Personal Statement

Objective

Most personal statement prompts do not provide a specific topic or question because law schools believe that you are the best judge of topic. The personal statement is an opportunity to demonstrate a facet of who you are to law schools. This is an opportunity to be creative, thoughtful, and insightful so make sure that you provide yourself with sufficient time to think through potential topics.

Crafting a Strong Statement

Since law schools generally do not interview applicants, the personal statement provides an opportunity for applicants to express themselves. Law schools want to know why you want to attend law school but are also interested in the motivation, values, and experiences that collectively make the applicant someone a committee member would like to have in class, or as a colleague. Focus on what motivates you and experiences and people you have learned from. Careers in Law advisers will work with law school applicants to write compelling personal statements.

Potential Experiences to Highlight

Since the personal statement is unique to each applicant, the topic will differ from person to person. Nonetheless, below are a few ideas to help you brainstorm material for your personal statement:

  • Hobbies, work, or other formative experiences that shaped you in some way

  • Life events that have changed or motivated you

  • Challenges or hurdles you have overcome

  • Unique experience that you had inside or outside the classroom

Supplemental Essays

The supplemental essays vary from school to school and even from year to year. For many schools, these are optional essays ranging from one to several options of a list. We generally advise that applicants take advantage of opportunities to share information with admissions committees. While the decision to write any particular essay is a personal one, a CIL adviser will gladly work with you on topic ideas and deciding whether writing this essay would be additive to your application materials.