Is this personal statement topic okay? Forum

[marrismarris]

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[publicinterest7]

I have read about tackling this topic in the personal statement and it seems like the consensus is that it is definitely an okay topic (especially since it does heavily influence why you want to go to law school) but you do have to tread carefully to be sure it doesn't seem that you are trying to garner sympathy. (I hate having to say that because it is obvious that you're not, but apparently that is the primary danger with writing about such an emotionally-charged subject.) So basically, focus it mostly on how it changed your perspective and how you overcame it. I think bringing up Title XI and other legal issues would be a great way to do that. It seems like it is typically advisable not to include too much about the specifics of the rape and how traumatizing it was. Obviously that's important to include, but it shouldn't be the main focus of the essay.

[publicinterest7]

As for writing the addendum, I think if you did come up with a personal statement about this that you were happy with, it would free you up to write an addendum about a different topic to avoid being redundant. If you decide not to go that route for the personal statement, I think it could be an excellent addendum as well. You know better than me, but to me, since it affected your grades it would be good to write about it in either the personal statement or an addendum.