PS Endings Forum

[Audeamus]

I am in the final stage of editing my PS and am now wondering whether my conclusions are solid. The first few sentences of my final paragraph show why law school, in general, is the next step in my journey. The last sentence or two are tailored to each school. The reasons I give for wanting to attend each school are genuine and match my interests, as consistently illustrated throughout my application. However, page limits necessitate succinctness. Hence, I am left with the question: In general, do PS endings (in the form of a mere sentence or two) that are tailored to each school inherently appear artificial?

[ph14]

I am in the final stage of editing my PS and am now wondering whether my conclusions are solid. The first few sentences of my final paragraph show why law school, in general, is the next step in my journey. The last sentence or two are tailored to each school. The reasons I give for wanting to attend each school are genuine and match my interests, as consistently illustrated throughout my application. However, page limits necessitate succinctness. Hence, I am left with the question: In general, do PS endings (in the form of a mere sentence or two) that are tailored to each school inherently appear artificial?

In my opinion, they do. You don't necessarily need to tailor them. Your cycle will still go as predicted by your numbers. Plus I wouldn't want to worry about making the huge mistake of sending the wrong essay to the wrong school. But if you think it ties in nicely to your piece, then don't worry about whether one sentence tailored sentences in general seem artificial. Have someone read your piece and decide whether, in context, it appears artificial.

[CanadianWolf]

Depends upon what is written about each school & how that matches up with the rest of your application.

[ashockofpink]

General rule of thumb from reading interviews with Deans/my LSAT tutor/pre-law advisor is that if your sentence is something as generic as "As a student of School X, I feel I could contribute diversity to the law program while being involved in Program/Geographic Location/Clinic Y" don't even bother. If it can be that formulaic and if they could replace "Harvard Law" with "Florida State University" it comes across as kinda... fake. Ish.

Personally, I had my go-to personal statement which was submitted WITHOUT any school-specific sentences/paragraphs and, for two schools, chose to write a "Why X" essay. This gave me the ability to use my two pages to focus on ME (Call me a narcissist, but at least I'm honest) and then, for some of the schools that I was either borderline with numbers or ESPECIALLY interested in, I had a full 1-2 pages to discuss my interest which is MUCH more valuable, in my opinion, than a sentence would do.

And not for nothing, a well written, polished, PS will get you far. I've only heard back from two schools (neither were submitted with a "Why X" essay) and have gotten 2 admits + $$ from each. Make yourself stand out and give yourself the space, the schools already know why they're awesome and obviously you're interested in them if you're applying.

Just a side note though, I don't know your numbers but if you're on the lower end of any of your top choice schools I WOULD suggest writing a supplemental essay, if it's allowed. It will allow you to write about how awesome whatever school you're interested in is AND will show that you're more than "just your numbers"