Use a great opening anecdote for your law school personal statement

The Top 15 Things Every Law School Applicant Should Know is a series that will teach you the ins and outs of successful law school applications. Stay tuned for the remaining elements. This week we’ll discuss the value of the opening anecdote.

When deciding whether or not you might be interested in reading a particular novel, magazine article, or op-ed piece, many people often turn to the first few sentences to get an immediate sense of whether or not it is a “good fit.” If the opening entices them and makes them want to read more, they’re hooked.

The same thing is true of personal statements. How you open your essay can mean the difference between a captive and engaged audience, and a required but not enthralled reader. Here’s an example:

Opening to essay #1: Hi, my name is Catherine. I want to be a lawyer because I want to help the disadvantaged and underrepresented. (You laugh, but believe me when I tell you I have read this opening, and more than once.)

Opening to essay #2: I looked in the rearview mirror and my stomach flipped. The blue and red lights were flashing, and I was being pulled over – again.

In all honesty, which essay would YOU want to read? The essay that opens with an anecdote or story is often the most successful. You have captured your audience’s attention, you have led with an interesting and unique perspective, and you are showing off your writing aptitude – all skills that will come in handy when you are both a law student and an attorney.

This past admissions season, my favorite essay was about the applicant’s family car. It was well written, heartfelt, and poignant. It opened with an anecdote about the embarrassment of being a “mini-van family” and the desperate desire for a cooler car from which to emerge. But the story unfolded beautifully – the writer talked about the memories that the car had for their family, the trips they had taken, the talks that had transpired going from school to softball practice, even the meaning behind the long forgotten treasures that were discovered between the seats of the car when they got ready to sell it. It was sweet, sentimental, and conveyed to the reader the depth of the applicant’s love for his/her family and the ultimate understanding that what was important was the familial experiences that had transpired, and not the x factor of the car in which those experiences took place. It was lovely and it made me want to get to know the applicant better – not slog my way through yet another applicant’s essay. And what got me hooked? The opening sentence. “I hated my family’s Astro Van.”

So when you are thinking about your opening, consider the value of a well-told and personal story that really opens up your world to the adcom. Don’t know how to choose a story, or how to make it attention worthy? Admissions consultants can help guide the way to a perfect opening to your essay.

By Catherine Cook, Accepted.com Senior Editor.  Published author and former Duke Law admissions officer, Catherine has helped applicants gain acceptance to nearly 30 top law schools.

The Top 15 Things Every Law School Applicant Should Know is a series that will teach you the ins and outs of successful law school applications. Stay tuned for the remaining elements. This week we’ll discuss choosing a topic for your personal statement.

In my 15 years working in graduate and undergraduate admissions, I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of personal statements. A scant few of those essays have been…well…really bad. Most have been well written and satisfactory. But there are a few that have stayed with me over the years. I haven’t saved them and I don’t refer back to them, but I remember them, and here’s why.

Are these memorable essays interesting, plain and straightforward, or self deprecating and humorous? Are the topics unusual or seemingly ordinary? Do people write about intensely personal experiences, or choose philosophical topics? The answer to all of these questions is yes.  There truly is not a set formula, but without question, the most important thing is that the essay is authentic. Choose a topic about which you are passionate, which you believe really illustrates who you are and what you believe. These are the essays that admissions committees most enjoy reading. It can be about your love of horses, the first marathon that you completed, or the band that you play in every Saturday night. Any topic will work as long as you write about something that is meaningful to you and demonstrates who you really are. However, there is one topic I recommend avoiding, which I have dubbed the “I want to be a lawyer so I can give back to the world” essay. This is so overdone and very, very difficult to write with any degree of originality and sincerity. Take my word for it on this one – choose another topic.

A long time ago, I read an article about the importance of basic kindness towards others. The author’s message was that people will not remember exactly what you said. They will not remember exactly what you did. But they will remember how you made them feel. Choose a topic that is so important to you and so authentic that the admissions officers reading the essay will remember how your story made them feel, long after your first day of law school has begun.

By Catherine Cook, Accepted.com Senior Editor.  Published author and former Duke Law admissions officer, Catherine has helped applicants gain acceptance to nearly 30 top law schools.

