Touchy topic? Forum

ert335 · Post by **ert335** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:56 am

I've heard that you would not want to write in your personal statement something that you would not feel comfortable talking about openly. Honestly I would not feel comfortable talking about this certain topic to just anybody. But this aspect of my life has seriously changed my outlook on life, and i do believe i changed in a very good way that matured me a lot. I think i would be able to not go into too much detail about it and still write most of the statement on how I've matured in light of the situation... thoughts?

jennylynn · Post by **jennylynn** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:02 pm

We'd probably need a bit more info. You can write about sensitive info you wouldn't broadcast to everyone; however, there is a line you probably shouldn't cross. But yeah, more info if you can.

Post by **vanwinkle** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:07 pm

A well-written PS about a sensitive subject that ultimately taught you something valuable and changed your direction in life can open doors for you and set you apart from the thousands of more ordinary applicants. However, you are going to be sharing that piece of yourself with total strangers. If you're not comfortable with that, don't do it, but it could be the one thing you need to say to get in where you want to go.

Tough call, can't say without more info.

CanadianWolf · Post by **CanadianWolf** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:09 pm

In total agreement with VanWinkle's advice.

ert335 · Post by **ert335** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:15 pm

I mean I think it would definitely set me apart from a lot of applicants. Honestly though, they're reading it and (probably) not asking me questions about it, yet it really shows a life-changing experience that I grew off of. My way of thinking right now is... Are the adcomms free to talk about anybody's personal statement to anybody else besides the committee? And I don't see any negatives to them knowing this story...

Post by **vanwinkle** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:19 pm

ert335 wrote:I mean I think it would definitely set me apart from a lot of applicants. Honestly though, they're reading it and (probably) not asking me questions about it, yet it really shows a life-changing experience that I grew off of. My way of thinking right now is... Are the adcomms free to talk about anybody's personal statement to anybody else besides the committee? And I don't see any negatives to them knowing this story...

You may be required to submit your law school application (including your Personal Statement) to the state bar when you sit for the bar exam. They will read over everything mainly to check whether your application was truthful and featured complete disclosure, and they're going to be professionals like the adcomms reading your apps should be, but you should expect them to also be able to read it at some point.

ert335 · Post by **ert335** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:22 pm

I mean, if I want to get admitted to the bar, i'm not going to refuse them reading it...

ert335 · Post by **ert335** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:41 pm

This isn't the case (but it would be a sensitive/touchy topic), but for example: if someone wanted to write about how they were sexually abused (I wouldn't say mine is that severe), would you think they could mention it, definitely not go into details about it, and focus on how they changed/grew from it?

jennylynn · Post by **jennylynn** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:43 pm

ert335 wrote:This isn't the case (but it would be a sensitive/touchy topic), but for example: if someone wanted to write about how they were sexually abused (I wouldn't say mine is that severe), would you think they could mention it, definitely not go into details about it, and focus on how they changed/grew from it?

If you were going to mention abuse, then yes, this is the way it should be handled.

ert335 · Post by **ert335** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:46 pm

That's the way I've handled my situation. I think I could leave out the two sentences about my situation and that somebody could review it and still be able to understand the scope of it...

Pearalegal · Post by **Pearalegal** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:49 pm

jennylynn wrote:
ert335 wrote:This isn't the case (but it would be a sensitive/touchy topic), but for example: if someone wanted to write about how they were sexually abused (I wouldn't say mine is that severe), would you think they could mention it, definitely not go into details about it, and focus on how they changed/grew from it?
If you were going to mention abuse, then yes, this is the way it should be handled.

And actually the way an experience (pos or neg) should be handled if its the jumping off point for a PS. The events themselves aren't nearly important as what you did with them.

Post by **vanwinkle** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:53 pm

Pearalegal wrote:The events themselves aren't nearly important as what you did with them.

QFT. Only mention the abuse to set up the real discussion, which is what you did and who you became since then.

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