Diversity Statement - feedback appreciated Forum

[Anonymous User]

Thanks!

[cavalier1138]

First, this is well-written and very moving. It's a great piece of work.

That said (and I don't think I'll get universal agreement here), I don't think it's a very good topic for a diversity statement. The diversity statement talks about the unique viewpoint that you can offer a law school, and unfortunately, having a shitty childhood isn't all that unique. More importantly, though, it read to me like you were white but wanted to try and paint yourself as a really stand-out white person. And I think that could be a problem when the diversity statement is clearly meant to be more about the type of unique viewpoints that people of color, LGBTQ, disabled, etc. individuals might bring to the legal field.

Again, this is a really well-written piece, and I'm not critiquing it on its substance or style. I just think that it would be better suited for a personal statement than a diversity statement.

[Anonymous User]

OP here

I kind of thought the same thing but I saw advice for some other people on this forum saying that anything that could make you a unique candidate with a different perspective than others was worth writing about. Like...anything that could set you apart from other applicants can be written about. Thank you for your response!! (and for beig nice...I always appreciate that ). Unfortunately, I don't want to change my PS...I worked really hard on it and I think it's really good.

Edit: wondering if I could also write it more focused on poverty. A lot of the prompts specifically talk about socioeconomic diversity. Hmm...worth thinking about

[cavalier1138]

Yeah, I think focusing on growing up in poverty would be a better focus and probably help more for the diversity angle.