Draft PS for an MLS program Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm looking at an online Master of Legal Studies program, rather than a JD program. The school I'm applying to has a different set of criteria outlined for each of those programs. For the MLS, they simply want "a personal statement of 3-4 pages summarizing your qualifications for and interest in the program, along with career objectives." I'd appreciate any advice about this draft personal statement as it pertains to that criteria. Note, this is just over three pages in Word.

Thank you in advance.

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For the majority of my professional career, I have found myself regularly interacting with attorneys. I have worked closely with both inside and outside counsel on matters as routine as lease enforcement issues, and as complex as creating multi-entity real estate partnerships utilizing structured financing and requiring compliance with state and federal tax-credit programs.

As a result of the countless hours I’ve spent with attorneys, I have come to appreciate the way that lawyers think. Time and time again, I have seen how the thought process and logic of someone who is trained in the law is very different than that of someone who is trained in business. I won’t go so far as to say that one is inherently better than the other, but I consistently find myself impressed with a legal-studies-based decision-making framework that is methodical, organized, and comprehensive.

My educational background has largely been business-based. I earned a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2002 from New York University’s Stern School of Business. At the beginning of my senior year, the city I was living and learning in was attacked. I watched the World Trade Center collapse through the window of my lower Manhattan dorm room, and I immediately made a fear-based decision not to pursue a traditional Wall Street career. Instead, I opted to earn a master’s degree with a dual emphasis in management and marketing. XXXXXXXXXXX offered me a full tuition waiver in their MBA program in exchange for my teaching an introductory finance course. To the relief of my mother I moved to a place that seemed as unlikely to be the site of a potential terrorist attack as I could imagine. Upon graduation from that program I went into real estate development in the shopping-center arena and later, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, found myself involved in the tax-credit industry working for one of the nation’s largest investors in that space.

After half a dozen years in community development banking, I had the opportunity to return to the development rather than the lending side of the real estate industry. I was offered a position as a development and construction project manager and, despite having no direct construction experience, I accepted. Shortly after I started my new job, I enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program in construction management at XXXXXXXXXXXXX’s College of Engineering. It was my first exposure to asynchronous online education, and I was an instant convert. I realized at that point that I could pursue the educational opportunities that I desired without needing to put my career on hold or take out substantial loans in order to cover tuition and living expenses.

I am currently the Director of Real Estate Development for XXXXXXXXXX, located in XXXXXXXXXX. Our agency owns and operates over 1,600 units of low-income housing in the community, and the department I head is responsible for the development, funding, and construction of additional units for the over 6,000 families on our agency’s waitlist. This involves working and negotiating directly with local municipal governments, state and federal agencies, equity investors, lenders, regulators, architects, contractors, accountants, tenant service providers, neighboring landowners, and the general public.

To say that a rudimentary knowledge of the law would be a benefit to anyone doing the work that I do and that I hope to continue doing in the future would be an understatement. While I have always been able to rely on competent representation to clearly and succinctly explain complicated legal concepts and situations in order to allow me to make the best decisions for my organization, I have a desire to increase the foundation of my personal knowledge base. Without pursuing a full JD, I understand that I am unlikely to learn to think exactly the way a lawyer thinks, but I am confident that matriculating through the Master of Legal Studies program at XXXXXXXXXXX will provide an excellent opportunity for me to develop a foundational understanding of legal concepts and to hone my critical thinking skills.

In addition to satisfying my intellectual curiosity, broadening my fundamental understanding of the law and the legal system will bolster my confidence level when analyzing and interpreting legal issues that arise in the real estate development process. As the employee of a quasi-governmental agency, I have a duty to spend our funds responsibly, even when those funds are not publicly derived. I believe that expanding my legal literacy and learning to apply complex legal reasoning to the decision-making process will allow me to be less reliant on outside counsel and to ask better questions of that counsel when they are engaged on our behalf. This will increase the efficiency with which I am able to operate both by reducing the amount of time required to make informed decisions as well as by reducing the amount of money spent on outside counsel in order to do so.

I am incredibly proud of the work that I do to provide needed housing for vulnerable populations. The low-income individuals and families who rent from us include veterans who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness, parents and children who have fled domestic violence, individuals with developmental or other disabilities, and youth who have aged out of foster care. Our agency is also working with service providers to put together programs that supply housing to individuals exiting the criminal justice system, persons with HIV / AIDS, and people who meet the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “chronically homeless” who often have underlying mental health issues that require 24 / 7 wraparound services. I love the positive impact that my career can have on people and I’m unwilling to give it up in order to attend school full time.

Additionally, I’m unwilling to stop learning. For the past six years I have made it a priority to acquire new skills and explore training opportunities as often as I can to challenge both my body and my mind. In addition to my job-related post-baccalaureate study, I’ve trained and studied for and received motorcycle, conceal carry, and amateur radio licenses, as well as multiple SCUBA certifications. I’ve taken flight lessons, surfing classes, and I recently signed up for a Morse code class. I know that this degree will not be the last degree I earn because my passion for knowledge and academic enrichment appears to be insatiable. The time is right, however, for this to be the next degree I earn as the expertise I acquire at XXXXXXXX will be directly applicable to the mission of my employer as well as the lives of the people I serve through my employment. I look forward to developing a better understanding of the law and how I can use that understanding to improve the lives of others.

