Many law schools invite applicants to share more about themselves through an optional essay. 

For example, the University of Pennsylvania Law School provides the following optional essay prompts:

• These are the core strengths that make Penn Carey Law the best place to receive a rigorous, collaborative, and engaging legal education: genuine integration with associated disciplines; transformative, forward-looking faculty scholarship; highly-regarded experiential learning through clinics and our pro bono pledge; innovative, hands-on global engagement; and a manifest commitment to professional development and collegiality. These qualities define Penn Carey Law. What defines you? How do your goals and values match Penn Carey Law’s core strengths? 
• Penn Carey Law is committed to achieving an expansive and inclusive law school community that brings a diverse range of ideas, experiences, and perspectives to our classrooms. Tell us how your lived experience informs who you are today. 
• Describe a significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. 
• What strength or quality do you have that most people might not see or recognize? 
• What don’t we see in your application file that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? 
• If you do not think that your academic record or standardized test scores accurately reflect your ability to succeed in law school, please tell us why.

Are these essays truly optional? Technically, yes, they are; it says so right there in the name. However, the only truly optional essay here is the one about your academic record or standardized test scores. If you don’t feel that those reflect your ability to succeed in law school, take the opportunity to explain why in an essay. If you believe your grades and standardized test scores are a good measure of how successful you’ll be as a student, it is okay to skip that prompt (and others like it). 

Completing your law school application is a very one-dimensional process, but you are a three-dimensional human being, with at least two decades of life experiences. The personal statement was your opportunity to let the committee know why you want to go to law school. After that, applicants often run out of steam (or ideas) and skip writing any additional essays, hoping that the word “optional” means “it’s okay to opt out.” But it doesn’t. If you want to get into a school, take every opportunity to tell the admissions committee more about yourself. Failure to respond to the “optional” essay prompts can seem as though you are saying you have nothing else interesting to offer to the law school community.

Here are a few tips for making your optional essays more impactful:

1. Brainstorm before you write.

After you read the schools’ optional essay prompts, start by brainstorming all possible ideas and situations that might make good content for an essay. Think about your college career, volunteer work, employment, and family and personal life. Which events, experiences, and achievements would you like the school to know about that aren’t discussed elsewhere in your application? Then, decide which of those events, experiences, or achievements make the most sense for each essay.

2. Follow the directions. 

Most optional essays are short – about one page, double-spaced. Be sure to read each school’s instructions carefully, and don’t exceed the word or length limit. The length of your optional essay should not rival that of your personal statement.

3. Show, don’t tell. 

The biggest mistake applicants make is responding to an essay question without fully illustrating what they are talking about. In other words, give the reader some detail about what happened so they can picture it. Remember, you are trying with your essay to help the adcom see you as a three-dimensional person. It is harder to say no to a person!  

4. Don’t repeat yourself. 

Don’t write about the same things you shared in your personal essay or elsewhere in the application. This is your opportunity to continue your narrative, not repeat it. Examples you offer can be from your personal or professional experience.

Optional essays give you an opportunity to share more about yourself with the admissions committee. Putting in the time necessary to answer the optional essay questions effectively will serve you well by adding more depth to your application. Don’t skip them!

Looking for guidance on how to write an optional essay that will boost your chances of acceptance? Schedule a free consultation to discuss your law school application.

Sadie Polen has more than ten years of experience in higher education. She reviewed statements of purpose, personal statements, and resumes for political and public service opportunities and made candidate selections for elite programs at Harvard University. She also has experience advising individuals on their career and post-graduation plans. Sadie holds a BS from UC Davis, an EdM from Harvard, and a DEI certificate from Cornell. Want Sadie to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch.

Related Resources:

• Advice for Applicants: Moving from 2023 to 2024, podcast Episode 557
• Navigating the Law School Admissions Process, podcast Episode 550
• Four Ways to Highlight Your Strengths in Your Application Essays