Lesson One: Tackling the Question
Think of the essay as the face of your application. An application without an essay is a statistic—just another fa
celess person in a crowd. An application with a poorly written essay does not give admissions officers the chance to care about you. Use simple psychology: make them feel that they know you, and it will be harder for them to reject you.
Make them know you AND LIKE YOU, and they might accept you despite your weakness in other areas. Understanding the importance of the essay is a necessary first step toward perfecting your application. If you are normally a procrastinator, you should understand that your success depends entirely on the amount of time and effort you put into the essay writing process. If all of this has you sweating, you can relax now. Taking this process seriously is the first step. This course will help you get through the other steps.
Admissions essay questions tend to be very broad and difficult to tackle. Yet, it is imperative that you actually answer the question in your essay. It should go without saying, but if your essay does not address the question, then everything you learn in the rest of this course is for naught.
While looking at your application, you are probably asking yourself: “Why in the world are these admissions people asking me this question? What do they want me to write about?” While there is no one answer to either of these questions, there is some reason behind the most popular questions posed by applications.
Law School Statement Strategies
Please select from the following common law school statement themes. Please note: these themes are not mutually exclusive. The best statements incorporate more than one theme.
Why I Want To Be A Lawyer? Why I Am Qualified? Why I Am An Exceptional Person ? Issues-Based Essays ? General Application Questions ?
Theme 1: Why I Want To Be A Lawyer
The secret to doing this theme well is to show why you want to be a lawyer. Don’t just say it and expect it to stand on its own. Admissions officers want believable details from your life that demonstrate your desire and make it real to them. Says one admissions officer:
“Although you do get tired of reading it, it’s nearly impossible (and ill-advised!) for an applicant to avoid communicating at some point that: “I want to be a lawyer.” It’s the ones who say only that that rankle. The ones who support the statement with interesting and believable evidence are the ones who do it best.”
