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Since the school is extremely business oriented, is it a bad idea to talk about social justice and public interest in the personal statement for NU?

Nope.

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PI is never a bad strategy as long as you have the experiences to back it up. Law School Admissions Officers can spot a fake story a mile away. - Admissions Track

admissionstrack wrote:PI is never a bad strategy as long as you have the experiences to back it up. Law School Admissions Officers can spot a fake story a mile away. - Admissions Track

What if you're a K-JD who is extremely interested in PI but doesn't have any experience? I've spent most of my undergrad pursuing my interest in social justice through theatre/playwriting before realizing that I'd prefer to go the law route. Does this mean anything I say about wanting to go into PI will come off as fake?

I also have had to work in college and over the summers, and spent this summer taking care of my grandma, so really I haven't had much time to demonstrate my interest

april_ludgate wrote:

admissionstrack wrote:PI is never a bad strategy as long as you have the experiences to back it up. Law School Admissions Officers can spot a fake story a mile away. - Admissions Track

What if you're a K-JD who is extremely interested in PI but doesn't have any experience? I've spent most of my undergrad pursuing my interest in social justice through theatre/playwriting before realizing that I'd prefer to go the law route. Does this mean anything I say about wanting to go into PI will come off as fake?

No. Plenty of people who want to go the PI track have a background that isn't directly political or legal. Advocacy through arts, NGOs, etc. is plenty of street cred if you can get it, and the quoted poster is making shit up. No one, least of all the adcomm reading your PS, thinks that it's a binding document that will compel you to follow through on every interest you say is driving you to law school. If everyone were held to that standard, most people wouldn't go to law school.

Also, if the quoted poster keeps "signing" their posts, it's gonna get old real fast.

dan9257 wrote:Since the school is extremely business oriented, is it a bad idea to talk about social justice and public interest in the personal statement for NU?

No, the school's spending a shitload of money to bolster our public interest program right now. Feel free to talk about it as long as you sound sincere.

Other than the fact we have a lot of JD-MBAs and a really good entrepreneurship clinic, NU's not really "business oriented". At least no more than the other T14s are.

admissionstrack wrote:PI is never a bad strategy as long as you have the experiences to back it up. Law School Admissions Officers can spot a fake story a mile away. - Admissions Track

I think maybe a better way to say this is "as long as you have the passion/dedication to back it up." I think the problem is if you write about PI because you think PI will make you look better/noble/high-minded and that's not why you want to go to law school - that's where you'll look fake. I think if your dedication is genuine you're fine.

How much does the interview bolster the candidacy? I'm doing an interview, but with an alum....