9/13/ · But, I also managed to write a personal statement that said something about who I was and why I wanted to go to law school, a statement that had nothing to do with my terrible intern experience. People think that law schools want to hear how much you know about the law or how you’re going to hang your own shingle, go into politics, or become General Counsel at a large corporation 4/16/ · Law School Personal Statement Example: #1. When I was a child, my neighbors, who had arrived in America from Nepal, often seemed stressed. They argued a lot, struggled for money, and seemed to work all hours of the day. One day, I woke early Personal Statement. Now known as: Personal Essay. Now, the dreaded personal statement. Boy, oh boy, did I fuss over this one. "What is the perfect combination of personal, funny, heartrending, and inspirational?" I know I was wondering this when I applied. Having read books like 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, I was frightened. I didn't grow up as a refugee, wrenched from my war-torn home!
Real Talk: The Personal Statement | Harvard Law School
It requires a lot of effort and thought to write a personal statement that effectively captures your greatest qualities and stands out to admissions committees. While we have an entire article on writing personal statementsone of the best ways to assist and inspire your writing is reading and learning from several personal statement samples. Although writing personal statements requires that you reflect upon what is unique and exemplary about your background, the following personal statement samples will provide insight into how other applicants have successfully crafted their statement.
Below you can find 31 personal statement examples found in the TLS Guide to Personal Statements book, which has sections on why these personal statement samples are strong and also how they could have been improved upon. More personal statement samples can be found in the personal statement forum. Below are 2 of the 31 Personal Statement Samples. We were packed in the largest of three rooms in a 2, square foot space baking in the heat generated by ten co-workers in close quarters, fifteen running computers, and an abnormally warm summer.
On the glass doorway was etched the ghostly lettering of the former company occupying the space, serving as a grim reminder of the ever-present possibility of failure. They were selling another David versus Goliath harvard law personal statement example, featuring a small rag-tag team of engineers defeating a seemingly insurmountable industry leader.
Despite my skepticism, I still had a free-running imagination fed with nostalgic thoughts of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard working on their first audio oscillator in a Palo Alto garage.
I was lucky enough to join that company late in the game and sell my stock options early, but many others spent a significant portion of their career at a company that came close to glory but ultimately fell short: Goliath 1, David 0.
This time they were telling me it was going to be different; they were always saying this time would be different. With the financial incentive of stock options and the confidence gained by working with a crack technical team, everyone was working at full capacity. There were scribbled drawings with names and dates taped up on a wall. These were the jotted ideas from our team of electrical engineers and physicists with M. and Ph. degrees from schools like Harvard, Stanford, and M.
One posting was my recent workings of a carbon nano-tube electro-mechanical configuration bit, an idea that a co-worker and I had developed that I would write up and the company would push through the patent process. By packing a dozen well-caffeinated physics and electronics geniuses into a pathetic three-room rental that resembled a low-budget movie studio, we had created the primordial soup of intellectual invention. It was immensely exciting to be the tenth employee in a growing start-up company that would have to upgrade offices and dramatically expand staff in an up-scaling war against the industry titan.
The increased design responsibility and unbounded architectural creativity that comes with working for a start-up is unparalleled. This danger was extremely real, as a similar start-up had collapsed following an infringement lawsuit related to unauthorized reproduction of a bit stream. It was immensely satisfying to study, harvard law personal statement example, absorb, and then circumvent patent claims as I designed a conceptually similar but un-patented version of three memory blocks.
I am interested in serving as general counsel for a corporation focused on advanced semiconductor technology. I am drawn to the challenges I will find at the intersection of intellectual property, harvard law personal statement example, product liability, and corporate law.
At this juncture in my life, I seek more challenge and personal growth in a field that calls on my written skills, attention to detail, and love of technology. My background in nano-technology will bring a unique perspective to the NYU classroom and will make me extremely marketable upon graduation.
By pursuing a law degree, harvard law personal statement example, I intend to enter a profession that aligns with the interests and aptitudes I have discovered and developed through real work experience. It is through deep personal reflection that I have decided that law is the natural extension of my training, personality, and talents.
Structure: Personal Narrative Topic: Internet Start-Up Thesis: I led a multi-million dollar design team; I can succeed in law school. The statement keeps the reader engaged by giving a meaningful story with background, context, conflict, and resolution.
It also provides a peek into the mysterious and increasingly legendary world of Silicon Valley start-ups. This person is a doer, not a dreamer. The writer shows a depth of technical knowledge and strong analytic reasoning skills that go far beyond linear thinking, especially in the description of finding new solutions to highly technical problems that do not violate patents. The statement creates desire in the admissions committee to admit this person because other companies seek harvard law personal statement example hire the applicant and venture capitalists are willing to support the applicant with substantial funds.
This applicant demonstrated his strong written communication skills by writing a compelling statement that uses several kinds of rhetorical appeals. Logic is used to show how his analytical ability helps to keep the company afloat in the harvard law personal statement example waters where others have foundered. The analogy in which he compares his small start-up and the industry leader to David and Goliath uses both pathos and mythos to excellent effect: The story is one everyone knows, and so just by invoking the names, the writer brings a powerful story into his narrative without using valuable space.
This mythic story becomes a theme woven throughout the essay. This writer has also composed the statement so that he comes across as an authoritative, competent, thoughtful, and honest leader. This statement helped earn the applicant acceptance to NYU and Columbia Law Schools. The first paragraph is well written but is wholly descriptive prose that has very little to do with why this person is a good candidate for law school.
