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I would imagine name dropping to be a no-no in a personal statement, but the reason I want to go to law school, and this school in particular is because a well known alumni inspired me to be. Scrap the story all together or go with it?

It all depends on how you write it. Most likely, it will sound pretentious.

95% probability that it won't work.

Depends what you mean by name dropping. If the name pops up in an event that's truly relevant to your experience, I think there's no problem. (Sort of like admissible evidence, I guess...) I mentioned a big gun's name in my statement only because I had to. He was the litigator on a case I did some volunteer work on, the case was a big one, and the event was important to my statement. There was virtually no way not to mention him. I got permission from him first and referenced him only to a minimal extent. I got in everywhere I applied (no T14).

Is is Noam Chomsky, by any chance?

I name dropped in my Why Michigan because what this alum had to say about the school made it one of my top choices. I got in, though who knows how much of an effect it had. I'd go with it if it's a tailored PS or a Why X statement and there is a compelling story with it (i.e, something the alum did or said made the school stand out vs. merely knowing an alum that's a cool guy).

I name dropped in my PS, but not in relation to any school, just in reference to my topic, which dealt with economics.

bluejayk wrote:Is is Noam Chomsky, by any chance?

There's no MIT Law.... I'd imagine it would be an interesting school though!