nobody cares

[bobfett33]

It seems clear that NOBODY cares about this section of the board... which must tell me that law schools probably don't care much about your personal statement, either.  Which is really too bad - most of the people from my undergraduate school, for instance, can't write worth a damn... makes me look very good!

[r_poster]

Honestly, seems like most of the people on this board can't write worth a damn.

I dislike this section.  People forget that personal statements are not collaborative efforts.

[karenw911]

...or by time we've found this board, the apps are in, the LSAT is taken and what we wrote in the personal statement is long forgotten history...

Karen W.

[dsds3581]

I kind of agree with random poster...I don't have a problem with this section being here and don't think that all schools don't care at all about personal statements...I just think that you should, at least, be able to write your own instead of seeking help over it. There are tons of books and services out there if you DO need help with it, though, so that DOES kind of make this section a little unnecessary...plus the fact that, yeah, most people you see online can't really write well, regardless of what kind of school they're trying to get into. Also, from what I've seen, most law school essays are boring anyway...and a lot of admissions officers concede that (in the books I've read). So your application probably has to be borderline in order for most admissions officers to use the personal statement as any kind of big deal.

[Miltra]

In response to r_poster's comment that most people can't write worth a damn, I would like to point out that people use different syntax and structure on the internet than in their scholarly work. (I would hope, anyway.)  I use abbreviations, forgo spell check and create my own slang just becuase I don't give a <insert explitive here> about what I write on here.  The internet is the epitome of utility over style.  Why do you think we use "LOL", "URM", "TTT", "LAC", etc? 

I suggest that r_poster get off his lofty perch and lower his nose so that he can see that message board postings aren't the most reliable indicator of writing potential.

[romancingthestone]

I don't get the problem either.  If people take classes for the LSAT, why shouldn't they have someone look over their essay?  It's not like they're paying someone to write it for them.  It seems pretty difficult to imagine that someone's writing ability could be disguised simply by having someone edit!  At my undergrad we had a whole writing center where professionals could help you with every stage of a paper of whatever length.  This was encouraged and not considered disingenous at all.  And trust me, I've got a pretty attuned bull meter.  If anything, I say take the LSATS without prep to get a "real" sense of your abilities, before refusing help on your essay!

[blizzard of ozz]

I'm inclined to agree with bobfett. Writing is what you are going to be doing the most of in LS, yet that's the thing least evidenced in the GPA/LSAT scores (unless of course you majored in English or other suitable areas like Philosophy or History, where you wrote several papers a week like me). It sickens me to think how few schools actually read essays. I also marvel when schools rush to accept people with hard science majors who are unable to form a coherent senetence (though obviously, as with anything else, there are exceptions). Granted, not everyone will be writing contracts, but it wouldn't hurt to be able to write a decent memo.

[Meltdown]

A more charitable way of looking at it is to realize that to discuss a personal statement necessarily involves giving out a ton of personal info, and who really wants to wade through your life story in order to give advice? I'm not sure the level of inactivity here is any reflection on how important the statement is to a law school.

[r_poster]

In response to r_poster's comment that most people can't write worth a damn, I would like to point out that people use different syntax and structure on the internet than in their scholarly work. (I would hope, anyway.) 


I never said they didn't.  I don't expect perfect grammar or spelling.  I expect reasonably organized arguments and I don't often see that here.  This is not a commentary on intelligence; I am just not impressed by most of the posts on this board.

I don't get the problem either.  If people take classes for the LSAT, why shouldn't they have someone look over their essay?  It's not like they're paying someone to write it for them.  It seems pretty difficult to imagine that someone's writing ability could be disguised simply by having someone edit!


You have not seen what passes for "editing" nowadays.  But either way, I made no commentary as to editing.  I had a friend edit my personal statement.  She is an excellent writer and she helped make my statement much stronger, but I was careful to make certain that I wrote the drafts and I made the revisions.  Any word that wasn't mine would not be true to me.  A personal statement should be just that -- "personal."  The story is yours; make certain it is yours from start to finish.

[Andrew]

Well maybe the applying section should be first - since that's what people do first.  I just moved it.  I hope this doesn't cause massive unrest.

I think personal statements are very important to admissions officers - and I think it's a good idea to get as much feedback as possible.  I can understand why someone wouldn't want to post their essay on a message board though.  This section was intended as an area for people to ask general questions.

As for writing skills - I hardly expect that people would put forth the same effort in "drafting" a message board post as they would in writing their personal statement for a law school application.