How to Write a Winning Personal Statement
Reflecting on who you are and who you are becoming
Since announcing my law school admissions results and that I’ll be enrolling at Stanford Law School this Fall, I have received many questions about writing a personal statement. The process of writing a personal statement can be, in my opinion,1 one of the most rewarding parts of applying to law school. It forces you to reflect on who you have been and who you are becoming, and you learn so much about yourself in the process.
On that note, while this post primarily serves as a guide for future law school applicants navigating the personal statement writing process, I think a similar approach can be fruitful for people at all stages of their careers and lives. I hope you’ll adapt this framework to draft a personal statement for whatever line of work you’re in and whatever one you dream of pursuing in the future.
What is the personal statement for?
Your personal statement’s primary job is to answer three questions. The first two are commonly discussed, but the last one might deviate from common wisdom and advice.
The first question is: why law? Why do you want to become a lawyer?
The second question is: why now? Why not apply in 3 years? Why not three years ago? This question is especially important if you are applying right out of undergrad, as it’s a growing trend among law schools to admit students with a couple of years of work experience. But don’t neglect it just because you’ve been out of school for a few years. What makes now the right time in your career for you to attend law school?
I might deviate from common wisdom when I say that I don’t think you should include “why this school?” in your personal statement. Many schools accept optional essays that give plenty of room for details on school-specific programming, which is a much better fit for that information. Your personal statement should instead focus on you.
Which leads me to the third question your personal statement should address: why you? What kind of lawyer will you be? Why are you the right person to pursue this line of work?
The reason I think why law, why now, and why you are the best questions to guide your personal statement is that the role of the personal statement, in conjunction with your GPA and LSAT score, is to make the admissions committee fall in love with the idea of you as a lawyer. Sharing the stories of what made you want to be a lawyer, made now the perfect time, and have shaped you into someone with unique goals, perspectives, and contributions to share to the school and the legal community will help them do that.
How do you write a personal statement?
I spent about 8 months writing my personal statement, and the place it started is almost unrecognizable compared to where it ended up. That’s not by accident. If you want to submit the best possible essay, you need time to reflect, to sit with what you’ve written, to edit and revise, and revise again.
In my personal statement, I wove together what I had done and what I hope to do one day. Both are important for a good personal statement
Here are some questions I found myself sitting with as I prepared to write and as I revised my personal statement to get it to the point where it is today, and what got me admitted to several of the nation’s top law schools (and waitlisted at several others).
Layer 1: What have you done?
Your personal statement and your resume are the windows the admissions committee has into what you’ve been up to in college and beyond. And unlike your resume, your personal statement is an opportunity to provide context, details, and flavor to those experiences.
Reflection questions:
Which of the experiences on your resume are most personally meaningful to you?
Which experiences have had an impact on you but don’t quite fit on your resume?
What problems keep emerging in your work?
When do you feel most energized or useful?
What frustrations about the world have motivated you?
If you had to come up with one word that ties your resume together, what would it be?
Layer 2: What will you do?
Something your resume can’t tell the admissions committee is the kind of lawyer — and person — you aspire to be. Your personal statement is the place to at least hint at that, even if you don’t have a fully fleshed-out vision yet.
Reflection questions:
What was the moment you realized you wanted to study the law?
Alternatively, if there wasn’t one specific moment, reflect on when you realized the kind of law you felt called to pursue.
What emotional experiences undergird your ambitions?
What impact do you want to have?
What do you want your legacy in the legal field to be?
I should note that your goal should not be to cram as much of your resume as possible into your personal statement. Not every experience on your resume fits in the story you’re trying to tell. Not every experience offers the sights, sounds, emotions, and insights that make for an interesting read. That’s why reflection is key — choose wisely.
Once you have completed your reflections and edited your drafts, make sure you leave time to get feedback from others. If you can find people to give you substantive feedback, that is the best option, but at the bare minimum, you need at least one other person who can check for grammatical errors, spelling, and that you haven’t accidentally listed the name of some other school. I got feedback from several of my friends who were recently admitted to or had graduated from the T14 law schools I was applying to, as well as from personal mentors who are practicing attorneys, and they all offered incredibly valuable insights.
If you have more questions about the law school application process or effective reflections, please leave them in the comments!
Disclaimer: I’m not an admissions professional, attorney, or law school representative, nor am I affiliated with or speaking on behalf of any law school admissions office. This article reflects my personal experiences and opinions as a law school applicant and incoming law student. Nothing here should be construed as legal or official admissions advice. Applicants should consult official admissions resources when making application decisions.