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RedShift wrote:What were your other topics?

One was about my background growing up as a Chinese immigrant, but I ended up using that as my diversity statement instead.

Another was about my experience volunteering at a homeless shelter, but that ended up being too generic/overplayed.

Do you think this current topic sounds okay, or is it just too random? Thanks!

lawschool89 wrote:Last spring break I traveled to Madrid as an english speaking volunteer in a unique week-long program geared to improve the english of various Spanish professionals. Although this sounds like kind of an off-topic experience, I was going to write about the Spanish lawyer I met there and how she helped support my interest in law (advice, talked about her experiences, visited her firm). I was also going to try and show my maturity (ability to relate/form friendships with professional that were more than double my age), as well as my independence/curiosity in exploring new cultures.

Does this sound like it could maybe work? Or am I just getting desperate enough where anything sounds okay haha thanks in advance!

The only reservations I have with your topic is that 1- study-abroad can be overplayed and 2- having ability to relate to older people should be already be a given at your age.

That's not to say that writing about a study-abroad experience is "off-topic"-- for the most part, it isn't so much about the topic itself as it is about how you present yourself. You can definitely talk about your experiences in a different culture and formulating new friendships but, most importantly, you have to talk about how this has affected and changed you. So, try thinking about this topic more in terms of how what you want the adcomm know about you rather than if it's "off-topic"-- then, from there, start building an argument around it.

For more info: http://theadvancededit.com/admissions/h ... nt-part-1/

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My two cents is that this is not a good topic. We're not even talking a semester long study abroad, it was a 1 week trip. My suggestion is to take your diversity statement and make it into your personal statement. Many people do not write a separate diversity statement and as long as the information about being a diverse candidate is worked into your personal statement it's not going to matter at all.

sfamor wrote:My two cents is that this is not a good topic. We're not even talking a semester long study abroad, it was a 1 week trip. My suggestion is to take your diversity statement and make it into your personal statement. Many people do not write a separate diversity statement and as long as the information about being a diverse candidate is worked into your personal statement it's not going to matter at all.

Agree. Do you really want to seem like you based a $150K lifetime decision off a one-week trip?

I'd also advise against using that as your topic. You might end up concentrating on how the lawyer impacted you instead of painting yourself as a competitive candidate for law school.

yeah, now that I think about it you guys are completely right. I was just worried that my personal statement sounded too much like it "should" be a separate diversity statement and that I didn't have anything else interesting to say on top of that (which I honestly don't think I do). Thanks for all your advice!