Penn Supplemental Essays Forum

[Lovely Ludwig Van]

Two questions:

First off, when the Penn application asks us to address 1-3 of the supplemental essay topics, does that mean up to three separate 1-page essays? Or is it one 1-page essay that deals with up to all three topics? Sorry I know this is probably really paranoid, but I am really banking on Penn as my 1st choice school.

Second, for those of you who decided to write on the second essay topic (art/literature), would you mind stating which piece of art/literature you wrote on? This seems like a highly abstract topic and difficult to tie in with law school.

Thanks for all/any responses.

[r6_philly]

My understanding is one topic per page. I wrote 1 and 3 so can't help you with the 2nd one.

[Hedwig]

I was thinking of going with Harry Potter for the lit one, and talking about Albus Dumbledore's oratorial skills.

[mst]

Haha god that 2nd one was just screaming for crazy answers.

[Hedwig]

Seriously. Who here was ACTUALLY inspired by a book or a work of art? Anyone? Did you see the Mona Lisa and go OH MY GOD! I WANNA BE A LEGISLATOR?!

I guess you could go with something classic like To Kill A Mockingbird.

When I was a little kid I wanted to be both a horse racing jockey and an Olympic figure skater because of books I read. I guess I should have been reading books about lawyers instead so I'd have something to write about.

[mst]

Maybe it's a weed out essay. As in, anybody that writes it is taken out of the pool. Seriously though. If anybody decided to go law school after reading a book or looking at a picture, that person needs to seriously reevaluate the factors that contribute to their life decisions. Example: "Honey...I just read the cat and the hat...and...i might be forward and all because we've only been dating a few weeks...but you're my thing 1 and I'm your thing 2... and if we don't get married now we'll just be two crazy blue crackheads in orange jumpsuits with crazy blue hair..."

[gbpackerbacker]

Seriously. Who here was ACTUALLY inspired by a book or a work of art? Anyone? Did you see the Mona Lisa and go OH MY GOD! I WANNA BE A LEGISLATOR?!

I guess you could go with something classic like To Kill A Mockingbird.

When I was a little kid I wanted to be both a horse racing jockey and an Olympic figure skater because of books I read. I guess I should have been reading books about lawyers instead so I'd have something to write about.

I was.

[mst]

"When Winnie the Pooh got his head stuck in the honey jar, I didn't laugh. After all, all I saw was that this was an obvious case of a potential class action lawsuit against Honey Pot Makers, Inc. That's when I knew I wanted to be on those billboards. That's when I knew... I wanted to be a personal injury attorney."

[kazu]

Example: "Honey...I just read the cat and the hat...and...i might be forward and all because we've only been dating a few weeks...but you're my thing 1 and I'm your thing 2... and if we don't get married now we'll just be two crazy blue crackheads in orange jumpsuits with crazy blue hair..."

"When Winnie the Pooh got his head stuck in the honey jar, I didn't laugh. After all, all I saw was that this was an obvious case of a potential class action lawsuit against Honey Pot Makers, Inc. That's when I knew I wanted to be on those billboards. That's when I knew... I wanted to be a personal injury attorney."

LMFAO

[MysticalWheel]

Seriously. Who here was ACTUALLY inspired by a book or a work of art? Anyone? Did you see the Mona Lisa and go OH MY GOD! I WANNA BE A LEGISLATOR?!

I guess you could go with something classic like To Kill A Mockingbird.

When I was a little kid I wanted to be both a horse racing jockey and an Olympic figure skater because of books I read. I guess I should have been reading books about lawyers instead so I'd have something to write about.

Beyond Good and Evil by good old Senor Friedricho came close, but otherwise, it's a BS question.

MW

[Hedwig]

Seriously. Who here was ACTUALLY inspired by a book or a work of art? Anyone? Did you see the Mona Lisa and go OH MY GOD! I WANNA BE A LEGISLATOR?!

I guess you could go with something classic like To Kill A Mockingbird.

When I was a little kid I wanted to be both a horse racing jockey and an Olympic figure skater because of books I read. I guess I should have been reading books about lawyers instead so I'd have something to write about.

I was.

Awesome, which one?

[shanshan333]

I just wanted to say that I did, in fact, write the 2nd essay and ED'd to Penn.... I'm really happy with the essay and, since I'm an English major, I definitely have read a number of books that inspired me to pursue a legal education

[mst]

I just wanted to say that I did, in fact, write the 2nd essay and ED'd to Penn.... I'm really happy with the essay and, since I'm an English major, I definitely have read a number of books that inspired me to pursue a legal education

Way to kill the jokes lame-o.

[Mike12188]

I just wanted to say that I did, in fact, write the 2nd essay and ED'd to Penn.... I'm really happy with the essay and, since I'm an English major, I definitely have read a number of books that inspired me to pursue a legal education

Way to kill the jokes lame-o.

F*ckin' English majors.

[shanshan333]

haha, yes, we're known to suck the fun out of everything

[ahduth]

Literature majors FTW! Definitely planning on writing that second essay (probably later tonight lol). I figured that question was automatic - it's almost like getting another personal statement by which your application might stand out.

Oh, and I'll also be writing on my five year plan to slave away as a big law drone. Because they're going to find that different and memorable.

Edit: I've had too much coffee today. But I really am writing the second essay. I'm glad to hear it will be one of the few.

[shanshan333]

for a second i was totally confused about that second part. yeah! im glad to stand out too.

[leopardRAWR]

Am I the only person who wrote their supplemental essay about art?

[Bildungsroman]

Seriously though. If anybody decided to go law school after reading a book or looking at a picture, that person needs to seriously reevaluate the factors that contribute to their life decisions.

A book I read about the law was a major motivating factor in me applying to law school. What's so crazy about that?

[ahduth]

Seriously though. If anybody decided to go law school after reading a book or looking at a picture, that person needs to seriously reevaluate the factors that contribute to their life decisions.

A book I read about the law was a major motivating factor in me applying to law school. What's so crazy about that?

Nothing considering your goddamn username is bildungsroman. Sheesh.

[birdlaw117]

Am I the only person who wrote their supplemental essay about art?

Was it this?

[leopardRAWR]

Haha actually no it wasn't. It was about a piece of art that I genuinely loved as a child, and I spun it into how that made me want to be creative, discussed how I persevered through failure after failure at typical artistic things trying to find my creative side, then discovered I had a way with words and that law would be a way to fulfill my creative dreams through the frequent opportunity to play with words.

Or something like that. Yes, that is seriously what I wrote my essay about. Any diversity essay I attempted would be an even bigger joke, and I can't plan the next 5 hours much less the 5 years after law school convincingly, so I was left with the art/literature prompt. I figured why not have fun with it? If it works, they clearly think I have a way with words. If it doesn't, then I suppose I was not supposed to end up a Penn lol