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Dear TLS,

I wanted to get some opinions on a question I have regarding a transfer student's personal statement. I feel somewhat goofy asking this considering that the additional effort required is not immense, but do any of you think that particularizing my personal statement per each school I apply to is worth the effort? For example, at least a couple of schools have particular faculty members whose work and teaching I am interested in; would it be worthwhile to mention this interest, or is there some downside that I'm just not appreciating?

Thanks

I particularized my personal statements and I think you should to.

I didn't really, at all, but I should have. It's so little work and I think that you should do what you can to increase your chances.

Goldie wrote:I didn't really, at all, but I should have. It's so little work and I think that you should do what you can to increase your chances.

Yup.

I think personalizing helped me a lot. My stats were T2, Top 5%. I personalized both of my statements to NYU and CLS, and part of that involved explaining my desire to pursue enviro impact litigation. I also said that their respective LRAPs would help me achieve this goal, and also commented on their respective opportunities to learn more about enviro law (enviro journal, enviro student org, well-known enviro professor/s, etc.).

CLS doesn't get a lot of PI people, particular transfers, and the school is making a conscious effort to recruit more PI students to diversify the school's alumni base. I was not selected during NYU's first round of admissions, but I was at CLS. I am pretty sure that is because, whereas NYU gets a lot of PI kids, CLS chose me partly because of my PI interests and that differentiated me enough to get in compared to other people with similar stats who did not.

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