Incorporating school-specific elements into PS? Forum

[CardozoLaw09]

Hey TLS,

I apologize in advance if this topic has been touched upon recently but in regards to our personal statement(s), are we to compose several of them with each one being directed to a particular school we are applying to? Also, are we to upload multiple PS's onto LSAC's website and correspond each PS to the schools we apply to? So if I'm sending in my application for Law School A, would I find the PS that I wrote specifically for Law School A and submit that? Or do you just make one general PS that applies to all law schools? Thanks! Hopefully this isn't too confusing..

[auburnbelle89]

LSAC makes it easy to upload various PS's and plug them into different apps. Whether or not to actually write different PS's is a harder question to answer. From what I know, most people write one PS and send it to all the schools they are applying to. Exceptions typically include writing a school specific-PS for your top choice or maybe having a redacted PS for a school that requires a stricter word limit than average. Some people find it helpful to dedicate one paragraph in the PS to each school. This paragraph would be interchangeable, meaning that you could easily substitute the paragraph for why you love X for why you love Y.

Since it is truly time consuming to draft multiple PS's, I would advice against this. Starting out, many people (myself included), think writing a PS will be a relatively quick process. It isn't. Picking a topic that will make you stand out, be unique, and some genuine, is no easy task. Plan to dedicate at least a couple of months to brainstorming, writing, and editing (both self-editing and peer-editing). What I am getting at is that in the end, it is probably wiser to have one very strong PS that isn't school specific than many mediocre PS's that are school specific.

You can always write a why-X essay for the schools you feel most strongly about. Even if the school doesn't mention it, a Why-X essay is always accepted.

Hope this helps!

[CardozoLaw09]

Couldn't of asked for a better response, thanks!