Categories: Advice, Law School Personal Statement, Personal Statement Tips, Reasons for Going to Law School
Tags: law school personal statement, optional essays for law school applications, why law school
 11 Comments »
An increasing number of law schools are asking you to address your reasons for attending law school, and their law school in particular, as part of your personal statement or in an optional essay. After all, my recent survey of 100 law school applicants showed that 39% felt they “knew nothing” or “only a little” about the legal profession.
After interviewing and surveying 300 lawyers for The Law School Decision Game: A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers, here are some things that I learned that can help you answer the questions “Why Law School?” and “Why THIS Law School?”
- The #1 reason lawyers say is a good reason for going to law school is Learning to Think Like a Lawyer. #2 is Enjoying Solving Problems and #3 is Enjoying Research and Writing.
- Lawyers say the top 3 traits for success in their field are: Willingness to Work Hard, Attention to Detail, and People Skills.
- The #1 reason lawyers say you should choose a law school: Location Near Community Where you Hope to Live. #2 was Cost of Attendance, and #3 was Location Near Job and Internship Opportunities.
These responses should help you phrase your responses to the questions being asked by law schools. For more in depth information about reasons to go to law school, what the legal profession is really like, and what you can expect from a career in law, read The Law School Decision Game: A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers, now available on Amazon.
Categories: Advice, Law School Personal Statement, Personal Statement Tips
Tags: law school personal statement, personal statement help
6 Comments »
The following is an excerpt from The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert, page 92:
5 Words & Phrases that Make Me Cringe in Personal Statements:
1. “Personally”- It’s a personal statement. Of course everything you say is your own personal opinion. If it’s not, you’re doing something wrong.
2. “In conclusion….” Blech! Just conclude, don’t announce that you’re concluding.
3. “I believe…” It doesn’t matter what you believe about your ability to succeed in law school or what you believe is important in your application. The fact that you believe it is immaterial. Just state the facts so that the reader independently concludes that he or she believes whatever you’re trying to prove.
4. “Unique…”Very few things in this world are “unique,” especially the use of the word “unique.”
5.”Firsthand experience….” What is a secondhand experience and why would anyone write about it?
Categories: LSAT, Personal Statement Tips, Webinar
Tags: personal statements, retaking the LSAT, September LSAT
15 Comments »
You’re exhausted after today’s LSAT. I hope you’re taking the rest of the weekend to enjoy yourself. When you’re done doing that, you might be thinking about whether to cancel your LSAT score. (Click the link for information about how to decide whether to cancel). If you are keeping your LSAT score, then it’s time to get your personal statement, resume, letters of rec and any addenda in order.
If you decide to retake the LSAT in December using a different preparation method, my upcoming Blog Talk Radio show about How to Choose an LSAT Prep Course should be on your “listen” list.
For personal statement help, you may want to consult the chapter in “The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert” offering concrete tips, strategies, and “do’s and “don’ts” for the personal statement. (It’s now available on Kindle too!). The resume chapter also offers very direct instructions for how to present your experiences in a way that law schools will appreciate. The book also discusses good letters of rec and bad letters of rec – how to ask for a letter and how to know whether to use a letter of rec. This is the time when these chapters will be helpful to you.
Also, readers of the LawSchoolExpert blog are invited to register (FREE!) to MSU Law School’s upcoming webinar. I will be presenting: “Crafting Your Best Personal Statement and Other Winning Tips for Law School Admission” on Tuesday, October 13th at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. RSVP here.
Good luck to everyone who is taking the LSAT this morning! I look forward to hearing from you.
Categories: LSAT Prep, Personal Statement Tips, Uncategorized
Tags: law school admission events
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome!
Readers of the Law School Expert blog are invited to participate in the following upcoming events featuring Ann Levine giving advice about the law school application process:
“LSAT Prep Options: How Do I Choose?” Blog Talk Radio Show hosted by Ann Levine, featuring the CEOs of two newcomers to the LSAT Prep Course market: AtlasLSAT and Knewton. Listen live and ask questions via phone or chat on Wednesday, October 7th 2 p.m. EST/11 a.m. PST. If you miss the show, you can download it later as a podcast on iTunes or listen anytime on the Law School Expert blog or on Blog Talk Radio.
