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What the hell is this supposed to be? Can I use my PS for this? My personal statement has to do with academics, somewhat, but it is a tangential relationship at best. Definitely not the focus.

Odd. What does the prompt say?

Taken from the UF Law Website...

"Academic Admissions Statement

The Levin College of Law seeks to enroll a class with varied backgrounds and academic skills. Such diversity contributes to the learning environment of the law school, and historically has produced graduates who have served all segments of society and who have become leaders in many fields of law. To better assess such qualities, the Levin College of Law requires each applicant to write an Academic Admissions Statement not to exceed four double-spaced pages in a font no smaller than 12 pt.

This statement is not a personal statement and should focus on academic skills and experiences. The statement may include, but need not be limited to, information regarding academic interests, academic experiences and scholarly activities. Academic information should focus on undergraduate and post-graduate work and may include relevant experiences gained in a professional work setting. Examples of academic information include research experiences and projects such as lab research projects and extensive research papers, senior or graduate theses or dissertations. The applicant’s academic experiences and academic skills should be the dominant theme of the statement.

The Levin College of Law strongly encourages applicants to upload the Academic Admissions Statement via the LSAC online application web site."

oh shiznuts i have to write one too!

itachiuchiha wrote:oh shiznuts i have to write one too!

Apparently based on people from this forum they say that to just submit my main personal statement, regardless if it has to do with academics.

dsdsdsds

mvonh001 wrote:

itachiuchiha wrote:oh shiznuts i have to write one too!

Apparently based on people from this forum they say that to just submit my main personal statement, regardless if it has to do with academics.

they specifically say that they don't want a PS. I don't think a PS is appropriate unless it only talks about your academics.

well what i gather from it is if your ps has something to do with academics then it is acceptable. IDK, but that is how I'm interpreting it.
Anyone with first hand experience and would like to chime in would be wonderful.

It's a stupid and pointless paragraph-form restatement of your resume, and from what I've heard they barely read it. I ended up not even applying to my alma mater because of this aggravating "unique" essay requirement and the lack of a fee waiver.

What an idiotic requirement. UF has one of the most numbers-driven admissions processes of any law school, so it's clear that they aren't using these essays to sort the applicant pool. All they've done is create a pointless requirement that deters people from applying (see Cicero) and adds no countervailing value to their selection process.

If you have the numbers for UF [LSAT 25th/median/75th: 156 (-4)/160 (-1)/162 (-2); GPA 25th/median/75th: 3.32 (-.01)/3.55 (-.04)/3.77 (+.04)], this essay will make no difference to your chances of admission and is not worth stressing over. Just regurgitate your CV/academic résumé, avoid profanity, and you should be fine.

Ya, because of this nonsense I seriously am reconsidering applying there.

Hey, I currently go to UF and spoke with both a pre-law advisor here and an admissions counselor at the law school. They told me that you should right about the academic achievements in college, such as any internships that required research, research projects from classes, any sort of internship that may have required extensive writing (grant writing, etc.), when I spoke to them they were very vague, so as long as you can tailor your PS to encompass an overall "academic" statement, I'd say go ahead and submit that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought "what the hell?" when I read about their required academic statement. Thanks to the couple of you who have some helpful advice.

It won't stop me from applying, but it is pretty stupid.

This is just an extreme example of all the apparently pointless hoop-jumping that law schools require when applying. I say "apparently" because this stuff does have an important practical psychological function. Nobody is going to read your rec letters or care how your resume is organized or do more than skim your PS for basic literacy skills (if that). The point of all these requirements is to create the impression in the applicant's mind that they're both doing you an immense favor and bestowing a profound personal honor on you when they deign to allow you to give them $100,000 and three years of your life.

This extra quasi-PS statement may be taking things a bit far though.

I agree, I just typed up, in paragraph form, 4 paragraphs explaining my class choices throughout undergrad. Hope that helps them determine if they want my (currently) 163 - 3.49...

Why does my heart always start beating rapidly when I see the name Paul Campos? A legend has graced us gentleman, a legend has graced us.

crestor wrote:Why does my heart always start beating rapidly when I see the name Paul Campos? A legend has graced us gentleman, a legend has graced us.

Sexist.

Ti Malice wrote:

crestor wrote:Why does my heart always start beating rapidly when I see the name Paul Campos? A legend has graced us gentleman, a legend has graced us.

Sexist.

crestor wrote:

Ti Malice wrote:

crestor wrote:Why does my heart always start beating rapidly when I see the name Paul Campos? A legend has graced us gentleman, a legend has graced us.

Sexist.

Wasn't being serious. Don't take it personally.

I used my main personal statement last year, which wasn't even remotely related to what they asked. I got welcomed into the Class of 2016 with $$$.

Purplebook wrote:I used my main personal statement last year, which wasn't even remotely related to what they asked. I got welcomed into the Class of 2016 with $$$.

is that so?

I want to do that as well, I just can't seem to write anything about my academic interests that isnt just literally saying, "Well as a freshman i wanted to be a doctor, but then i decided law was for me. So i decided to major in Psychology. My freshman year I took 4 classes in psychology because I love it soo fuking much. BLah Blah Blah...." But I think that will hurt my chances more than just submitting my PS.

So you didnt submit a Diversity statement then? Is that correct?

Paul Campos wrote:This is just an extreme example of all the apparently pointless hoop-jumping that law schools require when applying. I say "apparently" because this stuff does have an important practical psychological function. Nobody is going to read your rec letters or care how your resume is organized or do more than skim your PS for basic literacy skills (if that). The point of all these requirements is to create the impression in the applicant's mind that they're both doing you an immense favor and bestowing a profound personal honor on you when they deign to allow you to give them $100,000 and three years of your life.

This extra quasi-PS statement may be taking things a bit far though.

LOL