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 Pre-Law at
TCNJ
The
Personal Statement Application Essay
Why the Essay is So Important
Your Personal Statement Application Essay (PSAE) can
be the difference between gaining admission or being denied.
It is your only opportunity to present yourself as a person,
rather than as a set of numbers. You need to put your
best qualities out there in your PSAE for the admissions
committee to see. They need to LOVE it, as admissions
personnel are trying to assemble an interesting assortment
of students in each year's entering class.
Please remember that the PSAE is not an open
letter to an admissions committee; it is a creative writing
exercise! Hence, do not tell them who you are;
show them who you are by telling a story that
demonstrates the kind of person you are.
Standing Out
- Admissions personnel read thousands of PSAEs.
After a while, they all look the same. Far too
many applicants play it safe. But the PSAE is your
only change to distinguish yourself from other
applicants whose numbers (LSAT scores and GPAs) qualify
them for admission. So, unless you figure out a
way to stand out, you have wasted your one and only
opportunity to do so.
- That being said, you need not write a PSAE on
some new or completely unique topic. Rather, the
key is to be specific and personal. Let your
personality come through. Give the committee an
opportunity to gain insights into who you are as a
person.
- This is not the place to write an essay on legal
theory or legal philosophy. It's about YOU!
Do's
- Write an essay that is no more than two pages,
double-spaced (one page single-spaced) in length when
formatted with normal 12 point font and one-inch
margins.
- Run both a grammar check and a spell check on
your PSAE. And, after having done so, print it out
and ready it aloud to catch errors that computers miss.
Mistakes in spelling, grammar, and syntax are typically
fatal errors in the law school admissions process.
- Get personal and write in the first person.
But be careful not to start too many sentences with the
word "I."
- Write with short, declarative sentences, and with
well-structured paragraphs. A concise, easy to
read PSAE is far superior to one that attempts to
impress the readers with fancy vocabulary, overly
complex sentences, or legalese.
- SHOW traits like motivation, maturity,
enthusiasm, honesty, independence, perseverance,
creativity, passion, strong personal ethics, confidence,
and appropriate humor. However, while emphasizing
such strengths, be careful not to be obnoxious or
arrogant. If you balance your essay by addressing
a personal weakness, do so without being defensive.
- Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead:
an anecdote, quote, question, or engaging description of
a scene. For example:
- “The city was burning. Gray smoke filled the
black sky when . . . .” This essay goes on to
poignantly discuss the death of this student's
friend during the Los Angeles riots, and how coming
to grips with his friend's passing clarified the
student's career goals and motivated him in his
studies.
- "Have you ever been afraid? I mean REALLY
scared? I am not talking about knot you feel in your
stomach when being pulled over by a police officer
for a traffic offense; the fear you felt the first
time you watched The Exorcist; the first drop off
the Viper roller coaster; or even the impending
sense of doom when your parents caught you as a
teenager doing what they had explicitly forbid. I am
talking about the bone chilling fear I felt as the
barrel of the 9 millimeter was pointed at my head
and I heard the hammer of gun being cocked."
- Unite your essay and give it direction with a
theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want
to communicate. Depth on a topic is far more effective
than breadth.
- Use concrete examples (not generalizations) from
your life experience to support your thesis and
distinguish yourself from other applicants. For example:
- GENERALIZED AND BORING: “Although Mom
and I are very different people, I consider her the
most profound influence on my values and the person
I have become. I constantly try to emulate her.”
- CONCRETE AND VIVID: “I love jogging,
tennis, skiing; she considers walking to the car to
be exercise. My alarm clock rings at 6:30 a.m. on
Sunday; her day begins at noon. I need a certain
amount of time pressure to produce my best; she
hates a last-minute rush. Yet, despite these
irritating differences, Mom has set an example of
determination, professional excellence, and service
to the community that I am constantly trying to
emulate.”
- Remember your audience! Law school faculty and
administrators are not persuaded by “I learned more in
my extracurricular activities than I ever learned in
class” or “Varsity football was the most valuable part
of my undergraduate education.”
- Limit your PSAE to a full description of one
particular event, activity, or theme, rather than making
a laundry list of your accomplishments. Remember:
depth over breadth!
- End your essay with a conclusion that refers back
to the lead and restates your thesis.
Big Mistake #1
- Grammar, spelling, usage, or syntax errors will
almost certainly get your application moved into the
rejection pile. So, not only should you proofread
carefully after having run a grammar and spell check on
your document, but also, you should have several people
proofread your essay for you.
Big Mistake #2
Big Mistake #3
- Writing on a trite topic, or starting off with a
trite phrase. Examples of things not to do:
- Write a “Why I want to go to law school” PSAE.
- Write a “Why I want to be a lawyer” PSAE
- Write a “How I will champion the cause of
justice” PSAE
- Start your essay with: “I was born in . . .
.”
- Start your essay with “My parents came from .
. . .”
- Use platitudes about the “forces that molded
me into the person I am today” or “the top-notch
faculty, diverse student body, and outstanding
alumni network” of a school.
- Use buzzwords like “pro bono,” “intellectual
property,” "empower,” “clerkships,” and “diversity.”
- Use legalisms like “heretofore,” “whereas,”
and “therein.”
- Use acronyms such as DA, TRO, M&A, ADR, IPO.
- Visit
Vault.com's PSAE section and read the article "Why Do I
Want to Be a Lawyer" for insights into how to
integrate such a theme into an essay without falling
into the usual pitfalls on this trite topic.
Big Mistake #4
- Being a clown or a comedian. Humor is fine;
in fact, it can work wonders! But it has to be
appropriate.
Big Mistake #5
- Writing a PSAE that is a variation on The
Little Engine That Could. Unless you overcame some
great obstacle -- the
story of which shows that you are a person of great
strength, determined will, and high moral character --
then tell it! For example, if you beat cancer,
survived a terrorist attack or kidnapping, or the like,
then sharing something of that magnitude will make for a
powerful essay. Otherwise, no one wants to hear about “I
think I can; I think can; I think I can; . . . I knew I could!!!”
- For more information on how to integrate your
personal qualifications to study law without telling a
Little Engine That Could story, visit
Vault.com's PSAE section and read the article
"Qualifications."
Big Mistake #6
- Writing an essay of apology. Your PSAE is
your chance to put your best foot forward. It
should be a positive essay that demonstrates great
things about you. It is therefore not the place
for explanations about some negative aspect of your
application, such as a bad semester of grades; a low
LSAT score; etc. Address negative parts of your
file in a separate addendum to your application, NOT
in the PSAE.
Sample Essays
- Dr. Fair has a collection of PSAE's
available for distribution in hard copy. Check with him
in Social Science 220.
- There are also some wonderful Internet resources
with examples of essays that worked.
© 2007 by Henry F. Fradella, J.D., Ph.D.
The material on this page was written by and is
copyrighted by Henry F. Fradella.
It is licensed
for use by The College of New Jersey on its Pre-Law web
site.
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