A few, perhaps stupid, questions Forum

[GoBroncos22!]

Sorry, I have tried searching and I just come up with thousands of threads which I cant seem to find any coherent answer. I am entirely new to the application proccess-I thought taking the LSAT was the hard part, but now after some research it seems as if the applications proccess may top it. Anyways, it seems as if every school I am looking at applying to generally requires the same thing-LSAT score, trancsripts, 2-3 LOR, Resume, personal statement and any additional addendums (unfortunaltey I have some explaining to do). My question is, are all of these going to be the same for every school? Will the PS change at all (or should it?) from school to school? Or the addendums? Do I basically complete all of this, compile it to LSAC and then they will send to schools of my desire? Sorry for these very ignorant questions, like I said, I have never done anything like this and my undergard college app consisted of me filing out a 2 page paper and writing a 5 sentence response. Thanks a ton!

[capitalacq]

Sorry, I have tried searching and I just come up with thousands of threads which I cant seem to find any coherent answer. I am entirely new to the application proccess-I thought taking the LSAT was the hard part, but now after some research it seems as if the applications proccess may top it. Anyways, it seems as if every school I am looking at applying to generally requires the same thing-LSAT score, trancsripts, 2-3 LOR, Resume, personal statement and any additional addendums (unfortunaltey I have some explaining to do). My question is, are all of these going to be the same for every school? Will the PS change at all (or should it?) from school to school? Or the addendums? Do I basically complete all of this, compile it to LSAC and then they will send to schools of my desire? Sorry for these very ignorant questions, like I said, I have never done anything like this and my undergard college app consisted of me filing out a 2 page paper and writing a 5 sentence response. Thanks a ton!

Yeah, you upload all the files to LSAC when you're applying and choose which ones to submit to a school. If your PS is tailored towards certain schools, then you could upload different versions for each school.. but if it's the same for all schools, you only need to upload it once

[gdane]

Its not very difficult at all. It seems intimidating, but its not.

As for the personal statement, try to tailor it to every school you apply to. You dont have to completely change it, but try to incorporate certain things that relate to the school youre applying to in your personal statement. Lets say University of Dr Seuss puts a focus on public interest, you might want to write about how youve spent a lot of doing community work and how you have a passion for public interest etc etc. Dont send out the same personal statement to every school because often times these statements are very generic and they come off that way.

Also, dont worry too much about the personal statement and all that. If you have the numbers, thats all that matters. This isnt to say that you shouldnt take your personal statement seriously, but as long as you have good numbers you dont really need a bang zoom out of the ballpark type statement. Of course it can help, but not necessary.

Good luck!

[Knock]

Its not very difficult at all. It seems intimidating, but its not.

As for the personal statement, try to tailor it to every school you apply to. You dont have to completely change it, but try to incorporate certain things that relate to the school youre applying to in your personal statement. Lets say University of Dr Seuss puts a focus on public interest, you might want to write about how youve spent a lot of doing community work and how you have a passion for public interest etc etc. Dont send out the same personal statement to every school because often times these statements are very generic and they come off that way.

Also, dont worry too much about the personal statement and all that. If you have the numbers, thats all that matters. This isnt to say that you shouldnt take your personal statement seriously, but as long as you have good numbers you dont really need a bang zoom out of the ballpark type statement. Of course it can help, but not necessary.

Good luck!

I think this is more of an individual choice and not something you can generalize. Me, personally, i'm sending the same PS and DS to every school. I don't expect it to hurt me. You don't have to tailor your PS to specific schools. Especially if it's just a one liner "and that is why _____ LS is the right LS For me."

[merc280]

Its not very difficult at all. It seems intimidating, but its not.

As for the personal statement, try to tailor it to every school you apply to. You dont have to completely change it, but try to incorporate certain things that relate to the school youre applying to in your personal statement. Lets say University of Dr Seuss puts a focus on public interest, you might want to write about how youve spent a lot of doing community work and how you have a passion for public interest etc etc. Dont send out the same personal statement to every school because often times these statements are very generic and they come off that way.

Also, dont worry too much about the personal statement and all that. If you have the numbers, thats all that matters. This isnt to say that you shouldnt take your personal statement seriously, but as long as you have good numbers you dont really need a bang zoom out of the ballpark type statement. Of course it can help, but not necessary.

Good luck!

I think this is more of an individual choice and not something you can generalize. Me, personally, i'm sending the same PS and DS to every school. I don't expect it to hurt me. You don't have to tailor your PS to specific schools. Especially if it's just a one liner "and that is why _____ LS is the right LS For me."

I was thinking that a one line or 2 would give the image to law schools that you wrote the ps for them, or at least know which law school you are applying to. Gives it a somewhat personalization to the ps.

[GoBroncos22!]

Thank you so much guys, that clears up alot. What about the addendums...Am I supposed to write a seperate explanation for each "issue" or make it one single essay? If so, how long should it be? Would it be wise to write an addendum for say, extremely poor grades my first year? Or my "run in" with the law? I know I shouldnt be looking to make excuses for my actions but is it just basically a chance to explain myself and let them know how I matured from this, grew up, etc...

