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Hey, I'm reapplying this cycle and I'm trying to figure out what to do about my PS. I don't have a particularly interesting life, but my first one was well-written and edited by a couple professors. I got into a school where both my gpa and LSAT score were below median, so I doubt that my PS was an issue. Is there a level to which a PS needs to be different when sending it to a school for the second time? I'll be reapplying to 3-4 schools, including one that I was admitted to, as well as 3-6 new schools. I am almost definitely using the same or a similar PS for the new schools, but what do I need to do to the old one to make it acceptable for reapplication? Can I get away with minor tweaks, or does the whole thing need to be new?

I have the same question, how do you update them on what you've been doing for a year outside of a resume? At the same time the PS (at least mine) is about something that happened 2-3 years ago and is still relevant. Writing a new one would be a massive pain and adding in a paragraph to your PS on what you've been doing seems irrelevant.

Moomoo2u wrote:I have the same question, how do you update them on what you've been doing for a year outside of a resume? At the same time the PS (at least mine) is about something that happened 2-3 years ago and is still relevant. Writing a new one would be a massive pain and adding in a paragraph to your PS on what you've been doing seems irrelevant.

Yeah, the way that mine is formatted, it wouldn't make sense to add new information. Besides, PS's that read like a resume are generally frowned upon in admissions.

I reapplied to schools that rejected me so I flat out rewrote my PS (though I was rejected because my numbers sucked, not because of anything else).

I think the danger of using the same PS is that you come off as lazy, but since I'm not an adcomm I don't know how relevant this is. I think if the PS is spectacular that they wouldn't mind seeing it again, but that's just speculation. I would suggest that you sincerely try and write a new one (even if you use the same subject as the old one). If for whatever reason your new one just isn't in the same league as the old one then go with the old one, but you should at least see if you can come up with something of similar quality and try to avoid seeming lazy.

bk187 wrote:I reapplied to schools that rejected me so I flat out rewrote my PS (though I was rejected because my numbers sucked, not because of anything else).

I think the danger of using the same PS is that you come off as lazy, but since I'm not an adcomm I don't know how relevant this is. I think if the PS is spectacular that they wouldn't mind seeing it again, but that's just speculation. I would suggest that you sincerely try and write a new one (even if you use the same subject as the old one). If for whatever reason your new one just isn't in the same league as the old one then go with the old one, but you should at least see if you can come up with something of similar quality and try to avoid seeming lazy.

That's what I figured. I'm probably going to reuse it for the new schools, but I see your point about it seeming lazy regardless of quality. I just don't feel like I have a lot of "life" topics that lend themselves to an interesting statement and I used the most important one the first time around. I wrote about two situations in the first one, so I may just focus on the more interesting/impactful one the second time.

What if you retouch it and still speak about the same experience? I know that my PS & DS weren't spectacular but I spent the whole summer studying for the LSAT so it was sort of an after-thought for me.

Have your numbers changed ?

CanadianWolf wrote:Have your numbers changed ?

GPA went up from high 3.4 to low 3.5. Hopefully, LSAT will jump substantially.

If your numbers are higher, then minor updates are all that is needed. Numbers can be 90% of the decision.

If your numbers are the same?

CanadianWolf wrote:If your numbers are higher, then minor updates are all that is needed. Numbers can be 90% of the decision.

I know this. I'm mostly just concerned as to whether this is an automatic red flag.

i am too am reapplying. my PS sucked, so i'm writing a new one, but i'm going in with a substantially better LSAT score too.

are you guys keeping the same recs? i thought it might look weird that it's backdated a year, but idk if the schools care.

so what's the consensus? I think that if I make my PS/DS & addendum? the best it can be after 3-4 months of revisions then that would be ok right?

wokeemilo wrote:are you guys keeping the same recs? i thought it might look weird that it's backdated a year, but idk if the schools care.

If you're confident in your recommenders, keep them.

I'm doing the same ones, with a non-academic reference from a lawyer I work with now (can't hurt ... I hope).

I haven't been in University for 2 years so I can't really get a new letter without having it be crappy.

wokeemilo wrote:are you guys keeping the same recs? i thought it might look weird that it's backdated a year, but idk if the schools care.

They won't care. Only one of them even said something when I reapplied (Penn sent me an email right after I sent in my app saying "we would prefer if you sent us at least one new LOR" and I told them I didn't have one and they were fine with that). FWIW, I ended up getting waitlisted at Penn (where I was reapplying) but rejected at Va/Mich (where I was applying for the first time).

bk187 wrote:

wokeemilo wrote:are you guys keeping the same recs? i thought it might look weird that it's backdated a year, but idk if the schools care.

They won't care. Only one of them even said something when I reapplied (Penn sent me an email right after I sent in my app saying "we would prefer if you sent us at least one new LOR" and I told them I didn't have one and they were fine with that). FWIW, I ended up getting waitlisted at Penn (where I was reapplying) but rejected at Va/Mich (where I was applying for the first time).

hm, interesting...thanks for the info. did you write a reapplying addendum to the schools you'd previously applied to?

Moomoo2u wrote:so what's the consensus? I think that if I make my PS/DS & addendum? the best they can be after 3-4 months of revisions then that would be ok right?

anyone? is it really necessary to write an entirely new PS and DS?

Based on the handful of T14s whose FAQs I've browsed, only Penn makes mention of submitting a new PS when applying. I think, generally speaking, adcomms want something to be substantively different between the new app and the last, so if your numbers and softs have changed little or none, rewriting the PS is probably a good idea. If there are enough substantive differences in your app elsewhere and you feel that your PS is strong, you're probably fine to leave it alone.

Samara wrote:Based on the handful of T14s whose FAQs I've browsed, only Penn makes mention of submitting a new PS when applying. I think, generally speaking, adcomms want something to be substantively different between the new app and the last, so if your numbers and softs have changed little or none, rewriting the PS is probably a good idea. If there are enough substantive differences in your app elsewhere and you feel that your PS is strong, you're probably fine to leave it alone.

Good to know. I'll contact the two schools that i care about to find out more. I'd really like to keep my PS, or at least a similar form of the same thing, so this is welcome information.

Are any of you reapplying to schools that accepted you previously? While I'm sure we can only just speculate, any thoughts on how dramatically you'd need to change the PS in that context? (beyond minor updating)

Sorry to be a thread necromancer here but I've got some pretty good info from 3 T-14 schools which might help and seems to basically corroborate what's been said thus far.


Columbia told me "Thank you for your interest in Columbia Law School. You will need to re-submit all of your information, however your personal statement does not have to be entirely new. You may submit an edited version of your original statement. "


I called NYU and was told " the old application will not be part of the review process" which is kind of bizarre, but obviously no need to re-write there.

Cornell's website and Penn both state they need a new PS but I'm not sure how strict they are.

Moomoo2u wrote:Sorry to be a thread necromancer here but I've got some pretty good info from 3 T-14 schools which might help and seems to basically corroborate what's been said thus far.


Columbia told me "Thank you for your interest in Columbia Law School. You will need to re-submit all of your information, however your personal statement does not have to be entirely new. You may submit an edited version of your original statement. "


I called NYU and was told " the old application will not be part of the review process" which is kind of bizarre, but obviously no need to re-write there.

Cornell's website and Penn both state they need a new PS but I'm not sure how strict they are.

thanks for this. I'll check with Northwestern about it. There, Illinois and Indiana are the only reapplications so if I get the go-ahead from NU, I probably won't change the PS much.

I spoke with Dean Pless at Illinois in his new thread on here and he indicated that if I am confident in my previous PS, that it doesn't need to be changed much, if at all.