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How to Make Your Law School Personal Statement Matter
A quick rummage around the web for information on law school admission will unearth volumes of opinions on how best to get in. On one thing, however, most of them seem to agree: law school admission is a numbers game, balanced delicately upon GPA and LSAT, LSAT, LSAT. Law school admission, it seems, kneels at the feet of the standardized test. For aspiring candidates, the law school admission process is all about statistics. The highest median LSAT scores are inextricably tied to the highest ranking schools, which in turn, churn out the highest percentage of graduates hired at the top-tier firms, with the highest average salaries. The hyperbole gets exhausting. Demoralizing, too, perhaps, for the well-rounded, experienced student without the grades and test scores to prove it. Or is it?
The University of California at Berkeley (ranked #9 by the 2011 U.S. News and World Report Rankings), recently posted suggested guidelines for personal statements for their law school candidates. UC Berkeley Law School
The instructions, written by a former admissions officer, range from common sense tips to candid admonitions about what NOT to (ever) include in a personal statement. The advice is refreshingly honest. Above all, it serves as a reminder that the personal statement does in fact matter. So much so that a poorly written statement can be irritating and distracting to the weary admissions officer.
A reminder, perhaps, that even in the rank-happy world of law school admission, there is a person behind the test-score, and the law school admissions officer wants to see who they really are.
Labels: make your law school personal statement matter
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