sample admission essay

Making the decision to become a lawyer can be one of the biggest steps that you take in your life, especially if you are from a family of lawyers.  Coming from a family of lawyers can have many advantages for those who are planning to become lawyers themselves.  Regardless of whether or not you are directly related to lawyers, though, you will probably have to enroll in law school to get prepared for the bar exams.  Getting into law school can be difficult, but you have good chances of getting admitted if you do a great job on your application package.  Perhaps the most important application requirement is the personal essay.(1)  Read on for some tips on indicating in your personal statement that you are from a family of lawyers, and other basic tips on writing your law school personal statement.

Doing your research: taking a look at well-written sample law school personal statements for valid reasons to go to law school

Before you begin writing your law school personal statement, you may want to start out by doing some research and gathering samples.  Sample law school personal statements can help you brainstorm for ideas and understand the basic format of the essay.  Try to get a good grasp of the tone of the essay and how the ideas are developed in the essay.  Aside from looking at examples of well-written essays, you may also want to look at poorly written ones, so you know what mistakes to avoid.(2)

Writing your essay :  using the characteristics of well-written, family-focused law school personal statement examples in your draft

Now that you have a good idea of what it takes to write a good family-focused law school personal statement, you can get started on your first draft.  Take some time to reflect on the research that you composed and think of how to make your essay even better than all of the samples that you read.  Concentrate on making your essay excellent in content, form, and style.(3)  Here is a list of some basic tips on writing your personal statement for law school:(4)
-  Make sure that your sentences are clear and concise.
-  Avoid all types of technical errors, such as spelling and grammar mistakes.
-  Try to let your character and personality show through your writing.
-  Always make your personal statement specific to the school that you are writing it for.
-  If you need more help, you may want to join a writing workshop for personal statements.

Winning your case : writing your own excellent law school personal statement by discussing family experiences and influences

One of the benefits of being from a family of lawyers is that you are probably already pre-disposed to the profession.  You can use this benefit to your advantage by writing a law school personal statement that is family-focused.  Not only is your background and family something personal, but it also offers many opportunities to discuss why you want to go to law school.  Before you get to writing your essay, be sure to take time to plan out what you are going to write and how you are going to write it.(5)  Try not to make it sound as though you are only going to law school because of the fact that you come from a family of lawyers.  Instead, try to focus on how your background has helped to form the values and virtues that it takes to be successful in law school and as a lawyer in the future.(6)

Some tips on mentioning examples in your family-focused essay: (7)
-  Focus on positive traits and try to eliminate any negative aspects.
-  Try to discuss how the examples have helped to sculpt your personality and character.
-  Find out what makes you unique in your family and as a person, in general, and expound on that.
-  Remember to concentrate on your goal with the personal statement. Introduce yourself and explain how your family background and upbringing has influenced you and your decision to apply for law school.

Making an appeal by learning a few more tips based on a creatively written law school personal statement sample

Writing a creative and interesting law school personal statement does not mean that you have to do something completely new and “out of the box.”  In fact, it would probably help to keep your essay simple, clear and concise, without too much humor or cliches.(8)  The best way to write creatively is to be yourself.  Many of the things that make you unique are precisely what interests other people.  Try not to focus too much on other people or family members.  Instead, keep the essay centered on you and let your personality and character shine through for who you really are.  Your essay is a venue for you to let the admissions committee know why you deserve a slot at the school.

(1) http://career.berkeley.edu/LAW/LawStatement.stm
(2) http://collegeapps.about.com/od/essays /College_Admissions_Essays_Samples_Critiques_and_Writing_Tips.htm
(3) http://bunny.ucdavis.edu/advising/law/handouts /tips_writing_your_law_school_personal_statement.html
(4) http://lawschool.about.com/od/applicationprocess/tp/personalstatement.htm
(5) http://www.bc.edu/offices/careers/gradschool/law/lawstatement.html
(6) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/01/
(7)  http://www.sampleadmissionessay.com/category/law-school-admissions/
(8) http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/lawschool/lawapply.html#stat

Regardless of whether you’re applying to law school, med school, undergraduate university or college, or other graduate schools, you will be required to submit a personal statement essay. This is why it’s important for applicants to check out sample personal statement essays to get an idea of how to structure their essays and which information to include and discuss. For foreign students especially, looking at sample personal statements will also give them a better idea of what to expect when applying to US academic institutions. Below are more reasons how foreign students can use examples of personal statement essays in their application to universities and graduate schools:

