My DS should focus on . . . Forum

[thelawschoolproject]

Option A). Rough upbringing . . . mom was a real treat. I had to care for my two younger brothers at the age of 8.

Option B). Being a Native American.

Which one should be the focus, as one has nothing to do with the other?

[Calchexas]

Is B really going to make as a good of an argument - as good of a story - as A? Unless you suffered some serious racism, I couldn't imagine it touching A in terms of quality for your DS.

B speaks for itself, and you'll get all the advantage you could just by checking the box in your application.

[kublaikahn]

Both. Can you educate the reader in an interesting way about the values and traditions of you nation by telling the story of raising your siblings?

For example, (I really don't know, so bear with me) can you talk about the historical role of women in your tribe and how it is analogous to what you did to get your family over the hump? Maybe your grandparents or others have shared this with you. Or maybe you used the oral traditions of your ancestry to explain your situation and comfort your siblings, telling tales in the evening to occupy their minds and get them to sleep. You get the picture.

[thelawschoolproject]

That would be a different way of looking at it. And, it's something I definitely didn't think about. Thanks for the advice! Super helpful!

[nygrrrl]

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I tried to use the DS to say, 'this is what makes me different from most of the applicants you see and here's how those differences will contribute to the class, as a whole.' Make sense?
(Also love kublaikahn's suggestions.)

[thelawschoolproject]

Yeah, that helps a lot too. My main problem is that I've always felt like the two situations are completely different from one another. A lot of what my culture has taught me is to give back to those around me, which works well for public service type things. And, originally, that was my plan. But, then I started reading other people's DSs and it just seemed like my economic/family situation as a child would work as a DS, as well. I suppose to some end they are similar, but explaining all of that in one page is killing me. . . .

[nygrrrl]

Yeah, that helps a lot too. My main problem is that I've always felt like the two situations are completely different from one another. A lot of what my culture has taught me is to give back to those around me, which works well for public service type things. And, originally, that was my plan. But, then I started reading other people's DSs and it just seemed like my economic/family situation as a child would work as a DS, as well. I suppose to some end they are similar, but explaining all of that in one page is killing me. . . .

I hear you. Maybe you pick one of those two and weave in how that would make you a stronger student/member of the LS community? I like your original plan (especially if PI is where you're headed) but either would be great.