“Crafting Your Best Personal Statement and Other Winning Tips for Law School Admission” Sponsored by MSU Law School, featuring Ann Levine. Tuesday, October 13th at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST. RSVP here.
“Law School Admission Q&A” and Book Signing Events with Ann Levine will take place on the following college campuses in October:
CALIFORNIA:
UCSB, Tuesday, October 6th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST. RSVP on Facebook.
San Diego State University on Tuesday, October 20th at 3 p.m. PST. Sponsored by the Pre-Law Society.
UCSD on Wednesday, October 21st at 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Pre-Law Society.
NEW YORK:
Fordham University, Tuesday, October 27th at 5 p.m. Sponsored by Phi Alpha Delta/Pre-Law Society.
(If you are in the NYC area and would like Ann Levine to speak to your pre-law society or Phi Alpha Delta Chapter on October 27th or 28th, please email alevine at lawschoolexpert dot com).
Categories: Advice, Joint degree, Law School Admission Trends, Law School Personal Statement, LSAT Prep, Personal Statement Tips
Tags: Blog Talk Radio Show, JD/MBA, Joint degree, LSAT, personal statement
9 Comments »
Thanks so much to Wei Wang for asking me such great, thought-provoking and relevant questions today on BlogTalkRadio. (CLICK TO LISTEN to our 15 minute segment)
For those who missed the interview about my law school admission guidebook, Wei asked me questions about:
1. Prepping for the LSAT as a full time occupation versus studying while working full time.
2. Pursuing a joint degree, such as a JD/MBA.
3. What to do if you’re taking a year off from school and you can’t find a professional job.
4. Choosing what to write about in your law school personal statement.
Please check out our upcoming BlogTalkRadio segments and feel free to ask questions and to invite your friends to listen in.
Categories: Personal Statement Tips, Picking a Major
5 Comments »
You’ve probably heard (or read) my speech about not “picking a major” when applying to law school unless you can really, really, really back it up.
Anna Ivey’s recent post about the downside of choosing International Law as an area of specialization when applying to law school is extremely relevant and I hope you’ll find it helpful (although I’m sure a portion of my audience will find it discouraging).
I do agree with Anna on this point: most people applying to law school really have no idea what being a lawyer is really all about. I think that Anna has a great idea – if you’re interested primarily in a specific area of law, you should try out that area as your profession before trying out the law part. (For example, try out the Entertainment Industry before trying out the Entertainment Law Industry).
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Categories: Law School Personal Statement, Personal Statement Tips
7 Comments »
Most of my law school admission consulting clients struggle to state the reasons why they are applying to a certain law school. I want to offer some hints and tricks in this regard:
1. Do I have to say why I want to go to Law School X?
No. You don’t. Unless X Law School asks you to, and then – yes – you do.
And if they offer this as an optional essay topic, and you don’t do it, then – yes- I think (as a former director of admissions) that you’re being lazy.
2. Is there some advantage to saying why I want to go to Law School X?
Yes. If you can convince them, they’ll be more likely to admit you rather than wait list you and make you prove you deserve a coveted admission letter that they’ll then have to report for rankings purposes.
3. So, what can I possibly say?
It’s true – sometimes law schools just don’t seem to be that different from one another, especially when they are ranked similarly.
Here are some tips:
a. Don’t say you love their Environmental Law program if nothing in your application supports your interest in Environmental Law.
b. Don’t pick a study abroad program as your reason; you can do any ABA school’s study abroad summer program and transfer the credits (generally).
c. Don’t list reasons that could be applied to any law school equally like ‘esteemed faculty’ or ‘national reputation’ or ‘bar passage rate.’ Be specific.
d. If you’re applying part time, tell them why. Otherwise they’ll think you’re just using the part time program to be admitted through the “back door.”
Good luck, and I hope I’ve inspired you to do a little more research and critical thinking about why you’re choosing each law school on your list.
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Ann K. Levine, Esq., former director of law school admissions for two ABA approved law schools, is a law school admission consultant and owner of Law School Expert,
