Personal Statement

[gam46@students.uwf.edu]

Good afternoon,

After looking at Personal Statement word limits I was sad to see that they are a bit more confining than I had imagined. It crossed my mind that the content I will be writing on is very similar to the content in my Diversity Statement. Do universities ever allow these two to be joined into one contiguous work? I very highly doubt it, but I thought I would ask.

All the best,

Gaige.

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Good afternoon,

After looking at Personal Statement word limits I was sad to see that they are a bit more confining than I had imagined. It crossed my mind that the content I will be writing on is very similar to the content in my Diversity Statement. Do universities ever allow these two to be joined into one contiguous work? I very highly doubt it, but I thought I would ask.

All the best,

Gaige.

Hi Gaige,

Thanks for the post! I doubt it as well; law schools have them separated for a reason. But even if they did allow that, I'd generally advise against it. Without knowing the specific topic you're writing about, it's difficult to give a specific recommendation. But I'd say try to differentiate the two essays in some way; either write about two different topics entirely or pick different aspects of the same topic to focus on. Think of those essays as two unique opportunities to highlight yourself!

Also, you may find Dave's webinar on the personal statement helpful:https://player.vimeo.com/video/94191768. As Dave mentions in that webinar, personal statements are typically 800-1000 words long. The word limits are there in part to demonstrate that you can write succinctly, yet compellingly. With personal statements, every word counts! That's why we do offer personal statement admissions consulting/editing services: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/law-sch ... /packages/. Something to consider!

[gam46@students.uwf.edu]

Hi Stephanie,

That was my instinct as well. My draft actually happened to fall within the 1,000 word mark, but it looks like some of the more particular schools use page limits rather than word limits. Naturally, some editing was due, but it looks like it should be viable to retain the spirit of the draft within the limitations of the submission. I'll be reviewing the links you sent me here shortly - Thanks again for all your help!

All the best,

Gaige.