The first paragraph lacks a thesis or a direction for the essay. Ideally, the reader should find a microcosm of the essay in the first paragraph, harvard law personal statement example. The second-to-last paragraph packs in the most value to the admissions committee for the space used, but the background story is important for this paragraph to be so powerful.
To make the background story do more work for him, the harvard law personal statement example could plant more indicators of his positive qualities and characteristics in the early part of the essay. For example, he could mention how he used his oral communication skills to communicate with his design team and supervisors, so that the admissions committee knows he feels that mastery of oral communication skills is important.
The last paragraph is where the applicant draws together his themes with his self-assessment and goals. This writer commits the common error of throwing in the name of the school receiving this statement as a token. Any law school program could fill that harvard law personal statement example. Does the applicant harvard law personal statement example that being in New York City will put him in contact with East Coast technology specialists who will give him an edge up in his career?
Or, is the applicant focusing upon NYU because of their strength in intellectual property law? Despite these quibbles, though, this is overall a fantastic personal statement.
I am a thinker, but not one to think out loud. I love myself, but am not in love with the sound of my own voice. I want to be loved, but not at the cost of not loving myself. I want to know everything, but realize that nothing can ever be known for sure. I believe that nothing is absolute, but I can absolutely defend my beliefs. I understand that chance is prevalent in all aspects of life, but never leave anything important to chance.
I am skeptical about everything, but realistic in the face of my skepticism. I base everything on probability, but so does nature I believe that all our actions are determined, but feel completely free to do as I choose.
I do not believe in anything resembling a God, but would never profess omniscience with regard to such issues. I have faith in nothing, but trust that my family and friends will always be faithful. I feel that religion is among the greatest problems in the world, but also understand that it is perhaps the ultimate solution.
I recognize that many people derive their morals from religion, but I insist that religion is not the only fountainhead of morality. I respect the intimate connection between morality and law, but do not believe that either should unquestioningly respect the other.
I want to study the law and become a lawyer, but I do not want to study the law just because I want to become a lawyer. I am aware that the law and economics cannot always be studied in conjunction, but I do not feel that either one can be properly studied without an awareness of the other.
I recognize there is more to the law than efficiency, but believe the law should recognize harvard law personal statement example importance of efficiency more than it does.
I love reading about law and philosophy, but not nearly as much as I love having a good conversation about the two. I know that logic makes an argument sound, but also harvard law personal statement example that passion makes an argument sound logical.
I have philosophical beliefs informed by economics and economic beliefs informed by philosophy, but I have lost track of which beliefs came first. I know it was the egg though. I always think very practically, but do not always like to think about the practical. I have wanted to be a scientist for a while now, but it took me two undergraduate years to figure out that being a scientist does not necessarily entail working in a laboratory.
I play the saxophone almost every day, but feel most like an artist when deduction is my instrument. I spent one year at a college where I did not belong and two years taking classes irrelevant for my major, harvard law personal statement example, but I have no regrets about my undergraduate experience.
I am incredibly passionate about my interests, but cannot imagine being interested in only one passion for an entire lifetime. I love the Yankees, but do not hate the Red Sox. I love sports, but hate the accompanying anti-intellectual culture. I may read the newspaper starting from the back, but I always make my way to the front eventually.
I am liberal on some issues and conservative on others, but reasonable about all of them. I will always be politically active, but will never be a political activist. I think everything through completely, but I am never through thinking about anything, harvard law personal statement example.
I can get along with almost anyone, but there are very few people without whom I could not get along. I am giving of my time, but not to the point of forgetting its value, harvard law personal statement example. I live for each moment, but not as much as I worry about the next, harvard law personal statement example. I consider ambition to be of the utmost importance, but realize that it is useless without the support of hard work.
I am a very competitive person, harvard law personal statement example, but only when competing with myself. I have a million dreams, but I am more than just a dreamer. I am usually content, but never satisfied. Structure: Personal Narrative Topic: Self-portrait Thesis: I am a clever risk-taker. This applicant had an impressive 4. This essay stands out because it is more artfully designed than other statements.
This is a good strategy if you are sure of your standardized scores or if you are applying to a reach school and so are trying to get yourself noticed, harvard law personal statement example. An experimental personal statement such as this is just as likely to succeed as to flop, because some admissions committee members value creativity while others will be put off by the lack of specific details.
In its uniqueness, it is unclear how difficult this statement was to write; most admissions committee members will probably give the candidate the benefit of the doubt and see it as highly original rather than a series of clichés, harvard law personal statement example. This statement works by a clever rhetorical trick: The author will repeat a word in the same sentence but shift the meaning to a different, often contrary, usage.
HOW TO GET ADMITTED INTO LAW SCHOOL -- REQUIREMENTS TO STUDY LAW AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU DONT QUALIFY.
, time: 11:20J.D. Application Components | Harvard Law School
2/13/ · The beginning of a solid law school personal statement ought to be intriguing, experts say. "The statement should begin with a strong intro sentence, that summarizes the applicant's goal or tone Author: Ilana Kowarski 9/13/ · But, I also managed to write a personal statement that said something about who I was and why I wanted to go to law school, a statement that had nothing to do with my terrible intern experience. People think that law schools want to hear how much you know about the law or how you’re going to hang your own shingle, go into politics, or become General Counsel at a large corporation 4/16/ · Law School Personal Statement Example: #1. When I was a child, my neighbors, who had arrived in America from Nepal, often seemed stressed. They argued a lot, struggled for money, and seemed to work all hours of the day. One day, I woke early
No comments:
Post a Comment