Page 1 of 1
Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:51 pm
by edditb
r
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:35 pm
by Redamon1
The stronger your numbers for your target school, the less remarkable your PS needs to be. If you're above the medians, no need to take a big risk, and the "bland" volunteering-led-me-to-an-interest-in-law essay will be fine. That said, make sure your PS is well written, fairly interesting, and typo free.
If your numbers are around the medians or below, you will need your PS to do more work, and you'll need to develop a more compelling story. Your volunteering story can be spiced up, so don't give up on that idea. Talk about what inspired you and moved you. It's ok to talk about personal challenges and how you overcame them—it sounds like you're striking the right balance on that.
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:01 pm
by Leagles5161
"Need some brutally honest advice"
Well you came to the right website for that.
But yeah, I agree with Redamon1. No need to swing for a home run if the bases are loaded with no outs.
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:05 pm
by Mack.Hambleton
Agree with above play it safe. You want to be real, but remember you're selling yourself to them. Like in an interview you want to be authentic but don't bring up weird topics or topics that make you look bad
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:58 pm
by LSATclincher
edditb wrote:(Sorry for the incoming wall of text) Hey all. I'm working on my ps right now and I'm confused about what to write about. As currently constituted it includes me having severe acne, overcoming confidence issues, and then I talk about why I want to be a lawyer (enjoyed a law class, volunteered at legal nonprofit, roommate comes out during gay marriage movement) now I'm totally aware that those all combine for a pretty terrible statement. I've gotten advice like: be yourself, give your real story about why you want law school. If I were to tell an honest story about myself it'd be very heavily centered on social anxiety because that's something I had all of college and I've just recently made a ton of progress with. I can't have admissions officers getting nervous about that though, which is why I have kept it light and consequently it comes off as minor in my ps. I have good numbers, I just can't have an admissions officer get worried about what he/she perceives to be a serious flaw in me and allow that to be a differentiator. I could write a bland ps about my volunteering at a legal non profit org..which to its credit is part of the reason why I am sure I want to go to law school. What's my move here?
You could absolutely crush it w/ an acne story if it truly affected you (i.e. you get picked on, etc.). Start there
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:12 pm
by ManoftheHour
Leagles5161 wrote:" No need to swing for a home run if the bases are loaded with no outs.
For some reason when I went up to bat for my law school softball team, that's exactly what I thought I should do.
I don't play baseball/softball.
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:14 pm
by Big Dog
if there was any bullying due to your medical problem that you overcame, that could be a real winner. Adcoms love folks who have overcome adversity.
Re: Need some brutally honest advice
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:53 pm
by Leagles5161
ManoftheHour wrote:Leagles5161 wrote:" No need to swing for a home run if the bases are loaded with no outs.
For some reason when I went up to bat for my law school softball team, that's exactly what I thought I should do.
I don't play baseball/softball.
This made me laugh out loud. Fuck it, keep swinging for the fences my friend.