Need to mention law in personal statement? Forum

[brando9]

So I'm in the brainstorming phase of my PS and wondering...do I need to mention why I want to go to law school? Is it necessary to tie it in?

THANKS!

[rinkrat19]

I think most people DO end up relating it back to law/law school, but it's not necessary. As long as it doesn't actually make the reader wonder 'Why is this person going to law school instead of [X]?' or make them think you'd be bad at/unsuited for law school in some way, your PS is more about introducing yourself as a person. If it manages to convey to the reader that you have [Y] experience and [Z] qualities which would, just incidentally, be super useful to a law student/lawyer, that is enough.

[brando9]

Alright cool, thanks!

BTW, rinkrat, you play hockey?

[rinkrat19]

Alright cool, thanks!

BTW, rinkrat, you play hockey?

Yep.

[CanadianWolf]

It is not necessary, unless specifically requested, to mention "law school" or "why law school" in your PS.

[jkpolk]

It is not necessary, unless specifically requested, to mention "law school" or "why law school" in your PS.

Id rather climb into an unknown alien spaceship, without phoning in my position to base, with my worthless slam piece of a wife to find the skeleton of some unknown alien species with an exploded chest cavity and then decide to hang around the ship longer, wandering aimlessly, until i discovered a room full off egg pods, out of which would come a face attaching, egg laying parasite whose larva would gestate in my stomach until erupting from my chest and terrorizing an entire village of colonists, than mention the law in my personal statement.

[collegebum1989]

Depends on the school. Some schools will ask for a "personal statement" which asks for an essay to describe a situation/experience which shows your personality or personal character traits. Some schools will ask for a "professional statement" which specifically asks for interests in law or a legal career.

The biggest mistake (I did this also) is writing a great personal statement and jamming in a "interest in law" paragraph at the end which is not related to the essay. Another is forcing a comparison between your interests and which weakens the overall significance of your essay.

My suggestion would be to write two essays (personal statement and professional statement) and send the appropriate essay to schools based on what their preference is. Most schools will also have separate "Why Law" essays and reserve the personal statement for something interesting.

Think about it like this: theres thousands of law school applicants. Most of them aren't on TLS and so they write a generic "I want to be a lawyer because of A, B and C". As an Adcom, you read thousands of these and it slowly bores you to death. Then, you read an essay about something an individual values or finds important, and all of the sudden, its a memorable essay.

Good luck! I'm drafting my essays now too lol.

[brando9]

Thanks to all who responded. Really great feedback!