Thoughts on diversity statement topic? Forum

[xnsch]

Thanks for the help everyone

[ih8makingscreennames]

How'd you write your PS? My PS was pretty much about how all of my life experiences shaped what I want to do. My diversity statement then focused on why I think I have a unique perspective/ what I add to the conversation. They pretty much didn't overlap at all. What you describe here, TO ME, sounds more like PS material.

[xnsch]

.

[IWantT6]

I wrote my PS about the struggles I had in my upbringing and how I overcame them to get to where I am today. I used my DS to showcase how my two very different backgrounds (also half Persian ) have given me a unique perspective.

I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be done but I guess it's too late now! Lol

But I totally get it. I struggled a lot with coming up with topics for these too. In the beginning, I didn't even want to reference any of this in my PS because I didn't want to to come off as needy or cliche or like I'm checking off boxes as you said. Instead, I wrote my initial PS about playing the piano. After I played with that for a while and couldn't come up with a solid, cohesive statement, I realized it was because it wasn't really saying anything about me. It was authentic but didn't tell a story of my life. So I thought about what made me who I am today: what SPECIFIC experiences (stories from my childhood I EXPLICITLY remember) + what people (my dad), helped me to change. Those are the moments I remember thinking, ok I can do this.

Sorry to ramble on but basically, I used these moments and people, that were often filled with hardship, to describe how I overcame my struggles and how it shaped me into who I am today. I then used my DS to showcase how I am different from the crowd, what I will bring, etc. if you have any questions, just PM me. Again, it's just what worked for ME.

[LoganCouture]

How'd you write your PS? My PS was pretty much about how all of my life experiences shaped what I want to do. My diversity statement then focused on why I think I have a unique perspective/ what I add to the conversation. They pretty much didn't overlap at all. What you describe here, TO ME, sounds more like PS material.

I haven't actually started writing my PS yet. I won't be applying until next cycle so I'm only just getting started with ideas now, but having a really difficult time figuring out what I want my PS to be about and how to make it into a compelling narrative. My concern with using this topic as my personal statement, though, is I feel like it doesn't say enough about me as far as my goals of wanting to work in government or why I want to go to law school etc. Wouldn't using this topic in my PS almost make it so that I have less space to cover something else that could feasibly be in a PS while still maintaining this content in a diversity statement? Also I'm not even sure what would go into a diversity statement if I already covered this in a PS

I wrote a very similar PS and wrote no DS. I had a pretty nice cycle. I think using this topic as a PS would be great.

[xnsch]

.

[smile0751]

While you have all these stories, I think you are missing a thesis. Try to figure out what message you want your reader walking away with and then weave the different stories and facts towards that goal. I started thinking about my PS my sophomore year of college and didnt have a PS I actually liked and felt fully represented me until five years later. Just let the ideas come and take different stabs at putting it down on paper. You dont know what will work until you try it out.

For example, I had a similar life story (also half-Persian). I wove the different aspects of my life into a PS about my journey to law school. My thesis basically was that my whole life I've been an advocate and law school will help me reach my next advocacy-related goal. The PS was structured along the following lines: first I had to be an advocate bc of X, then I realized I enjoyed being an advocate and did Y, and law school is the next step to my final goal. I focused on different stages of my life and how they all wove together to make me the person I am today.

I also had a DS which I made more cutesy and seemed to be VERY well received. In it I specifically talked about the juxtaposition of growing up in two different, often contradictory cultures and realizing that what made me feel like an outsider in my youth made me so much stronger now that I've grown up.

With these statements, I vastly outperformed my numbers. Hope this helps!

[xnsch]

.