Need advice on how to approach my PS Forum

[thebestwes]

I've written a few drafts of my PS, and I'm really trying to leverage it to elevate my otherwise average-at-best softs. My plan is to focus on my interest in technology and the way its development affects how people interact with the world, and a lot of my softs are fairly related to this area (I haven't really done anything just because it would look good on a resume). Here are some things I want to integrate:

I designed and built two forges for my school's sculpture studio as an independent study project, substitute taught high school and middle school (taught latin, Photoshop, photography, and film), and wrote an honors thesis on post-digitalism and how the internet affects people's viewership of art objects. I also studied for several months at a revivalist atelier learning drawing according to the french academic system, and have written several extensive papers about the development of art technology and pedagogy which will probably come up in my LORs (I also took an advanced seminar on non-traditional approaches to education). Some of my work that I made during that time span was displayed in a national juried show. In addition to that, I taught myself basic C and programmed an Arduino microcontroller in one of my art pieces. I also know basic Lua, and I've done a bit of basic web development in PHP and CSS, but it was a while back and not very substantive. I've also made several mods and add-ons for various games.

I'm kind of worried that this will make me seem unfocused without a strong narrative backing it up (though I think a good narrative, as always, could definitely make them seem better as a whole than they would individually), but I'm unsure that my topic itself stands out or sounds particularly enticing.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a contrived topic at all, and I genuinely believe that these experiences (and my desire to go to law school) arise out of the same common interests, but I want to get some feedback on whether I'm approaching this the right way.

I guess what I am currently thinking about doing is using examples of my past interest in technology, digitalism, and combining schools of thought that center around different technological eras, and then describe how at the core what I'm really interested in is the evolution of systems of thought and cultural experience, and from there segue into my interest in law.

Obviously the writing will make or break it, but do you think this is a good approach to weaving these things together, or should I throw it out and try a different strategy?

[Scalvert]

Everything I've read says that schools are looking for students who will bring a different perspective to their incoming class.
So I think if you could tie all this together, it would make for an interesting statement. I would imagine AdComms would enjoy reading something atypical as long as it's well-done.

[CanadianWolf]

Whether or not it's a good approach depends upon your theme & how these activities fit into that theme. In short, write it & we'll let you know.

[debdeb2]

Hi bestwes - This is the story I was most intrigued by in that vast list: "I taught myself basic C and programmed an Arduino microcontroller in one of my art pieces."

I wanted to know what it was like to self-teach basic C; I wanted to know what the art piece looked like; I wanted to know if you got to show this art piece, and where, and how the audience reacted; I wanted to know what drives you, and what it took to achieve this. Whether it was a small personal ambition that turned into something cool, or a large ambition that bore fruit (or some other flavor of outcome).

No one would have a personal statement that covered this topic. If it was well-written, you could have a knockout.

You don't need to try and squash all of your CV into a personal statement, and you certainly don't need to try and graft all of your activities awkwardly onto a narrative. You just need one good story that illustrates who you are, what you're capable of, and that you can write about rather well.

You may have other stories as well, but self-teaching basic C works well as an analogy to your ability to survive 1L, and using that technical knowledge to build art implies creativity, interdisciplinarity, and many of the other catchwords that adcomms will bandy about when discussing your application. If you can stick one brief, hilarious failure in there (explodo art that gets fixed or whatnot) all the better, as it shows you're good humored and able to roll with the punches. Smart + art. Good luck -

[thebestwes]

I wanted to know what it was like to self-teach basic C; I wanted to know what the art piece looked like; I wanted to know if you got to show this art piece, and where, and how the audience reacted; I wanted to know what drives you, and what it took to achieve this. Whether it was a small personal ambition that turned into something cool, or a large ambition that bore fruit (or some other flavor of outcome).

Thanks so much, debdeb2! That honestly helped me see the direction I want to take this in in a different light.

For the record, since you're the first one besides my professor to ever ask me about the particulars of what I did, I cobbled together a program that would act as a bounded random number generator, using electrical noise from the environment (picked up by an empty input socket) to get basically as close to true randomness as you can. I bounded these numbers based on ambient temperature, so that it would pick a random decimal between, say, 2 and 5 if it were 70ºF outside, and pick a random decimal between 3 and 7 if it were 75ºF outside, and so on for the general temperature range of like 60º to 95º (don't remember the specific numbers I used; this was a few years back). I got a piece of super gnarly worm-eaten driftwood and wired frosted LEDs all up into the little holes (oh yeah, I also taught myself to solder relatively well during this project), and the microcontroller would fade them in and out using intervals determined by the number generator. I grew up on a farm, and when I was a kid I used to sit outside and count the number of cricket chirps to determine the temperature. I don't know how common this knowledge is, but there's a law called Dolbear's Law that states that the temperature in Fahrenheit is approximately equal to the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds + 40. It's accurate to within 5 degrees or so. Well with this thing you could do the same thing, but with lights instead of sound (due to my childhood love of lightning bugs), so I thought it was a cool way to bring the country into the city. I haven't put it in shows outside of my school, and I currently keep it in my room. Anyone who's used an Arduino or knows C knows that it's not a huge accomplishment from a technical perspective, but I still think it's a cool idea.

[debdeb2]

All of that sounds dope. Doesn't matter if the outcome isn't something that the uber-intelligentsia would consider mad outstanding - it just needs to be clever enough, ya know? Most essays are utilitarian, boring, serviceable, and those candidates still get into a law school or two as long as their numbers fit the bill. If you have a great topic, and handle it well, you'll get some of the adcomms to smile. Adcomms don't want to cut the candidate who woke them up and produced a grin.

Additional thought - how are you at metaphor? I'm thinking like Malcolm Gladwell: break things down for neophytes by quickly explaining a technical idea using a pop culture or other "known" reference. You wouldn't want to use to many, but if you sounded like a great professor, it could work, i.e.: "It sounds complicated, but think of it as a butter churner: the average skilled Amish churner can produce 1 lb butter/hour; a machine like I developed would generate 100 lb/hour. Also: no splinters." You know, quick, amusing, create an image that the layperson can conjure up without trouble.

Don't be afraid to write a few drafts of a few different ideas - writers often hit their stride after a few ideas/drafts. It's like throat clearing - the obvious stuff will present itself first, and until you cough that up, you can't speak clearly. Also, don't be afraid to "go long" - writing 2,000 words and then cutting chaff often produces better final essays, as long as you're committed to revision & are unafraid to jettison detritus.