Get an idea of how personal statements for US institutions are structured

Different countries have varying guidelines and requirements for writing a personal statement essay. If you’re a foreign student, browsing through and reading other applicants’ personal statements can give you an idea of what admissions committees of US schools expect to see from applicants’ essays. Granted, not all of the sample personal statements you’ll find online are reflective of the expectations of admissions committees. But at least you will get to have a feel of how most applicants write their personal statement essays and structure yours accordingly.

Know which essay-writing themes are overused by other foreign students

While it’s true that most schools and universities have additional considerations when reviewing the personal statement essays of foreign students, it will still do you well to avoid the themes and topics that are commonly used by other foreign students when they write their personal statement essays. For one, you will find out how to avoid the self-pitying themes that a lot of foreign students use in their essays.

Instead of appealing to pity, you should write your personal statement in such a way that it highlights your strength of character and courage in pursuing studies in a foreign land, with no one to turn to but yourself. Not only will this make for a more touching and impressive read, it can also convince the admissions staff that you want to study in their institution bad enough that you had no qualms about leaving your comfort zone and moving to another country to study.

As you’ve probably read in websites and blogs, the personal statement essay is an important requirement in the application or admissions process of law school, med school, college, and other graduate schools. The personal statement essay you submit can make or break your chances of getting accepted into the school you applied to because this single piece of document is used by admissions staff in gauging your abilities and suitability of getting accepted into the institution’s academic community. So to make sure you don’t submit an awful personal statement, here are some characteristics and styles of badly written personal statement essays that you should avoid:

Idealistic but vague

One common mistake that applicants make in writing their personal statement essay is that they go on and on about how they will use their degree and education for the “betterment of society” or to “contribute to the community.” What these applicants fail to realize is that by simply stating these humanistic aims or desires without providing concrete details and information on how to go about achieving them, there’s a huge possibility that the admissions staff will interpret this as mere insincerity or artificial desire to help.

Use of highfalutin words

Many applicants still make the mistake of using big, polysyllabic, highfalutin words to express their thoughts and emotions in their personal statement essay. There are certain contexts when “big” words can be used to convey a thought or idea, but the rule of thumb in writing a personal statement essay is to stay conversational without being too informal. This means that the language you use in your essay should be easily understood while conveying exactly what it is you want to say. Not only will the use of highfalutin words make your personal statement essay sound robotic and detached, it will also make the admissions staff feel that you’re simply out to impress and not to express.

May you be in college, medical school, law school, or an aspiring MBA degree holder, still, you will have to deal with stress and pressure from academics and other school activities. Striving to meet deadlines may be part of your everyday life and can make you feel stressed out and frustrated. Nowadays, stress is practically inescapable. You need to know how to manage it so you can become successful. Being stressed can make you less productive; it’s important that you know the factors that cause stress so how you can cope with it. Factors causing stress Individuals get stressed because of different reasons. If you have so many things to do but don’t think you have enough time, you may find yourself getting stressed. Thinking about your expenses and trying to balance your studies with your personal life may also cause frustration that can lead to stress. Inadequate sleep and unhealthy eating habits because of dealing with academics are also some stress-causing factors. Coping with stress When you find yourself feeling stressed, the best thing to do is to give yourself some rest. You may think that you’re going to lose time when you rest, but keep in mind that you won’t work efficiently when you’re stressed. If you feel the need to rest, perhaps your mind and body are just tired and need to be refreshed. Remember that you need to have adequate time for relaxation and rest because these are important for you to function at your best while in school. You can also find a hobby, sport, or activity that interests you. Doing physical activities can rev up your body and keep you in good shape so that you can deal with the physical and mental demands of going to school. Doing other activities can also make you happy and eradicate your feelings of frustration.

When you’re stressed, you might feel inadequate and get angry at yourself for not accomplishing as much as you need to. What you have to do is believe that you can succeed in your endeavors and be able to do your tasks well. After all, your school accepted you into their program because admission officers believed that you have what it takes to succeed. It would do you a world of good to believe this, too. Photo Credit : Jacob Botter