[The Lsat Airbender]

This isn't too bad at first blush but the first three paragraphs seem like a huge waste of time. If you're trying to pad to get up to 3 pages I'd instead tell a concrete story about something that inspired you (e.g., an anecdote about the things you mention in the second-to-last paragraph).

[Anonymous User]

This isn't too bad at first blush but the first three paragraphs seem like a huge waste of time. If you're trying to pad to get up to 3 pages I'd instead tell a concrete story about something that inspired you (e.g., an anecdote about the things you mention in the second-to-last paragraph).

That's actually great feedback. I took out the first four paragraphs, and replaced them with a new first four, because this is an anecdote I use often when describing why I do what I do. I think I need to figure out how to re-incorporate qualifications / educational background back into this (maybe at the end), but I like this better. Thank you.


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My grandmother died when my mother was only four years old. My grandfather became a single parent doing his best to raise four girls in the early 1960’s. He had no formal education, having grown up in an orphanage, and he lied about his age so that he could enlist to fight in World War II. My mother did not have stable housing as a child because my grandfather was too proud to avail himself of any available aid, and unable to work consistently enough to guarantee a roof over their heads.

My experience as a child was significantly different than that of my mother. I’ve always felt somewhat guilty about the comforts I was able to take for granted growing up in a stable, upper-middle class two-parent household. I think my mom would sometimes tell us stories about her childhood specifically to make us feel bad and recognize how good we had it.

It worked.

I’ve always wanted the opportunity to help people not have to go through some of the things that my mother went through as a child. I was always able to see, if not clearly articulate, how her youth scarred her and shaped her worldview. The circumstances of her childhood weigh on her even today. Mom is depressed. Mom is an alcoholic. Mom loves me, but secretly resents how easy I had it.

I am currently the Director of Real Estate Development for XXXXXXX, located in XXXXXXX. Our agency owns and operates over 1,600 units of low-income housing in the community, and the department I head is responsible for the development, funding, and construction of additional units for the over 6,000 families on our agency’s waitlist. This involves working and negotiating directly with local municipal governments, state and federal agencies, equity investors, lenders, regulators, architects, contractors, accountants, tenant service providers, neighboring landowners, and the general public.

To say that a rudimentary knowledge of the law would be a benefit to anyone doing the work that I do and that I hope to continue doing in the future would be an understatement. While I have always been able to rely on competent representation to clearly and succinctly explain complicated legal concepts and situations in order to allow me to make the best decisions for my organization, I have a desire to increase the foundation of my personal knowledge base. Without pursuing a full JD, I understand that I am unlikely to learn to think exactly the way a lawyer thinks, but I am confident that matriculating through the Master of Legal Studies program at XXXXXXXX will provide an excellent opportunity for me to develop a foundational understanding of legal concepts and to hone my critical thinking skills.

In addition to satisfying my intellectual curiosity, broadening my fundamental understanding of the law and the legal system will bolster my confidence level when analyzing and interpreting legal issues that arise in the real estate development process. As the employee of a quasi-governmental agency, I have a duty to spend our funds responsibly, even when those funds are not publicly derived. I believe that expanding my legal literacy and learning to apply complex legal reasoning to the decision-making process will allow me to be less reliant on outside counsel and to ask better questions of that counsel when they are engaged on our behalf. This will increase the efficiency with which I am able to operate both by reducing the amount of time required to make informed decisions as well as by reducing the amount of money spent on outside counsel in order to do so.

I am incredibly proud of the work that I do to provide needed housing for vulnerable populations. The low-income individuals and families who rent from us include veterans who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness, parents and children who have fled domestic violence, individuals with developmental or other disabilities, and youth who have aged out of foster care. Our agency is also working with service providers to put together programs that supply housing to individuals exiting the criminal justice system, persons with HIV / AIDS, and people who meet the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of “chronically homeless” who often have underlying mental health issues that require 24 / 7 wraparound services. I love the positive impact that my career can have on people and I’m unwilling to give it up in order to attend school full time.

I’m also unwilling to stop learning. For the past six years I have made it a priority to acquire new skills and explore training opportunities as often as I can to challenge both my body and my mind. In addition to my job-related post-baccalaureate study, I’ve trained and studied for and received motorcycle, conceal carry, and amateur radio licenses, as well as multiple SCUBA certifications. I’ve taken flight lessons, surfing classes, and I recently signed up for a Morse code class. I know that this degree will not be the last degree I earn because my passion for knowledge and academic enrichment appears to be insatiable. The time is right, however, for this to be the next degree I earn as the expertise I acquire at XXXXX will be directly applicable to the mission of my employer as well as the lives of the people I serve through my employment. I look forward to developing a better understanding of the law and how I can use that understanding to improve the lives of others.