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Deleted by author - thanks everyone.

Search above the law. You'll see that there are a lot of pageant winners in law school.

sam25 wrote:I'm on the fence about whether to include my experience as a finalist in a national pageant on my resume. I'm not super proud that I allowed myself to be judged in a bathing suit, etc. I wish I'd taken all that drive and focus and applied it toward a different accomplishment. I'm concerned that adcomms will view it as me perpetuating a cultural negative.

On the other hand, it shows I can compete when the stakes are high. I developed skills like public speaking and attention to detail. I think we all know what happens when a contestant falls or messes up on a live national broadcast, so nerves of steel were required.

Sounds like you could write your personal statement about it.

I mentioned my pageant experience and I don't believe it hurt my application in any way. I didn't mention the swimsuit portions - I just spoke about the individual interview awards I won and how it sparked my interest in cultural issues and the law. I didn't write my entire PS about it, and I wouldn't recommend doing so, but I don't see how it would hurt you.

Do it. Just don't gear your whole application around it-that'd be a bit too much.

IBPicsorGTFO

I'm not super proud that I allowed myself to be judged in a bathing suit, etc. I wish I'd taken all that drive and focus and applied it toward a different accomplishment.

On the other hand, it shows I can compete when the stakes are high. I developed skills like public speaking and attention to detail. I think we all know what happens when a contestant falls or messes up on a live national broadcast, so nerves of steel were required.

Some people may disagree with me, but if done well, I think discussing your ideas above could actually make an interesting personal statement. You could write a very honest essay acknowledging your ambivalence toward your pageant background including both the ideas quoted above, that it demonstrates you have an incredible amount of drive, but that looking back, your energy may have been misdirected and that with maturity you want to focus that energy on your goals of being an lawyer for xx reasons. It seems like you want to pursue something more meaningful and be judged by a different compass, but you've demonstrated you have some serious skills and drive that it takes to succeed with your pageant experience.

About just including it on your resume, that is a tough one. I would think twice about just sticking it on my resume under an Honors and Awards section without talking about it anywhere else, only because you never know who reads your file. It would depend on the reputation of the pageant I think. I think some are considered a little classier than others, whether or not the assessment is fair. I personally consider it a cool soft, but it could very well turn off some adcomms for exactly the reasons you stated.

It seems like you want to pursue something more meaningful and be judged by a different compass, but you've demonstrated you have some serious skills and drive that it takes to succeed with your pageant experience.

That's an excellent way to put it. Great food for thought - thanks everyone.

loblaw wrote:About just including it on your resume, that is a tough one. I would think twice about just sticking it on my resume under an Honors and Awards section without talking about it anywhere else, only because you never know who reads your file. It would depend on the reputation of the pageant I think. I think some are considered a little classier than others, whether or not the assessment is fair. I personally consider it a cool soft, but it could very well turn off some adcomms for exactly the reasons you stated.

Meh, why would adcomms care one way or the other? It's just a soft. I personally cannot imagine not including it, but different strokes for different folks.

Using it as a topic for the personal statement is a separate decision. Even then, it's still just the PS.

Is it a significant part of who you are ? Can you share lessons learned from pageant experiences that can be applied to other areas ? If so, include it, in my opinion.

This thread is useless without pics

rad law wrote:IBPicsorGTFO

Pics or...

NYC Law wrote:This thread is useless without pics

NOOOOOOOOOO

CanadianWolf wrote:Is it a significant part of who you are ? Can you share lessons learned from pageant experiences that can be applied to other areas ? If so, include it, in my opinion.

No, it's not a significant part of who I am. The skills yes, the title no. The more I think about it in retrospect, the more it seems the life lessons abounded and I was able to put them to good use. (Including the lingering guilt I feel for being part of an enterprise I now regard as damaging to young girls.)

loblaw wrote:Meh, why would adcomms care one way or the other? It's just a soft. I personally cannot imagine not including it, but different strokes for different folks.

Using it as a topic for the personal statement is a separate decision. Even then, it's still just the PS.

True that, and frankly I'd rather be studying for the LSAT than fine-tuning my app to present my history in the best possible light. Thanks for putting it in perspective.

loblaw wrote:

I'm not super proud that I allowed myself to be judged in a bathing suit, etc. I wish I'd taken all that drive and focus and applied it toward a different accomplishment.

On the other hand, it shows I can compete when the stakes are high. I developed skills like public speaking and attention to detail. I think we all know what happens when a contestant falls or messes up on a live national broadcast, so nerves of steel were required.

Some people may disagree with me, but if done well, I think discussing your ideas above could actually make an interesting personal statement. You could write a very honest essay acknowledging your ambivalence toward your pageant background including both the ideas quoted above, that it demonstrates you have an incredible amount of drive, but that looking back, your energy may have been misdirected and that with maturity you want to focus that energy on your goals of being an lawyer for xx reasons. It seems like you want to pursue something more meaningful and be judged by a different compass, but you've demonstrated you have some serious skills and drive that it takes to succeed with your pageant experience.

About just including it on your resume, that is a tough one. I would think twice about just sticking it on my resume under an Honors and Awards section without talking about it anywhere else, only because you never know who reads your file. It would depend on the reputation of the pageant I think. I think some are considered a little classier than others, whether or not the assessment is fair. I personally consider it a cool soft, but it could very well turn off some adcomms for exactly the reasons you stated.

Say gracias. This dude just wrote your personal statement.

sam25 wrote:

CanadianWolf wrote:Is it a significant part of who you are ? Can you share lessons learned from pageant experiences that can be applied to other areas ? If so, include it, in my opinion.

No, it's not a significant part of who I am. The skills yes, the title no. The more I think about it in retrospect, the more it seems the life lessons abounded and I was able to put them to good use.

In that case, it sounds like you might be able to spin it in a way that's worth putting in the PS. I certainly wouldn't leave it out of your application altogether. Law schools love to brag in their materials and websites about the diverse life experiences of their recent classes. If nothing else, "national pageant finalist" is memorable, which is what you want your application to be.

Pics please

ETA: I think you should put it on your resume

loblaw wrote: Some people may disagree with me, but if done well, I think discussing your ideas above could actually make an interesting personal statement. You could write a very honest essay acknowledging your ambivalence toward your pageant background including both the ideas quoted above, that it demonstrates you have an incredible amount of drive, but that looking back, your energy may have been misdirected and that with maturity you want to focus that energy on your goals of being an lawyer for xx reasons. It seems like you want to pursue something more meaningful and be judged by a different compass, but you've demonstrated you have some serious skills and drive that it takes to succeed with your pageant experience.

unless you can come up with a better topic, this would actually make a very good PS if done properly.

don't underestimate the value of your actual application, while everyone will tell you it's a numbers game...it's not. the rest of your application matters and should be considered carefully, even if it's not as important as your numbers ultimately are.