So i just finished the section on Personal Statements from Anna Ivey's, The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions. (Anna Ivey is the Previous Dean of Admissions for UChicago Law). She says that you should NOT address the "why law?" question is your personal statement. Browsing this forum I see that almost everyone is addressing that aspect or is being told to address that aspect. From what I've read here, most people who address the "why law?" question tend to force it into their narrative -- which is why Ivey says you shouldn't even talk about it. She also points out that most prompts for personal statements don't even ask you to address "why law?"
As it stands now, I don't think I will address the "Why Law?" question at all. Are there any thoughts on this?? Or any good reasons why I should address "why law?"
Should you address "Why Law?" in you Personal Statement? Forum
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aaronbgavin
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elcee1987
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Re: Should you address "Why Law?" in you Personal Statement?
My thought is that if you have a good reason for going to law school besides making money (ie. immigration law because your family immigrated), then you can easily develop your PS around that and naturally flow the story into WHY you want to go to law school. If your main goal is to attend law school because your entire family went to Harvard Law and you desperately want to measure up, then it's going to be trickier to address the "why law" so it's better to leave it out. But that's just me.