The Top 15 Things Every Law School Applicant Should Know is a series that will teach you the ins and outs of successful law school applications. Stay tuned for the remaining elements. This week we’ll discuss the importance of extracurricular activities in the law school admissions process.

Part of your strategy for applying to law school should be figuring out what makes you stand apart from the crowd. The numbers are the numbers, but what you do outside of school and how you spend your free time is uniquely your own. And how you present this information is just as important as the information itself. Here’s what you need to know.

In its purest form, law is still seen as a “helping profession,” so having a strong track record with involvement in the world beyond the classroom is important. Hopefully your extracurricular activities include some level of community service and volunteerism, but if not, you might want to consider adding that to your “strategy” for applying to law school. Volunteering for something related to the legal field, i.e. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) or Legal Aid, for example, is a great way not only to demonstrate service, but will also give you a real world glimpse into what it is like to be an attorney. But the reality is that any kind of community service is valuable, so choose something that is meaningful to you and to which you can make a genuine commitment.

Other extracurricular activities that show your involvement with your school and community can include sports, hobbies, clubs, and other activities. Again, if you have written law related articles for your school’s newspaper – great! But if not, your extracurricular activities will give the adcom an idea of who you are and what is important to you. The best kind of extracurricular activities are the ones that are most meaningful to you and the ones in which you have taken a leadership role. You don’t need fifteen different activities, just a few that you really care about. Highlighting your authentic interest in and commitment to these activities will be an important part of your application. If you are uncertain how to go about doing this, admissions consultants can help you figure out how to best frame this part of your application so that you stand out from the crowd. It’s all part of your overall strategy to convey to your readers who you are, the causes that you care about, and what you can bring to the school to which you are applying. By making sure that you demonstrate this commitment to the world around you, you are setting yourself apart from the rest of the pack.

By Catherine Cook, Accepted.com Senior Editor.  Published author and former Duke Law admissions officer, Catherine has helped applicants gain acceptance to nearly 30 top law schools.

The Top 15 Things Every Law School Applicant Should Know is a series that will teach you the ins and outs of successful law school applications. Stay tuned for the remaining elements. This week we’ll discuss the importance of timing in the law school admissions process.

My brother’s favorite saying is, “Go early and go high.” This is the way he enjoys his hiking – pure, pristine, and in solitude. It is how he best appreciates the experience. In the case of law school (and really, all undergraduate and graduate) admissions, the ancillary sentiment is, “Write well and submit early.” There are several reasons for this, and here they are.

1. While the deadlines for law schools vary (for the class beginning in the fall of 2013, Harvard’s deadline is December 1, 2012 whereas Santa Clara’s is February 1, 2013), it makes sense to work on your applications in parallel and try to submit more or less all at once. You will most likely be using the same, perhaps slightly modified, personal statement for every school, so there is no reason to drag out the process. Who wants to spend six months stressing out over it? Just get it done.
2. Many schools will fill their class on a rolling basis, meaning if they read your application in September and they like it, you could be admitted in October or November. If you know you want to go to law school and you know you want to go the following fall, wouldn’t you rather start thinking about your options sooner rather than later? This gives you plenty of time to make your decisions, explore financial aid and other methods of funding your law school education, and preparing for this new chapter in your life. In addition, there is generally more financial aid available earlier in the application cycle than later, so your chances of obtaining assistance is greater the earlier you apply.
3. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, part of the application equation is considering your audience. Admissions committees are made up of real people, who read every single application submitted. In a typical year, Berkeley receives 6000-8000 applications. Someone has to read them all, and it stands to reason that the enthusiasm the readers have for the first 3000 or so applications may wane a bit by the time they get to the last 500 or so. It’s basic human nature. Are you more alert and attentive at the beginning of a lecture than at the end? Are you more engaged when you start reading the New York Times, or after you’ve spent two hours poring over it? You want your application to land on the adcom member’s desk when they are fresh and excited, not when they are spent and exhausted.

We know that the process can be intimidating and it can be tempting to procrastinate. Professional admissions consultants can help you organize your thoughts, brainstorm about your personal statement, and assist you with getting your applications submitted in a timely manner. The earlier, the better!

By Catherine Cook, Accepted.com Senior Editor.  Published author and former Duke Law admissions officer, Catherine has helped applicants gain acceptance to nearly 30 top law schools.