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Should Personal Statements have titles?

I would say only if you can think of a title that stands out and characterizes your essay well. I'd be careful, after all, you're answering a particular question.

I talked to my LSAT prep teachers about this who also offer extensive personal statement help and they said "it depends" if you feel really strong about your title and it matches your essay very well than a title could be a good thing. But don't just put a title to have one.

for example my essay was about how my love for horseback riding eventually led to my decision to go to law school. I always loved law but law school had never crossed my mind until i saw a sign posted at my barn about how the owners are not legally responsible blah blah blah and that started me on my path.... anyway my title was "passion takes the reins" which fit my statement perfectly

lizshuler wrote:I talked to my LSAT prep teachers about this who also offer extensive personal statement help and they said "it depends" if you feel really strong about your title and it matches your essay very well than a title could be a good thing. But don't just put a title to have one.

for example my essay was about how my love for horseback riding eventually led to my decision to go to law school. I always loved law but law school had never crossed my mind until i saw a sign posted at my barn about how the owners are not legally responsible blah blah blah and that started me on my path.... anyway my title was "passion takes the reins" which fit my statement perfectly

heyyy that is a pretty good title

SpAcEmAn SpLiFF wrote:

lizshuler wrote:I talked to my LSAT prep teachers about this who also offer extensive personal statement help and they said "it depends" if you feel really strong about your title and it matches your essay very well than a title could be a good thing. But don't just put a title to have one.

for example my essay was about how my love for horseback riding eventually led to my decision to go to law school. I always loved law but law school had never crossed my mind until i saw a sign posted at my barn about how the owners are not legally responsible blah blah blah and that started me on my path.... anyway my title was "passion takes the reins" which fit my statement perfectly

heyyy that is a pretty good title

Thanks!

I don't claim to have the "right" answer about this by any means but I think putting a title on your PS is not a good idea mostly because it is so hard to avoid titles that are incredibly lame.

Though I think "passion takes the reins", for example, is a really cute title, the fact that it is pun-esque and reminiscent of the title of a Saddle Club book might be annoying to an adcom who has read hundreds of more or less identical PS's about "passion" for law.

Obviously it is your choice and it probably just depends on the mood of the person reading the essay. I never thought of titling my PS until I read Anne Ivey's book and she said not to do it.

ps liz I hope that wasn't offensive, I love your avatar

No. Title should be "personal statement." You don't want their first impression to be...CHEESY

and please don't frontload your opening paragraph full of fluff. No one wants to read 5 lines that could easily be summed up in 4 words. Fluff = HS writing.

Oh and avoid jargon. PLEASE avoid using words like "proverbial"

Write like how you speak, unless of course you speak like a douche...in that case write like how you think someone who is down to earth speaks.

Write like how you speak, unless of course you speak like a douche...in that case write like how you think someone who is down to earth speaks.

Quote of the month.