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I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions on whether one should attempt to cover "why law" or "why law school" when writing their PS. Does anyone have any concrete evidence regarding if it is preferable (or it doesn't matter at all) as for whether we have to either explicitly or implicitly state why we are interested in the legal field/legal studies? What is the opinion on essays that do not attempt this at all (similar to an undergrad PS)?

I know perhaps different law schools do things differently, and most schools do not care about PS, but specifically I'd like advice pertaining to HYS apps and I guess the rest of the T6, where essays seem to matter the most in admissions.

Thanks

At a minimum you probably want to put an implicit "why law school". It's kind of your story, and isn't your story taking you to law school? You don't want to write about what you ate for breakfast. Make sense?

I agree with the OP; it seems on every thread in this forum somebody suggests a PS needs more "why law," then somebody else comes in and says you don't need why law. Is there no consensus on this issue?

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walterwhite wrote:I agree with the OP; it seems on every thread in this forum somebody suggests a PS needs more "why law," then somebody else comes in and says you don't need why law. Is there no consensus on this issue?

No offense to anyone who put their input in this thread, but it's just ironic that I ask exactly because of this issue, and then it happens exactly in this order on this thread.

Thanks for all that made suggestions but I will state again, does anyone have any concrete evidence either way?

EDIT: I've always believed it was like MistakenGenius said, but due to the rampant "need more law in your essay" comments on TLS, I've become worried.

I totally agree. Everyone says something different. So instead of just listening to all the differing opinions, I just want on Yale's admissions page and they basically cover it.

"Faculty readers look to this essay to get a glimpse of your character, intellectual passions, analytical abilities, and writing skills. The choice of topic -- a personal anecdote or interest, an academic subject, or a current event -- can itself be illuminating.

We also require a personal statement that highlights aspects of your background that you believe will be of interest to the Admissions Committee. We are particularly interested in aspects of your background that may not be evident from other parts of your application."

So... based on the 2nd paragraph, I did put "Why law" in my PS, because I believe have derived the skills necessary to succeed in law from my experiences in the past. I only talk about law in my last paragraph. What leads up to it are all the experiences from my past that will eventually mold together in the last paragraph for each and its own reason.

My resume did not highlight any of my childhood experiences (except maybe being a student-athlete, but just saying that doesn't really state what I've gained from those experiences), so that's what I wrote my PS about.

http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/admissi ... 0/p-s.aspx (from YLS's dean of admissions, but applies broadly.)

http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/admissi ... ether.aspx (includes responses about what to do in a personal statement from SLS, NYU, CLS, UMich, Uchicago deans of admissions.)

As I flip through these posts again, the take-away for your question is that you'll never find 'concrete evidence' about how explicitly to address why you want to practice law. You could write a great PS either way. This from NYU's Dean: "You could approach the personal statement as your opportunity to have "an interview" with admissions officer. If you had fifteen minutes, what question do you hope would be asked? What story would you tell? What do you hope the interviewer would remember about you? The best statements are heartfelt, sincere, straightforward and above all, beautifully written."

I think the most important thing is to showcase your writing skills. I mean, they give you prompt ideas of course. The most common sentiment being "write about something not highlighted elsewhere on your application" but just use your writing skills to make it stand out and make you appear intelagunt

Include it if you want to and it makes for a good essay.

I'm sure HYS have accepted plenty of candidates that wrote a compelling "why law" essay, and plenty who did not even touch the subject.

I doubt they've rejected anyone specifically because of whether or not they addressed the topic.

Ugh...I initially wrote a draft that doesn't cover "why law", but the more I read in these admissions blogs, the more I feel like I need to redraft. At least for Yale, they seem to make it pretty clear that while its not required to write why law, it is highly recommended, and is a safer option. Here are some quotes:

From your link generalmead:

"I do see essays every year that don't take [the why law] approach and instead focus on an unrelated topic that doesn't necessarily provide the reader with an understanding of why law school might be a logical next step. I'm not saying that this approach can't be successful. But I'm addressing general strategies here, and while your experience auditioning for American Idol may very well make for a captivating, knock-it-out-of-the-park personal statement, I'm assuming that most people want the safer, tried-and-true approach. So on to the great personal statement."

This is actually quite a mellow answer, compared to some of her other blogs IMO:

http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/admissi ... trick.aspx

The entire post as I read it basically talks about how you can be extremely passionate/good at something (and write about it in the PS), but if you can't make a connection to law with it, it's not useful. Even more explicitly, Asha states in the comments:

"@ETQ Generator: I don't rule out the possibility that you mentioned. However, the flaw I pointed out in my example is that in scenario #1, Mr. Phelps does not indicate anywhere on his application where his interest in law comes from. I really try to not make assumptions about people when reading their applications -- so I probably wouldn't make up a narrative about why someone is applying to law school if there isn't something stated in the application to lead me in that direction.

On that same note, I also don't believe it's true that just because someone is great at one thing, they can be great at another. I believe that greatness in anything really depends on passion, which requires a true interest and love for what you are doing. I think there are many accomplished people who, if they were doing something in which they were not completely interested, would not be as successful, not matter how hard they tried. I've seen enough very, very talented people end up doing poorly as lawyers, because they ended up hating what they were doing. That's why it's important not only to tout your accompishments, but also to really have a narrative that explains how your experiences have brought you to the decision of going to law school."

Seems like at least for Y, unless you have a ton of confidence in your writing abilities (going up against other top Y candidates, no less) it's really dangerous to not write about why law. Fml I should have read this earlier...

Here's a bunch of PSs that Chicago put on their website as examples of "what worked". All bar one discuss "why law".
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/alumni/maga ... irownwords

http://www.annaivey.com/iveyfiles/2011/ ... big_rule_2

Has anybody read this before? This seems to argue against "why law." That article was written in 2011 though, so I'm not sure how relevant that advice is.

My philosophy is that you do not need to put ANY "why law" in your PS, unless your PS leaves the reader actively wondering "why is this person going to law school instead of X?"

Also, the writer is not in a great position to evaluate what a reader thinks while reading their essay. I spend a lot of time arguing with people when I give feedback on their PS: "Well, that may be what you were TRYING to say, but how it comes across is [whatever]." It doesn't matter what you thought you were saying or how you were saying it, if the reader is interpreting it in some other way. The reader may be totally wrong, but their opinion and reaction is quite literally the only thing that matters.