Personal Statement Style and Mechanics Forum

(Personal Statement Examples, Advice, Critique, . . . )
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Tyr

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Personal Statement Style and Mechanics

Post by Tyr » Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:53 pm

Hello,
Over the next few months, I'll begin crafting my person statement. A professor I have has written several creative non-fiction books, and I'm planning on using him as my editor. In his writing, he says that it is okay to begin sentences with conjunctions, use contractions, refer to the reader as "you" as well as pose questions within the narrative. Essentially, he wants good punctuation mechanics, but the grammar can be more colloquial. Is this advisable for a law school personal statement or should I keep it more formal while still telling a good story?

Thank you all for any advice.

efeinste

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Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics

Post by efeinste » Sun Nov 03, 2013 5:35 pm

It's difficult to answer your question meaningfully without specific examples. It depends what you mean by colloquial writing. On the one hand, I would advise against expressing yourself in cliches. On the other hand, you should adopt a relatively personal tone. After all, this is a personal statement, not an academic essay.

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thewaves

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Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics

Post by thewaves » Sun Nov 03, 2013 5:47 pm

I used things you mentioned in my PS and have had successful results.

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Tyr

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Re: Personal Statement Style and Mechanics

Post by Tyr » Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:55 pm

I appreciate the responses. It sounds like it's okay to use certain techniques that you find in creative non-fiction that would normally be frowned upon in academic papers. Thanks again!

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