Top Law Schools

Hello Everyone-

I saw another person do a thread like this and he got some great ideas.... I thought I'd try to get some feedback.

I'm a decent writer with a degree in journalism. Nothing special. Writing this personal statement has got me pretty stumped. I think I'm just so worried about writing about the wrong thing. I have a strong GPA and am waiting on my LSAT score now. I think I am nervous because I am a non-traditional applicant. (36 years old.)

Here is some background:
- second oldest of 6 children
- lost older sister to cancer when I was 8 (she was 17)
- BA in Journalism
- worked as a tv producer for a year and a half- then 9/11 happened and I wanted out
- began a short career in Higher Education Financial Aid (this is the office I worked in during undergrad)
- worked for 2 somewhat prestigious university's financial aid offices
- resigned to have children
- had 2 biological children, 1 adopted child
- sucked into a very long/expensive court battle over adopted child
- lost adopted child in an unprecedented decision
- legal bills (and therapy bills) bankrupted us
- lost our home, destroyed our marriage, etc
- have sued our agency, attorneys, law firm, etc. litigation is pending (obvs can't talk about this one too much)
- have been in the courts almost 5 years now
- am a single mother attempting to go to law school

Ha!! That all sounds crazy- I know. It's just a sum of who I am I guess. I could write about a lot of things there. But I don't want to write about the wrong thing. (Should I write about the court battle for my son when the courtroom where it took place is 2 blocks from the school I want to attend? I just don't know.)
Any ideas? Any obviously bad topics? Does anything stand out as most interesting?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Hmm. Could you give us a better idea of why you want to go to law school?

Concur. If you tell us why you are trying to get onto LS, we can probably offer more help

I'm going to go ahead and guess you are interested in law school because of your experience with your adopted child and the related court battles. I think you could write a compelling statement about how the law affects people or more specifically the laws ability to support or destroy families. My biggest concern would be writing like you know the law. You don't; that's why you are going to law school!

stoopkid13 wrote:I'm going to go ahead and guess you are interested in law school because of your experience with your adopted child and the related court battles. I think you could write a compelling statement about how the law affects people or more specifically the laws ability to support or destroy families. My biggest concern would be writing like you know the law. You don't; that's why you are going to law school!

About half of the list is pertaining to the adopted child. I think it's a good place to start. It's also a different situation than a lot of other applicants and makes you more unique due to a strong motivation behind school and the death of your adopted child (sorry to hear).

Thank you each for getting back to me.

Yes. Losing my son and the legal process before, after, during, and even now-- that is the main reason why I want to go to law school. The law does have the ability to destroy or protect families... and do so much more. It fascinates me. What I have experienced makes me want to be on the other side. What I have seen compels me to become a part of it. And whoever said it is correct... I do need to be careful and not write like I know about it. My experience is very limited and it is very personal. I'm certainly not knowledgeable about the law.

If that is a good topic to write about then I am going to go with it. I have written extensively about my experience already and am comfortable exploring it in relation with my desire to attend law school. I initially wasn't sure if I should write about it but am feeling better now.

Thanks again for the feedback.