Is This PS Topic TOO Risky? Forum

[Lurker9001]

Thanks to everyone.

[CanadianWolf]

There are lots of wrongfully convicted people serving time. Dozens of innocent inmates have been executed in US prisons. Many law schools have innocence project clinics. Amnong the top law schools are Northwestern & UCal-Berkeley.

[verklempt]

Short answer? Yes. Of course this had a tremendous emotional impact on you and the course you are taking, but it is a risky one to spin. You have to stay on a fine line to talk about this episode in a way that doesn't make you sound wounded or defensive. Because you were a passive participant -- you were the accused and your biggest upside was in being exonerated, not in achieving something positive -- this may not be the best way to showcase your finest attributes.

But if nothing else resonates as strongly for you, take the topic for a whirl. Spend an hour or so writing it all down as you would in a PS, then come back and look at it (or post it here). If you're hitting it out of the park, you'll know it. If not, time to think about plan B.

[CanadianWolf]

Although I don't think that you'll get a better answer than that offered above by verklempt, my point is that certain law schools are particularly sensitive--in a positive way--to your concerns in a broader sense.

[LSATclincher]

I felt uncomfortable reading this. However, if it's truly the only reason for you attending law school I think you can find the motivation to make this into an interesting PS. Good luck.

[Lurker9001]

Short answer? Yes. Of course this had a tremendous emotional impact on you and the course you are taking, but it is a risky one to spin. You have to stay on a fine line to talk about this episode in a way that doesn't make you sound wounded or defensive. Because you were a passive participant -- you were the accused and your biggest upside was in being exonerated, not in achieving something positive -- this may not be the best way to showcase your finest attributes.

But if nothing else resonates as strongly for you, take the topic for a whirl. Spend an hour or so writing it all down as you would in a PS, then come back and look at it (or post it here). If you're hitting it out of the park, you'll know it. If not, time to think about plan B.

Thank you for your excellent advice. I just wrote up what would be the first half of my essay and it is just too focused on my cousins and my relationship with them and not enough on me as an applicant nor my achievements nor anything law school relevant. Im afraid only the last two paragraph will really be relevant (1/4 of my essay). I am therefore thinking about writing about something else. Thank you very much to the both of you for your input.