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One of my recommenders, a professor who is 10/10 eager to write my reommendation and thus wants this, asked for a draft of my personal statement (she called it 'statement of purpose', she means PS right?

UGPA: 3.4
LSAT: scheduled for October
Graduated this June


I will be writing a diversity statement (mexican dad, white mom) but I was thinking I could use a story from my post high school life in the PS. When I graduated, I immediately started working at my fathers metal shop (more aerospace than plumbing pipes haha) but when fall came around I wanted to quit and enroll in community college. This caused a huge rift because neither of my divorced parents went to college and they thought I should just be working like them. I even agreed to look for a part time job (since i totally want my own money at this point) while im in college but i will be firmly in college, not working full time and taking 1 or 2 classes a quarter like my father thought was a compromise. Well one day he got incredibly angry because I wasnt stooping to mcdonalds quite yet and was looking for nice jobs, something with good pay, really easy, or good experience, and he tells me to 'get out! and dont come back until you have a job' so i got up walked out, stayed with friends for a bit and then got my own place with my girlfriend, found a great job and worked consistently (different jobs) through the rest of college. I ignored his pleas for 2 years before I moved back in to prepare for transferring to state school.

I now have a full time job right out of ugrad at a legal publishing company as a high level manager

I was thinking there could be a personal statement in here somewhere. thoughts?


Also, i just need something to give my recommender right now. What could I give her to get the best letter of rec possible. My actual PS can wait until after the LSAT.

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VasaVasori wrote:A PS is slightly different than a statement of purpose, but to my knowledge most schools require PS's not statements of purpose. Statements of purpose focus more on why you want to go to law school, though a PS should also include that information.

yeah I assumed that she meant something slightly different but since I have to draft one of these anyway it would be good to get it on tls before the storm of them comes haha would it be simpler to just write a statement of purpose for her?

VasaVasori wrote:For your topic, I'd be slightly concerned especially about this part:

I ignored his pleas for 2 years before I moved back in to prepare for transferring to state school.

Overall, though, I think it would be good if you use it to emphasize your dedication to education and pursuing your goals, even while facing adversity, like being kicked out by your parents. You'll also want to tie it in to why you want to go to law school, which from what you wrote isn't immediately apparent.

Yeah I wouldnt include that but I thought id give you guys the info anyways. Im not sure how to incorporate why I want to go to law school into it, maybe knowing that I can get a better future through educating myself, law school is just an extension of that.

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I've never heard of a statement of purpose.

VasaVasori wrote:

christopheradam wrote:Im not sure how to incorporate why I want to go to law school into it, maybe knowing that I can get a better future through educating myself, law school is just an extension of that.

But so is med school, and graduate school, and there are lots of ways to get a better future besides education, like dealing drugs covertly (okay, maybe the consequences outweigh the benefits, there).

Why pick law school instead of all of this? - just trying to give you an idea of what adcomms might think when you say what you're saying

I like your idea for your PS, but I agree with Vasa that you should at least give some indication as to why you want to go to law school and not another grad school program. I didn't go into too much detail in mine, but I did mention what field I want to practice and why and I feel that that was enough.

Also, if you are going to write about a family fight, make sure you focus on yourself and how you grew and developed as a result of the difficulty that you faced.

I think you're on the right track. Good luck!

cutecarmel wrote:I've never heard of a statement of purpose.

VasaVasori wrote:

christopheradam wrote:Im not sure how to incorporate why I want to go to law school into it, maybe knowing that I can get a better future through educating myself, law school is just an extension of that.

But so is med school, and graduate school, and there are lots of ways to get a better future besides education, like dealing drugs covertly (okay, maybe the consequences outweigh the benefits, there).

Why pick law school instead of all of this? - just trying to give you an idea of what adcomms might think when you say what you're saying

I like your idea for your PS, but I agree with Vasa that you should at least give some indication as to why you want to go to law school and not another grad school program. I didn't go into too much detail in mine, but I did mention what field I want to practice and why and I feel that that was enough.

Also, if you are going to write about a family fight, make sure you focus on yourself and how you grew and developed as a result of the difficulty that you faced.

I think you're on the right track. Good luck!

Agreed with all of this.
Also, a Statement of Purpose is typically something submitted for grad school.