Do personal statements really matter at the end of the day? Forum
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Anonymous User
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Do personal statements really matter at the end of the day?
seriously, not trying to troll. but do personal statements really matter that much at all?
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btruj777
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Re: Do personal statements really matter at the end of the day?
While I do think they matter, as in there exists a possibility of it affecting an outcome. I do not think they matter in the sense of making a bad app, good, or a good app great.
I think they matter in the sense that they can put the school on notice of who you are. If you think you are God's gift to man and come off as a poisonous person to the school, they may take this to be a red flag. If it is obvious you did not do enough research as to what they look for (some schools ask for different things) then this may be a sign of a lack of attention to detail or research or care.
There is one exception, I believe, if you are a VIP type person or an ambassador from God knows where, or if you have survived being a war child, etc the PS would be the place to express that.
IDK if this makes sense. But I think it is the law school's first impression of you and usually it is more possible to give off an average or bad first impression, than a most memorable one.
I think they matter in the sense that they can put the school on notice of who you are. If you think you are God's gift to man and come off as a poisonous person to the school, they may take this to be a red flag. If it is obvious you did not do enough research as to what they look for (some schools ask for different things) then this may be a sign of a lack of attention to detail or research or care.
There is one exception, I believe, if you are a VIP type person or an ambassador from God knows where, or if you have survived being a war child, etc the PS would be the place to express that.
IDK if this makes sense. But I think it is the law school's first impression of you and usually it is more possible to give off an average or bad first impression, than a most memorable one.
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A. Nony Mouse
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Re: Do personal statements really matter at the end of the day?
They're going to matter most at the margins. If you're above both 75ths the school is likely just to be looking to see there are no red flags - if your PS suggests you're a psychokiller or is so terribly written it doesn't match with your otherwise demonstrated ability, they might look further. Otherwise, you're doubtless fine. It's as you move down in scores and are a splitter, or borderline, and schools are deciding between similarly-situated candidates, that schools are more likely to pay more attention to things like PSes and LORs (if a school has to choose between 2 candidates with similar stats, the other stuff can make a difference).
So if you're a really competitive candidate for a given school, the PS isn't going to matter unless it really shows some kind of red flag/problem - just submit something safe and grammatically correct. The more you're reaching, the more you want to make sure your PS is EXCELLENT. (That only goes so far of course - even a stellar PS isn't getting a 3.3/155 into HLS - but within the realm of possibility, at least.)
So if you're a really competitive candidate for a given school, the PS isn't going to matter unless it really shows some kind of red flag/problem - just submit something safe and grammatically correct. The more you're reaching, the more you want to make sure your PS is EXCELLENT. (That only goes so far of course - even a stellar PS isn't getting a 3.3/155 into HLS - but within the realm of possibility, at least.)
