{"id":5874,"date":"2019-08-28T12:12:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T17:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/lsat-the-180\/?p=5874"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:41:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:41:09","slug":"perfecting-your-law-school-personal-statement-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/lsat\/perfecting-your-law-school-personal-statement-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Perfect your Law School Personal Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">law school personal statement<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is important\u2014probably the most important qualitative factor in your application. Admissions deans from the best programs in the country often <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">point to the personal statement<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as their entry into a prospective student\u2019s application. It is not a throwaway.<\/span><br \/>\n[\u00a0<strong>RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/study\/lsat\/four-steps-to-a-great-law-school-personal-statement\/\">4 Steps to a Great Law School Personal Statement<\/a> ]<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That means there is an awful lot of pressure on you to get it right, and it all starts with a great opening. Don\u2019t worry, we will give you some helpful tips to get your law school personal statement started on exactly the right foot, but for now, let\u2019s look at what happens when things go wrong.<\/span><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<div  class='avia-icon-list-container   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_heading  avia-builder-el-first '><ul class='avia-icon-list avia-icon-list-left av-iconlist-big avia_animate_when_almost_visible avia-iconlist-animate'>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue8bd' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >PERSONAL STATEMENT TIP #1: START HONESTLY AND TRUTHFULLY<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>It doesn\u2019t have to begin with a bang. Now, we love drama as much as the next person, but your personal statement is not an episode of\u00a0<i>How To Get Away With Murder<\/i>. It\u2019s better to just start honestly as opposed to manufacturing some kind of forced suspense. Remember\u00a0the audience you are writing for\u00a0and how experienced they are in reading these statements. They can quickly sniff out when something rings false.<br \/>\nIn some of the examples above, the use of hyperbole and dramatic action is more distracting than it is informative. Keeping things less\u00a0<i>Real Housewives<\/i>\u00a0and just more\u00a0<i>real\u00a0<\/i>in general is the name of the game when writing your law school personal statement opening.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue8be' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >PERSONAL STATEMENT TIP #2: BEGIN WITH *YOU* RATHER THAN BEING GENERAL<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>There is always a subset of law school applicants who love to start their personal statements with a maxim, truism, or vague and general description of a feeling or a idea. In general (see what we did there?), this is less effective than just\u00a0talking straightforwardly about your experience. After all, these admissions officials aren\u2019t considering letting the entire human race into their law school; they are looking at one individual\u2014you\u2014and the personal statement is the\u00a0most direct view\u00a0they\u2019ll get in the law school application.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<li><div  class='iconlist_icon  avia-font-entypo-fontello'><span class='iconlist-char ' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue8bf' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><\/div><article class=\"article-icon-entry \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='iconlist_content_wrap'><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h4 class='av_iconlist_title iconlist_title   '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >PERSONAL STATEMENT TIP #3: Don\u2019t get cute<\/h4><\/header><div class='iconlist_content  '  itemprop=\"text\"  ><p>We understand the allure of doing something cutesy or clever or tricky. However, this is a law school application\u2014not your blog. Gimmicky\u00a0law school personal statements\u00a0don\u2019t actually read as being all that creative; rather, they convey a lack of confidence. Why do you need a faux cross examination to tell us about yourself? Instead, go back to the very first point: be honest. Stay away from the gimmicky stuff; it\u2019s done too often, and it\u2019s also frequently done poorly. Just give those law school admissions committees the straight scoop on\u00a0who you are\u00a0and what you\u2019ve accomplished.<br \/>\nThat is, after all, what the law school personal statement is all about, and if you master it, you\u2019ll be a step ahead of your competition. When in doubt, take heart, and always ask somebody else to read your essay and give you honest, constructive feedback.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer\"><\/footer><\/article><div class='iconlist-timeline'><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_iconlist  el_before_av_promobox  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >The Best Law School Personal Statement I Ever Read<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Terrible personal statements are about a dime a dozen.\u00a0As a result, law school admissions officers see too darned many of them.\u00a0That\u2019s just one of the reasons why a\u00a0<em>good<\/em>\u00a0<a title=\"Four Steps to a Great Law School Personal Statement\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/lsat\/four-steps-to-a-great-law-school-personal-statement\/\">personal statement<\/a>\u00a0can help your\u00a0<a title=\"Getting Into Law School\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/lsat\/getting-into-law-school\/\">application<\/a>\u00a0to stand out, and a\u00a0<em>great<\/em>\u00a0one can sometimes turn what would have otherwise been a certain rejection into an offer of admission.