Cover Letter- Help! Law School I'm applying for requires it Forum

[olive222]

Hello everyone!
I'm almost done applying to a law school that I desperately want to get into- except I can't figure out how to properly write a tailored cover letter for it. I've written cover letters for jobs with no problems, formatting and content are pretty standard and easy. What I'm having difficulty with is instead of addressing all of the things I could bring to a company from other companies I've worked at- I have to write about what I drew out of my undergraduate studies/career (I'm assuming) and how that will benefit their school and so forth. I've addressed a lot of that in my personal statement & I obviously cannot be redundant and repeat stuff from my resume and personal statement so I feel a little bit stuck.

Anyone have any samples that maybe they found or would be willing to share with me? I know I just need a push in the right direction and I know that reading one good cover letter (specific for law school) would help me get going. I have spent hours searching online with no luck, just the same old standard job/internship cover letters.

Thank you in advance if you take the time to respond.

[dingbat]

A cover letter should do one (or both) of two things:

1) provide a brief synopsis of the content of the remainder (typical)
2) address or mention something that would not be appropriate to cover elsewhere in your application (rare)

Remember, a cover letter shouldn't really be more than half a page long.

Basically, you should use your cover letter to draw the reader in. If you have nothing new to add, draw them in by focusing on the key aspects of you/your application, in brief sentences.

Only you know your application. Only you know if there are gaps that are best addressed in a cover letter, or key items that should be highlighted.

[CanadianWolf]

Use the cover letter to highlight your interest in that particular law school.

[olive222]

A cover letter should do one (or both) of two things:

1) provide a brief synopsis of the content of the remainder (typical)
2) address or mention something that would not be appropriate to cover elsewhere in your application (rare)

Remember, a cover letter shouldn't really be more than half a page long.

Basically, you should use your cover letter to draw the reader in. If you have nothing new to add, draw them in by focusing on the key aspects of you/your application, in brief sentences.

Only you know your application. Only you know if there are gaps that are best addressed in a cover letter, or key items that should be highlighted.

Thank you for the tips, I will do my best to do so.

[bdole2]

....what school is it? Most schools that accept applications this late aren't worth attending. You should also not be applying this late in the cycle if you want a decent chance at scholarship money...