What is a good topic for my personal statement? Forum

[slewis06]

I plan on applying to law school this upcoming fall. However, I'm still undecided on a topic for my personal statement. I've been out of college for almost a year and this whole time I've been working as a Legal Assistant for an Intellectual Property law firm. I don't want to write about that, cause I feel that's really generic and won't make me stand out. I was leaning towards writing about being Asian-American and the struggle I've endured finding myself, i.e., personal identity. I would talk about how in high school and when I was younger I had trouble fitting in, then in college I learned to embrace my background instead of hiding behind it. This allowed me to get involved, do well in school, and discover my passion for law. A passion that would allow me to help those in difficult situations like I was once. Would this be a good idea?

[bizzike]

Tucker Max's personal statement to Duke was about streaking. Honestly, it doesn't matter what you write about as long as it's sincere and well written. GPA and LSAT scores are overwhelmingly more important.

[TLSanders]

There is a general trend in this forum to be far too concerned about "topic," diverting attention from what you want to convey--that's a very different question.

One of the most effective admissions essays I ever read was about feeder guppies. Another was about working at a fruit stand.

Think about the characteristics you want to convey and then find the story that spotlights them, not the other way around. And, be prepared to do some writing in the process of finding that story; odds are that you won't really know which story is compelling on paper until you do at least a rough, partial draft in writing.