\u00a0As you might imagine, the great statements tend to stick in a reader\u2019s memory for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>One Kaplan Graduate Admissions Consultant vividly remembers the best law school personal statements they ever read&#8211;a personal statement that got the writer acceptance letters to several top law schools. Here&#8217;s how they described the personal statement:<br \/>\n\t<div   class='av_promobox  avia-button-no   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_heading  el_before_av_sidebar '>\t\t<div class='avia-promocontent'><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The essay told an epic tale about a student who struggled to achieve passing grades \u2013 moving on and off of academic probation, and through a myriad of stops, shifts, and re-starts, from one college to another \u2013 for the better part of a decade following his graduation from high school.\u00a0For a time, it appeared that he was destined to be a college drop-out.\u00a0To make matters worse, as the student floundered academically, he bounced around from one retail job to another.\u00a0Then, one day, he took a position as a grassroots worker on a local political campaign.\u00a0He quickly realized that he had found something that he loved to do, but just as importantly, he was very good at it.\u00a0His life soon changed in dramatic ways.\u00a0He almost immediately became a star local operative for a major political party, and in a very short time period worked his way up and into state-wide and national campaigns.\u00a0His confidence ultimately inspired his academic career.\u00a0He transferred any grades that he could (i.e., not the bad ones) to a new university, changed his major to political science, and revamped his study habits.\u00a0For his final two years of college credit (which were required to attain a degree from the institution to which he had transferred), he aced nearly every course that he took and set his sights on a career in law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As compelling as the above storyline is, it is important to always keep in mind that an outstanding story counts for little without an effective organizational structure and proper literary execution.\u00a0Toward that end, the applicant in this case sought to engage the reader by presenting a scene in the opening paragraph which depicted one of the happiest moments of his life \u2013 his triumphant college graduation.\u00a0It was as he moved toward the end of the first paragraph and into the second that he added the engaging twist which showed that his academic success story was far from the norm:\u00a0it had been ten years (and many failures) in the making.\u00a0Most importantly, the applicant did not harp on the lengthy, negative period in his life that I described above.\u00a0Rather, he took a straightforward and succinct approach in recounting the great challenges that had stymied him for so many years.\u00a0From there, it was off to the heart of the essay \u2013 how the applicant overcame his struggle and succeeded, ultimately setting a clear and direct course for law school along the way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, in the concluding paragraph of the essay, the applicant brought the reader full circle \u2013 back to the opening story.\u00a0There he was, still standing at graduation, but instead of thinking simply about his past and how he had made it to this point, he was now looking toward the future and thinking about how he was fully prepared to conquer the challenges that lay ahead in law school and beyond.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I will never forget the excitement that this applicant felt when he received three acceptance letters from top\u00a0<a title=\"Law School Admissions: Choosing a Law School\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/lsat\/law-school-admissions-choosing-a-law-school\/\">law schools<\/a>\u00a0over three consecutive days.\u00a0One of these letters came with a handwritten note from a law school dean who praised him for doing such an outstanding job on the personal statement.\u00a0I should mention that this applicant ultimately ended up declining each of those three offers in favor of an offer from one of the most renowned and oldest law schools in the United States.\u00a0While these successful results certainly help to keep this applicant\u2019s memory in my mind, it is the personal statement that he wrote which most stirs my recollection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like many of my colleagues, I\u2019ve advised on thousands of application essays over the years and been a part of success stories that are far too numerous to mention, but this was one of my most special cases because it showed not only how an applicant can overcome years of struggle, but also how in two double-spaced pages, he can demonstrate his success in a powerful way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every once in a while, somewhere out there, a law school applicant does something in the application process that can be described as a real game changer.\u00a0The personal statement that this particular applicant wrote would probably best be described as a life changer.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/div><\/div><br \/>\n[\u00a0<strong>KEEP STUDYING:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/study\/lsat\/how-to-study-for-the-lsat-with-limited-time\/\">LSAT 1-Month Study Plan<\/a> ]<br \/>\n<div  class='avia-builder-widget-area clearfix  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_promobox  avia-builder-el-last '><div id=\"text-68\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"b09e45baf32bb094b1db7ecb7bbced76db6d5ddeedea46d11ddd040e8de23baa\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div id=\"text-69\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"47f64185b039c44474f0041fb26ab7c506845672b7ebef37d1d95bc82f27b02f\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The law school personal statement is important\u2014probably the most important qualitative factor in your application. Admissions deans from the best programs in the country often point to the personal statement as their entry into a prospective student\u2019s application. It is not a throwaway. [\u00a0RELATED:\u00a04 Steps to a Great Law School Personal Statement ] That means [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[354,26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34653,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874\/revisions\/34653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}