[SullaFelix]

Thank you so much guys, that clears up alot. What about the addendums...Am I supposed to write a seperate explanation for each "issue" or make it one single essay? If so, how long should it be? Would it be wise to write an addendum for say, extremely poor grades my first year? Or my "run in" with the law? I know I shouldnt be looking to make excuses for my actions but is it just basically a chance to explain myself and let them know how I matured from this, grew up, etc...

It really depends on what the content of these anddenda would be. For example, if all you have to say about your grades is along the lines of "I didn't do well, then I did better," you should probably not even bother writing it — they'll have enough to put the pieces together.

[Knock]

Its not very difficult at all. It seems intimidating, but its not.

As for the personal statement, try to tailor it to every school you apply to. You dont have to completely change it, but try to incorporate certain things that relate to the school youre applying to in your personal statement. Lets say University of Dr Seuss puts a focus on public interest, you might want to write about how youve spent a lot of doing community work and how you have a passion for public interest etc etc. Dont send out the same personal statement to every school because often times these statements are very generic and they come off that way.

Also, dont worry too much about the personal statement and all that. If you have the numbers, thats all that matters. This isnt to say that you shouldnt take your personal statement seriously, but as long as you have good numbers you dont really need a bang zoom out of the ballpark type statement. Of course it can help, but not necessary.

Good luck!

I think this is more of an individual choice and not something you can generalize. Me, personally, i'm sending the same PS and DS to every school. I don't expect it to hurt me. You don't have to tailor your PS to specific schools. Especially if it's just a one liner "and that is why _____ LS is the right LS For me."

I was thinking that a one line or 2 would give the image to law schools that you wrote the ps for them, or at least know which law school you are applying to. Gives it a somewhat personalization to the ps.

I'm inclined to disagree. While I doubt it would ever hurt you, I also think law schools have seen enough applications that they've seen this many times before, plus one sentence isn't going to greatly improve your chances. They know you're applying to lots of schools. A targeted PS would only benefit you really, in my opinion, if it is very genuine and well-researched (not just stuff from their website), and authentic. This of course would take more than one sentence. Plus there is the small chance that you could mix up your personal statements and send the wrong one to the wrong school, which would undoubtedly hurt you.

[gdane]

Just for the record, I never said anything about writing one sentence specifically. I have no idea where the hell that came from. Point is that there is no reason not to write a personal statement directly aimed at a school. It can only help. Also, it doesnt matter if others students have written similar stuff, it shows schools you took the effort to write something other than " i want to go to law school because I love the law and I want to save the whales".

[Knock]

Just for the record, I never said anything about writing one sentence specifically. I have no idea where the hell that came from. Point is that there is no reason not to write a personal statement directly aimed at a school. It can only help. Also, it doesnt matter if others students have written similar stuff, it shows schools you took the effort to write something other than " i want to go to law school because I love the law and I want to save the whales".

See:

I was thinking that a one line or 2 would give the image to law schools that you wrote the ps for them, or at least know which law school you are applying to. Gives it a somewhat personalization to the ps.

I disagree, there are multiple, equally effective ways you can approach the PS, which mainly depends on how you craft it. It is not necessary to tailor your PS to individual schools. If that is the approach you choose, I doubt it will hurt you, although it takes up room which you could be use to further develop the meat of your essay. However, you will not be disadvantaged by not tailoring your PS to individual schools. Don't write what you think the adcomms want to hear, write what you truly feel and your authentic experiences.

[hoopsguy6]

I used the same PS for all my schools. Don't think it hurt too much. A few schools (Penn and Mich) have additional essays beyond the PS, but for the most part Law school apps are ridiculously easy compared to med schools or even undergrad.

[cinefile 17]

I think it depends a little on what your personal statement is about. If your PS focuses on your career goals or why you want to go to law school, it would make more sense to tailor it to specific schools. If your PS is about some specific experience in your life that made you who you are today, it probably wouldn't make sense to tailor it to specific schools.

I think Knock covered it best when he said that if you can make it more than a couple lines and genuine (not right off the website) then it might be worth it. I also think, only if it makes sense in the specific statement you wrote. Otherwise, just write a Why X essay if you're that worried about it.

[hemm]

I think it depends a little on what your personal statement is about. If your PS focuses on your career goals or why you want to go to law school, it would make more sense to tailor it to specific schools. If your PS is about some specific experience in your life that made you who you are today, it probably wouldn't make sense to tailor it to specific schools.

I think Knock covered it best when he said that if you can make it more than a couple lines and genuine (not right off the website) then it might be worth it. I also think, only if it makes sense in the specific statement you wrote. Otherwise, just write a Why X essay if you're that worried about it.

Agreed. If you're making a claim about why you want to study law, you need good evidence, and it's probable that many people don't have that evidence - I know I don't. Obviously if you've been working five years in the same field you want to practice law in, you can make a compelling argument. But I think it comes off as a bit tacked-on if you just say "and I accomplish that by going to X law school" or something similar.

Personally, I'm not mentioning law at all in my PS.