Include name of law school in PS? Forum

[karmapolicelady]

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for in a search of the site. I was wondering if applicants should include the specific name of the law school in each personal statement, either in a sentence such as "and I would bring these skills to X Law School" or in a paragraph talking a bit about the school and why the applicant would be a good fit for that school in particular (maybe in a conclusion wrapping up whatever the applicant has discussed and relating it back to a specific law school). I've seen varying advice about whether to include a specific law school's name in each personal statement or to leave it generic, discussing law school in general. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

[jselson]

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for in a search of the site. I was wondering if applicants should include the specific name of the law school in each personal statement, either in a sentence such as "and I would bring these skills to X Law School" or in a paragraph talking a bit about the school and why the applicant would be a good fit for that school in particular (maybe in a conclusion wrapping up whatever the applicant has discussed and relating it back to a specific law school). I've seen varying advice about whether to include a specific law school's name in each personal statement or to leave it generic, discussing law school in general. Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

If it's token name-dropping, no school's gonna care. If it's a sustained, well-researched, non-canned response, then it might be a good idea, depending on what your PS is. You can usually also write a "Why X?" statement instead. (I personally think this is better to do than change your PS for every school, since I put a high premium on overall coherence in PS-like writing, and I'd be worried about losing that by changing each PS.)

For me, I sent the exact same PS to every school and didn't include a school's name on any, and didn't do a "Why X?" for any. My cycle turned out basically exactly as expected given my numbers and background.

[mmbt123]

Agreed. My pre-law office advised me not to. Apparently, way more people than you'd think screw it up and say they want to attend the wrong school.

I just wrote separate Why X essays for the schools that usually ppl submit them for (I forget which ones...like Penn, Michigan). And if saved some for letters of continued interest.