The Art of the Law School Personal Statement

The Art of the Law School Personal Statement is your guide to writing a successful law school personal statement by Michelle Fabio, Esq., former About.com Guide to Law School. Michelle has helped hundreds of aspiring students prepare personal statements through both About.com and her own venture, PersonalStatementArtist.com; you'll find all her best advice in this handy volume.

The Art of the Law School Personal Statement will guide you through the entire essay process, including brainstorming (over 80 questions and writing prompts to get you moving); formulating, structuring, and revising your essay; conquering writer's block; and much more.

You will also find out which topics to avoid, what never to do in your personal statement, and how to format your essay to make sure you're giving the adcomm the best impression possible.

EXCERPT:

Why This Book?

I called this book “The Art of the Law School Personal Statement” because I believe that crafting a law school personal statement is an art that can be mastered with time, dedication, and the right instruction—and that is where this book comes in.

The law school personal statement is different from every other admission essay because it is read and judged by law school admission committees, and these adcomms are looking for a particular set of qualities that no other type of admissions officer is seeking. They want to know you are intelligent, determined, hard-working, serious, focused, organized, resourceful, and relentless when pursuing a goal.

Your job in the personal statement is to show them that.

This book breaks down the task of composing a phenomenal personal statement to the barest essentials; it is all about the personal statement and nothing else so you don’t have to waste your time sifting through all other kinds of law school-related tidbits that don’t matter when you’re focused on your essay.

I’ve broken up the book into three main sections—choosing a topic, writing, and rewriting and revising—because this is all you need to do to end up with a personal statement that will increase your chances of admission at your first choice law school.

Maybe the phrase “this is all you need to do” makes the process sound a little easier than it is. Don’t get me wrong: you’re going to have to work.

Don’t expect to write your statement in one, two, or even three days. Ideally you will have begun thinking about your essay well ahead of application deadlines so you have sufficient time to plan, write, revise, and then revisit everything with perspective gained only through time. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can have a convincing, well-written personal statement that will dare adcomms not to admit you.

For those of you who are interested in specific information on other law school application essays such as addenda, Part IV of this book includes sections on addenda, diversity statements, and Why X Law School statements. You’ll also find a list of recommended resources in the final chapter.

At this point, just the words “personal statement” may be enough to invoke panic as you may be wondering how you can possibly make yourself seem like the perfect law school candidate in just a handful of paragraphs.

Well, yes, that is a lot of pressure on one essay, but if you work your way through this book and follow the advice regarding topic selection, writing, and revising, you’ll be well on your way to submitting the best personal statement possible—and that means putting yourself in the best position to reach your ultimate goal: a seat in the 1L class of your choice.

Are you ready to write? Good.

Let’s do this.