Reapplicant - Do I Have to Scrap Old Personal Statement? Forum

[BillsFan9907]

I just retook in Sept. I think that I did quite well. Applied last cycle with a 169 and a prior, slightly lower score. I had a near 4.0. My cycle went as followed:

IN
1. WUSTL - Fullride
2. USC - Fullride
3. Cornell - 2/3 scholarship (120K)
4. NYU
5. Georgetown

WL-IN
1. Penn

WL-Ding
1. Columbia
2. Chicago
3. UVA

Ding
1. Stanford

Looking at mylsn, I "outperformed" my numbers in terms of the scholarship offers that I received. My conclusion is that my softs in conjunction with my PS was the determining factor.

With all that said, do I have to submit a completely new PS to the schools in which I am interested in reapplying?

[P.J.Fry]

You will most definitely want to at least update it to reflect how you've changed as an applicant over the last year. What have you been doing? What have you learned from the last cycle, and what efforts did you make to improve your candidacy? If the only thing you have done in the last year is improve your LSAT score, that actually may be one reason that a school may actually ding you when numbers suggest you should get in - or at least not be willing to offer you much of a scholarship.

[FSK]

Seriously good on you for retaking after a 2/3 $$$ at cornell. More students should take after you.

[BillsFan9907]

Seriously good on you for retaking after a 2/3 $$$ at cornell. More students should take after you.

Thanks man, I thought most people on TLS would do the same though?

[jenesaislaw]

You will most definitely want to at least update it to reflect how you've changed as an applicant over the last year. What have you been doing? What have you learned from the last cycle, and what efforts did you make to improve your candidacy? If the only thing you have done in the last year is improve your LSAT score, that actually may be one reason that a school may actually ding you when numbers suggest you should get in - or at least not be willing to offer you much of a scholarship.

What? This at worst doesn't make sense, but at best presumes too much about OP's personal statement. A PS isn't a resume. It's an essay with several purposes. If how OP has changed over the past year is worth a PS, give a draft a shot and have people read both. If OP's experiences impact the PS, then change/update it. If OP doesn't have something worth writing about from the last year, then just stick with the PS you have. (Perhaps male changes now that you've had a year to sit on it -- it won't feel like OP's anymore.)

[BillsFan9907]

You will most definitely want to at least update it to reflect how you've changed as an applicant over the last year. What have you been doing? What have you learned from the last cycle, and what efforts did you make to improve your candidacy? If the only thing you have done in the last year is improve your LSAT score, that actually may be one reason that a school may actually ding you when numbers suggest you should get in - or at least not be willing to offer you much of a scholarship.

What? This at worst doesn't make sense, but at best presumes too much about OP's personal statement. A PS isn't a resume. It's an essay with several purposes. If how OP has changed over the past year is worth a PS, give a draft a shot and have people read both. If OP's experiences impact the PS, then change/update it. If OP doesn't have something worth writing about from the last year, then just stick with the PS you have (perhaps with changes now that you've had a year to sit on it -- it won't feel like OP's anymore.)

So it's not frowned upon to submit the same thing?

[jenesaislaw]

I mean, you may be giving up an opportunity to show something different about yourself, because they will have access to the old one. I don't think it's a bad idea to write a new one. Just make sure it's excellent like your other one seems to have been.

My main objection to that other post was that it treated the PS like a resume, and a PS should not be an expanded version of your resume.

[Christina AA]

If you are re-applying a year later, you need to show improvement as an applicant. Although you will possibly do that with your LSAT, the most obvious - and meaningful - way to do that is through your personal statement and other softs, e.g. a stronger letter of recommendation, more and targeted work experience, etc. Without seeing your PS, I can't advise you on how or why it should change, but it would seem prudent to at least take a hard look at it and how well it reflects who you are today (compared with who you were when you applied a year ago).