Harvard Graduate School Personal Statement

Before You Begin: Come to a Law Statement Writing Workshop Brainstorm Free-write List your personal skills or qualities and consider how they will make you a good addition to your law school class Decide what is important for you to get across about yourself Have a friend do a mock interview with you regarding why you are interested in applying to law school and other questions about yourself it can really help to talk out loud about these issues Writing Process This piece of writing should be much more like a story than a paper for college.. The personal statement should present your good side and focus on positive things.) This does not mean that difficult topics are off limits for your statement or that you should avoid writing about something that challenged you it just means that you should let the focus be your response to what happened, how it made you a stronger person, a more determined or committed student, etc.. Dennis Shields Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions University of Michigan Law School (Now at Duke Law) The essay should follow the directions in the application if it asks for one page or 250 words, the applicant should try to stay within those boundaries .Whoever sits down to read the applicant s file has probably, if they re lucky, half an hour to do it..