Personal Statement Length

[rectoralex]

Hey Guys,

First time post here, I apologize if these questions have been answered elsewhere.

My first question concerns the length of the personal statement. I have read plenty about what the personal statement is about, etc....But I have not found out if there is an appropriate length for it (Minus the application telling you so). Tonight in my powerscore class, one of my classmates told me she thought it was supposed to be one page max. I had not heard this before, as my personal statement is around 4.5 pages (I know this is long in itself, I am working on trimming it down).

Also, I have been receiving conflicting answers on where to put something I want to explain about my application. To make an extremely long story short, my first 3 semesters of college I was a waste of a student. No motivation, no clear career path. As expected, my GPA was bad. My fourth semester I put my butt in gear and the rest of college was MUCH better. Some people have told me to bring this up in my personal statement, and some have told me to write an addendum to this.

Last question. I know the personal statement should be custom to each school aka sending out the same personal statement to each school and just changing the names is a bad idea. So, my question is how personalized should the personal statement be? Should I bring up research professors at the school have been doing to show that I am interested in their work or is this over the line/disingenuous? Do any of you have tips on how to personalize the statement to a certain school?

That's all for now, that you all for your time and answers!

Alex

[Anne Chaconas]

Hi Alex,

You bring up a lot of great questions! I'm happy to give you my take:

Regarding the length of the personal statement, I typically tell students to shoot for between 800 and 1,000 words. 4.5 pages is definitely overkill, but a single page is definitely not enough room to get anything substantial about yourself written down. Aim for 2-3 pages, double-spaced (it makes for easier reading). If need be, you can spill onto a fourth page, but try to keep it to three.

I would not address the issues you faced during the first three semesters of college in your personal statement. The personal statement is for positive things that add to your character, not for apologies regarding missteps. An addendum is the best way to take on your low GPA during these first three semesters. This kind of addendum should be no more than a page, and preferably no more than 1-2 clear, concise paragraphs. There is no need to attempt to elicit sympathy, or to be overly apologetic when describing what happened--the job of the addendum is to present the facts in a way that answers the questions that are sure to arise given the dichotomy in your transcript. Take a look at this blog post: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/153 ... th-addenda -- it will give you a solid take at what you need to do when writing an addendum of this sort.

And, lastly, about customizing your personal statement: I don't believe that you need to write a completely different personal statement for each school to which you apply, for a lot of reasons, but primarily because it is hard to come up with and solidly write multiple essays about you and things you are passionate about, and still have them remain interesting and compelling. In fact, writing a single personal statement that you use for all schools is completely fine (and schools expect that you will do this, so it doesn't place you at a disadvantage). If you are determined to write multiple essays I would, then, brainstorm lengthily and come up with 2-3 topics you want to write about that elicit your enthusiasm and passion, and then write essays on each. Then you have a cache of essays you can choose from. The point I really want to address, however, is the one you raised here: "So, my question is how personalized should the personal statement be? Should I bring up research professors at the school have been doing to show that I am interested in their work or is this over the line/disingenuous?" The personal statement should be completely personalized, but not in the way you are thinking. It needs to talk about YOU. Not research professors, or about the qualities of each school you are considering. Just you. It doesn't even need to address why you want to go to law school, or why you want to attend a particular law school (schools already know, by the very virtue of the fact that you are applying to their law school, that you both want to go to law school and want to attend theirs). The personal statement is your opportunity to present the admissions committee with a side of yourself that is not visible elsewhere in the application. It needs to talk about something uniquely personal to you, something that you feel compelled by, something that you have strong feelings on, something that sheds light on your personality and character. The focus of the personal statement is NOT the school; it is YOU. Don't focus on personalizing each statement to the school; instead, focus on presenting schools with a personal, anecdotal statement that lets them have a sense of the kind of person you are, and that takes you from an applicant on paper to a person they like, remember, and can identify with.

I hope my answers help you even in a small way. Best of luck!

[rectoralex]

Anne,

Thank you so much for your help, that was perfect!


Alex

[AmandaScott]

I really enjoyed your thread… You always have great information and inspire me as an educator. Thanks