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Personal Statement

The personal statement is your opportunity to let law schools get to know you beyond what is in the rest of your application. Take advantage of this opportunity.

Meet with the Pre-Law Advisor to have a draft of your personal statement reviewed. The review process will focus on the content and overall effectiveness of the writing. Sentence or word-level edits will not be provided.

Goals

When crafting a personal statement, keep these goals in mind:

  • Let the reader get to know you.
  • Keep the focus on you, and not other people.
  • Mention events or developments since you started college.
  • Write with purpose and clarity.
  • Know your audience.
  • Touch on why you are going to law school (this doesn’t have to be the focus of the piece).
  • Submit a thoroughly revised final draft.

Guidelines

Follow the application instructions. The following guidelines will apply in many cases.

  • 2-pages, double-spaced maximum
  • One-inch margins
  • 12-pt font
  • Standard font
  • Save as xlawschoolpersonalstatement.pdf