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I'm working on my personal statement right now and I'm wondering how writing about my interest in public interest law will effect the amount of scholarship money I'm offered. Will it help? Hurt? Or is it irrelevant? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

It depends on the school. I doubt it would hurt at any school, but it will certainly help at places that specialize in public interest. For example, Northeastern offers a special Public Interest Co-Op stipend, which you can win for writing a separate mini-essay on the subject.

dawrp wrote:I'm working on my personal statement right now and I'm wondering how writing about my interest in public interest law will effect the amount of scholarship money I'm offered. Will it help? Hurt? Or is it irrelevant? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Completely irrelevant. If you have great Public Interest softs, then it might be a slight helping factor getting into the school, but merit scholarships are based entirely on numbers and need based scholarships based (usually) on need. Even when need based scholarships are not based on need, they are disguised as such, but are actually reflective of your numbers.

That said, go ahead and write about this interest since it can make a great essay, just don't expect it to change your potential scholarships at all.

Also above poster has it right, there are lots of Public Interest Scholarships, BC and Georgetown each have large ones, and these often require a separate essay.

The regular scholarships are mostly numbers-based, and any special PI scholarships will probably require a separate essay. So, probably irrelevant.

WrappedUpInBooks wrote:The regular scholarships are mostly numbers-based, and any special PI scholarships will probably require a separate essay. So, probably irrelevant.

I actually disagree with this. I saw a great discrepancy in scholarships during my cycle. At some schools, I was awarded more money than others who had higher numbers, while at other schools I was awarded less than applicants with lower numbers. I am firmly in the camp that numbers almost entirely dictate your admissions decisions, but when it comes to scholarships I believe that softs and essays actually matter quite a bit.

(Edit: This LSN list for Penn State is a good example of what I mean. http://pennstate.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants/0910 If you scroll through you'll find several instances where people with lower numbers were awarded twice as much as those with higher numbers)

Burger in a can wrote:

WrappedUpInBooks wrote:The regular scholarships are mostly numbers-based, and any special PI scholarships will probably require a separate essay. So, probably irrelevant.

I actually disagree with this. I saw a great discrepancy in scholarships during my cycle. At some schools, I was awarded more money than others who had higher numbers, while at other schools I was awarded less than applicants with lower numbers. I am firmly in the camp that numbers almost entirely dictate your admissions decisions, but when it comes to scholarships I believe that softs and essays actually matter quite a bit.

This will depend on the school obviously. At Fordham, the Dean of Admissions/Financial Aid said merit scholarships are based entirely on numbers and soft factors are considered into admissions.

"It varies by school" is the closest thing to a useful answer you'll get.

vanwinkle wrote:"It varies by school" is the closest thing to a useful answer you'll get.

As usual, vanwinkle is 10000% right.