Embellishment and the Personal Statement Forum

[arean.ryan]

When writing your personal statement what degree of embellishment is appropriate? A guy I knew overdosed on drugs, (I am not going to use him as an example to gain sympathy), I want to embellish my relationship with him to personify my main point in the story. If he was an acquaintance (shared some laughs in school; not too many outside), but I tell the story as if he were a close friend would this be morally irresponsible or the art of storytelling? Any thoughts are appreciated...

[Lonagan]

If you have to ask...

[Marionberry]

So by embellishment you mean dishonesty?

[d34d9823]

So by embellishment you mean dishonesty?

No, he means embellishment! It's just like dishonesty but doesn't make him feel like a bad person.

[arean.ryan]

Maybe embellishment was the wrong term. I am in no ways being dishonest. I guess this statement is not meant be a good story told, but a 100% honest self-evaluation.

[CanadianWolf]

Don't embellish the truth. There is value in being able to appreciate & learn from a distance.

[Marionberry]

You're telling the story in a manner intended to convey to the reader that your relationship with this person was different than it actually was. Is this accurate?

[bk1]

This sounds a lot like my PS:

"I was friends with Kurt Cobain..."

[CanadianWolf]

Which is much better than: "I used to be Kurt Cobain."

[arean.ryan]

You're telling the story in a manner intended to convey to the reader that your relationship with this person was different than it actually was. Is this accurate?

My relationship with this person was exactly as I plan to convey it. What I originally planned was to embellish the manner in which his passing affected my decision making in life (it did, but only somewhat)...which is what I meant by helping me personify the point of my paper. Obviously if I am saying my relationship was different than it actually was I would be clearly being dishonest.

Structurally
Friend Passing->Emphasized desire to be in law, but did not create it.

Anyway, I plan how telling it exactly how it is and not embellish for the sake of making a memorable story/ps.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[Pip]

You are applying to law school.

The difference between being guilty of a crime and being convicted is what can be proven.

Say what it takes to get what you want as long as there is no way for the person your selling the story to to discover any factual errors.

In other words lie like a dog so long as there is no chance of being caught, others will.

Ask yourself... would you rather be the person that was honest and got penalized for it by not getting in, or the person that was dishonest and got in.... you can be all goody goody when you retire.

[jdhonest]

You are applying to law school.

The difference between being guilty of a crime and being convicted is what can be proven.

Say what it takes to get what you want as long as there is no way for the person your selling the story to to discover any factual errors.

In other words lie like a dog so long as there is no chance of being caught, others will.

Ask yourself... would you rather be the person that was honest and got penalized for it by not getting in, or the person that was dishonest and got in.... you can be all goody goody when you retire.

By "character and fitness" they don't mean violent, talking animals from cartoons and a rope climb...but you are pretty much right.

[Marionberry]

You are applying to law school.

The difference between being guilty of a crime and being convicted is what can be proven.

Say what it takes to get what you want as long as there is no way for the person your selling the story to to discover any factual errors.

In other words lie like a dog so long as there is no chance of being caught, others will.

Ask yourself... would you rather be the person that was honest and got penalized for it by not getting in, or the person that was dishonest and got in.... you can be all goody goody when you retire.

So we'll be seeing your commercials on late night TV in about 20 years then?

[xyzzzzzzzz]

You're telling the story in a manner intended to convey to the reader that your relationship with this person was different than it actually was. Is this accurate?

My relationship with this person was exactly as I plan to convey it. What I originally planned was to embellish the manner in which his passing affected my decision making in life (it did, but only somewhat)...which is what I meant by helping me personify the point of my paper. Obviously if I am saying my relationship was different than it actually was I would be clearly being dishonest.

Structurally
Friend Passing->Emphasized desire to be in law, but did not create it.

Anyway, I plan how telling it exactly how it is and not embellish for the sake of making a memorable story/ps.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Why don't you just tell the truth? If the story sucks without the embellishment, why not tell another story? Seriously, lying about why what/who motivated you to become a lawyer?

[J.Straw from Wichita]

What do lawyers do when they die?

They lie still.

Come on people, we're all going to law school and therefore hell. Try not to take yourself too seriously. OP, you should embellish that shit. Everyone does it despite what they might admit to themselves.

[Jack Smirks]

I can't fucking believe this. OP, your life is that boring that all you have to write about is some acquaintance of yours that died in a drug overdose?