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Hi,

I just finished my draft and did not know if I should add a sentence or two to say why I want to go to law school. I've seen sample essays did it and most of the time they seemed abrupt. I think I've done a good job telling my story and who I am in the PS. So is "why law" absolutely necessary?

It's not strictly necessary, but I favor having something there if your PS isn't clear on that point. So if you write about how you always loved taking care of puppies at the pound when you were young, you may need to explain how that ties in to you wanting to go to law school.

On the other hand, if your PS is already about your involvement with things that obviously tie in to law school, then you probably don't need anything else.

On a separate perspective, as long as your PS doesn't point to strong conclusions against going to law school, you are fine leaving out a "why law" portion. PS is to give perspective into your life and personality. Certainly don't talk about how you always wanted to be an MD, without connecting that to somehow applying for JD, but you should be fine if you don't have anything specific about why law.

Why law is just a traditional and generally easy way to connect someone's history with where they are now and their future goals. So that's why it is very common to see in a PS.

If you have a compelling story that has nothing to do with the law or law school, then by all means don't worry about it. I imagine a huge percentage of personal statements are 'Why law school' pieces. That is fine, but I'm sure it does not actually move the needle in the eyes of adcomms.

FWIW I wrote my PS about something completely irrelevant to the law, and my cycle turned out exactly as it should have.

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But I was also under the impression that if the rest of your application or your academics don't exactly clearly indicate your interest in law, then you should mention it in your PS or at least your why X school essays. Thoughts?

studyingeveryday wrote:But I was also under the impression that if the rest of your application or your academics don't exactly clearly indicate your interest in law, then you should mention it in your PS or at least your why X school essays. Thoughts?

I generally agree with this. I was pre-med. Totally on the track to go to medical school and finished all of my requirements to do so. All of my work experience is med school oriented. For a candidate like me, expanding on a life experience would not be sufficient. They probably wanna know why I switched up the game lol

Thanks guys! It's been very helpful!

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