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Hello All,

Right now, I retook in December and I'm waiting on my scores to send in my applications. I have my personal statement written and, for the most part, ready to go.

I was thinking about writing a personal statement that is specifically tailored for Stanford (reach school for me given my GPA of 3.81, but, I'm thinking that my December LSAT will be at least above their median, most likely above their 75th percent, but who knows.) By tailoring the personal statement to Stanford, I mean that I will talk about myself and my past and why I think I'd be a good fit for Stanford specifically.

Is this tacky? Would this negatively impact my chances? I think it'd set me apart a bit from the other applicants, which I don't think would necessarily be harmful. But I thought it'd be worthwhile to get some wisdom from TLS.

Thoughts?

How would you tie your personal life/exper. together to be a "Stanford" specific PS? I have read a ton of these during my draft phase, and most of them mention the school they are submitting to in some way near the end, but its in some kind of generic way. Example - most schools talk about how they are focused on one type of thing, so you could drill you PS down in that way, but if your background isnt in "saving the environment" or "public service" you would be basically telling lies. In my case, as a non K-JD guy, Ive spent a great many years in public service so It was easy for me to tie aspect of my PS to the philosophy of the school. Read about the school and see what they are all about and if you can tailor your LE to the school I think it would be smart to do it, instead of generating some cookie cutter PS that reads like every other 0-L out there.

2 pennies

What makes you think writing a school specific statement makes you more competitive? I would think anyone writing a personal statement applying to Stanford would try to add at least something specific. I think what counts more is making your statement tight and error free and make it reflect who you are. Most people do not achieve this i believe...