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I'm currently in the process for writing my personal statement but I'm not sure what to focus on. There are different routes I have thought of but can't come up with something distinctive that I am set on. Here are some things that I have considered writing about/incorporating into my personal statement:

- Grew up in economic hardship, divorced parents, mom was on food stamps, got a job when I was 15 and paid for essentially everything myself, as well as helped my mom with bills.
- Was president of my fraternity in college, organized attendance at leadership conferences for members, organized philanthropy events donating $1,000+ dollars to charities.
- Studied abroad in Spain for a semester during college, completed an internship working with immigrant children in high social risk situations, communicated solely in Spanish the entire time I was there.

Do any of these strike as obvious things to write about/not write about in my personal statement? I can't decide on one topic specifically so I was considering incorporating them into one theme, perhaps "overcoming adversity" or hardships in my life and how I have confronted those hardships...does that sound too cliche?

Yawn, yawn, yawn. What else ya got? Write a PS about how you would rob a bank, or the difference between mushrooms and acid. It will get you more hits than these three topics combined.

I think all three could make one solid topic or individual topics. I would personally focus on how your early economic hardships motivated you toward personal success. The fraternity role and study abroad are both great topics, but will be seen in your resume. Use your personal statement to tell the adcomm what they cannot see in your resume. Your personal story of economic hardships and poverty may prove more effective since the committee cannot see this in your resume, gpa, or lsat score. However, once they read about where you came from and what you overcame, it will make all of your academic and personal accomplishments more impressive. I hope this helps. I believe that whichever topic you choose to elaborate on (or all three) will serve you well in your personal statement. Also, my advice is strictly based on personal opinion. Good luck!


Also, ignore the douche above me.

I think your internship in Spain and your economic hardships could both be strong topics, it just depends on how you write them. Keep in mind that many schools allow you to submit a Diversity Statement along with your Personal Statement- growing up with economic hardship and getting a job at 15 to help pay the bills may make a good diversity statement, allowing you to focus your personal statement on something else, like your internship. I agree with the post above that your fraternity accomplishments will be expressed in your resume so you may not want to make it the focus of your personal statement. But nothing is an automatically bad topic, it just depends on how you choose to write about it.