In desperate need of help/advice/ideas anything!! Forum

[BuckeyeSuzy]

Hey guys and gals, I'm a big time lurker and am in desperate need of some advice. I have been struggling for weeks in an attempt to create a semi-decent personal statement.

A lot of PSs that I have read are about significant personal struggles (abuse, achievements, first generation of some sort, etc); but what if my life has been, well, basically vanilla??

I have not overcome any great hurdles, I had a wonderful home life growing up, I have been a member of several clubs/charities but with limited participation and no leadership.

The only idea I have to write about is a year-long European adventure where I attempted to ride horses professionally. But even in this "adventure" nothing extraordinary happened. Also, while I could possibly be able to tell a good story, how the heck do I relate it to why I want to go to law school??!

In case it might be helpful: 2007 Ohio State grad 2.84/160 (My socializing far outweighed my studying, obviously).

ANY advice would be great!

[LSATclincher]

I think you have to mention your experiences from graduation to today. And how those will help you in law school/a legal career. Considering you'll be roughly 26 when you enter law school, I think you should use that to your advantage. I will be that same age when I enter. We should have significant advantages, namely experience/maturity over those coming straight out of college. And we need to highlight those advantages.

In any regard, I've tweaked my statement plenty of times now. The whole process could take a few months. It's not something you can bang out in one day, then edit it the next with a clear head, then submit thereafter.

Good luck!

[CanadianWolf]

Your personal statement should deal with your post-college maturation & your motivation to pursue a career in law in light of your dismal GPA.

[iShotFirst]

You dont necessarily have to turn your personal statement into a "why i want to go to law school" essay. Put it this way, your reasons for going to law school are not going to be unique. Your experiences of riding horse professionally in Europe, well that is rather unique. As long as your PS is well written you are good. Just use some experience to show how you grew or learned something, it doesnt have to all neatly sum up into a "And THAT's why I want to go to law school."

[CanadianWolf]

I agree, but with a C+ college GPA she needs to convince admissions folks that she will be much more motivated & serious about studying in law school which calls for a "why I want to go to law school" type explanation.

[Lokomani]

I know how hard it'll be, but just try to sound interesting. Speak with a friend or your parents and see their opinion on anything you have done which they might consider more outstanding than you do.

Adcomms will probably not care about your year studying abroad. Europe is seen as the vanilla thing to do, especially since they will see your mediocre GPA from a less than competitive school and know you weren't exactly spectacularly motivated to go to a rigorous program.

[BuckeyeSuzy]

Thanks for all the responses! I was weary of posting but I'm really happy I did! You have given me some good ideas.

I think I will probably change up my PS to be more about how I have grown as a person instead of the approach "why law school". The PS I have written is about some of my experiences and situations lived while overseas, so I believe I will keep that idea but change up the tone of my PS. Also, I wasn't just goofing off "studying abroad", I was working full-time.

I am well aware of my "dismal" GPA ...as I stated above, socializing was my priority; but from being in the workforce the last several years, I can tell you how important people skills are in the real world as well, especially in this shiteous economy. Although I absolutely regret never opening a book and going out on weekdays. (on a not-so-important note, I think your opinion of OSU is incorrect ).