have no intention of applying to Ontario schools but was able to find this information within 5 minutes through Google...

1: So long as they meet both the requirements set for verifiers and referees, yes.
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-referees/
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-sketch/

2: 0-3, depends on the school. The following link lays out all the number requirements.
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-program-requirements/

3: @luckycharm's comment is apt. Just google personal statement examples, you'll find many. If you want specific advice for certain schools, most offer some directed guidance on their website.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Renerik

[Goku560]

I did do the google search and there are no useful examples that show me how it looks like.

22 hours ago, Renerik said:

I'd like to think that self-sufficiency is an important quality for law school applicants. I have no intention of applying to Ontario schools but was able to find this information within 5 minutes through Google...

1: So long as they meet both the requirements set for verifiers and referees, yes.
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-referees/
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-sketch/

2: 0-3, depends on the school. The following link lays out all the number requirements.
https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/olsas-program-requirements/

3: @luckycharm's comment is apt. Just google personal statement examples, you'll find many. If you want specific advice for certain schools, most offer some directed guidance on their website.

 

[jimmyjimjim]

Hi. I don't think there's a specific format that you need to follow. For Ontario law schools, you'll type (or copy and paste - recommended) your responses straight into OLSAS. I couldn't find any information regarding the font or size, so I'm going to assume it's standard academic writing, i.e. 11 or 12 pt, Times New Roman, Calibri, or Helvetica with 1" margins all around. Please double check with the program for the minimum/maximum word/character/page count.

Here are some of my suggestions:

• Have a strong and well-written opening/introduction.
• Due to the limited character/word count, I chose my top 2-3 ECs and 1 work experience with specific examples that I can reflect upon to demonstrate:
  • How I'll be a good law student (read law student  not  lawyer).
  • How I approached challenging situations to show my problem-solving, critical thinking, and other skills.
• I also discussed in great detail the challenges of being a visible minority, gay, and living in a low-income household. What I learned and how these hurdles shaped the person I am today. I also briefly explained how these experiences will help me contribute meaningfully to the law school community.
• Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I have friends who majored in English and offered to pay them to proof read. I also asked my professors if they can look over my statement and provide feedback. All my professors were happy to do so, but make sure you ask them two months before you submit your apps to give them time to look over, write some comments, and also think about if they're teaching courses right now, too.
• I spent about a year and a half on my personal statement, which may have been excessive. I will note that I wrote a different personal statement for the programs I'm applying to. Also, I think revising my statement over a year and a half paid off as I am (or was) ready to apply when law apps opened on August 19. However, due to financial reasons and conflicting courses, I will be taking a fifth year.

One final note, I strongly don't recommend reading someone else's statement. What worked for them might not work for you. To offer some guidance, here is what I did step-by-step:

1. Gather info from law schools (application deadline, word/character/page count, number of references, and other admin info).
2. I wrote down the general framework for personal statements and researched the do's and don'ts.
3. I made an excel sheet with four columns and brainstormed some ideas using bullet points. From there, I looked at all of my involvements both on- and off-campus and chose the top two or three strong examples. Depending on the law school, I might use the same ones or different ones, whichever I thought would fit well in the context and the program's objective. For example, I didn't include research experience for UWindsor as I focused on environment, work with NGO, and student council positions. For Osgoode, I briefly mentioned research with the NGO and through my undergrad and I also discussed student council positions.
4. I wrote a really long, like, very long draft. My first draft was 20 pages of continuous writing and whatever came to mind. To my knowledge, I think I spent about a month writing the first draft. The next couple of weeks, I focused on revising, removing, and editing the language, tone, etc. I took my laptop with me everywhere as I often overheard conversations, whether on the radio, a story a friend shared, or whatever, that sparked an idea and I wrote it down.
5. After condensing the information, I created a separate document where it would be the final version. I used various paragraphs that I liked in the first draft and worked with it in the final draft. I spent the next couple of weeks reading my statement and continued to revise, revise, and revise. Then, I didn't like it and wrote a different statement from a different tone.   In total, I have 11 different versions that I like and I now have the option to choose the top five as I am only applying to five programs. Like I said, this was very excessive but I had nothing else to do. 
6. In April, I reached out to different professors and asked if they can look over my P.S. I sent three professors two different versions that I wanted them to look over but made it clear that they can choose only one if they want. I would then revise and incorporate some of their comments to different versions. My professors commented on the tone, language, and general structure. For example, they said "I think you should put this paragraph here and this here, put this powerful sentence in the intro, I don't think this is relevant or elaborate on this, etc." 
7. I sent my professors the final version in late July when I asked if they can write me a strong letter of recommendation. I gave them an outline of the dates, a copy of my transcripts, and I scheduled a brief 15 min Zoom meeting to chat about my interest, why I wanted to go to X law school, etc. I also sent them a copy of my CV. However, as mentioned, due to the fact that I need two more courses that I can't fit into my schedule and financial reasons, I sent them a quick email and gave them an update. 

EXCEL SHEET COLUMN TEMPLATE

« EC or Employment Experiences » / « Specific Examples » / « What I learned, such as skills » / « How it'll benefit me as a law student »

Student Council / speaking to students and relaying their concerns to council / the importance of advocacy, community engagement, listening, problem-solving / I can join student council, advocate for the best interest of the student body, etc. The skills that I learned (problem-solving, collaboration, time management, public speaking, advocacy) will help me excel academically by XYZ.

 

Best of luck on your application! Lmk if you need anything else and I'll try to help you out.

Edited August 26, 2021 by jimmyjimjim
Grammar edits

[Rashabon]

Unless things have changed in the years since, when I applied your personal statement was input into a text box through OLSAS that stripped it of formatting. It was a character/word count that mattered, not font size or margins.

[jimmyjimjim]

2 hours ago, Rashabon said:

Unless things have changed in the years since, when I applied your personal statement was input into a text box through OLSAS that stripped it of formatting. It was a character/word count that mattered, not font size or margins.

I would like to clarify that the font size and margins applies to non-Ontario law schools. I was snooping and found that OP was interested to apply to law schools across Canada. To my knowledge, law programs outside of Ontario like UNB Law, Dalhousie, etc. ask you to (a) attach as PDF and email your letter with your application (during COVID), (b) save as a PDF and upload into the program's admissions software, or (c) mail your personal statement. 

[Goku560]

22 hours ago, jimmyjimjim said:

I would like to clarify that the font size and margins applies to non-Ontario law schools. I was snooping and found that OP was interested to apply to law schools across Canada. To my knowledge, law programs outside of Ontario like UNB Law, Dalhousie, etc. ask you to (a) attach as PDF and email your letter with your application (during COVID), (b) save as a PDF and upload into the program's admissions software, or (c) mail your personal statement. 

Hi thank you for  your detailed response. I really appreciate it. Yes you are correct I will be applying to schools across Canada