PS prompt??

[rushmore]

Im reading the SMU application and it says that the ps should:
"contain any infromation that is especially relevant to your decision to study law, which may include factors such as what motivates you to study law, what you seek to accomplish with your law degree, and how your past experiences may help you to accomplish your goals."

My ps doesn't mention law school or my future goals at all.  It is about how working construction made me a better economics teacher.  Should I write another ps, or is this prompt generic enough to show why I am a good candidate in an indirect fashion (ie lessons learned doing construction)

sorry its so long.
Thanks

[jacy85]

I don't understand how you working construction and then being a better economics teacher in any way ties into law school.  I can't connect you being a better econ teacher with you being a good law student or successful attorney.  I don't know if adcoms will make that connection either.

I think you either need to figure out a way to tie this all in with law school (and by that I mean you need to translate "becoming a better econ teacher" into "being a successful law student") or else start over.  In this case, I don't know if the "indirect fashion" is teh way to go.

[rushmore]

Do you mean in this specific (SMU) case or in general.  I ask because people on this board seem to go crazy for the essays that show how you've grown or learned things.  Just recently there was that short essay about the guy who had the sick girlfriend.  I thought that a PS was to show something important about yourself that was otherwise inherently apparent on you application. 

[jacy85]

That can be the case, but you still need to pay attention to the essay prompts.  The guy with the sick girlfriend was writing a requested 250 wd essay for Yale on a topic of his choice, in addition to his PS.

But even if they did say to write about what ever you want, how does being a good econ teacher matter when you're going into law school?  If taht's the angle you want to go, I'd just stick with working in construction, and how you were always an academic or something.  And give examples of what you learned doing that impacts your daily life or something.  But if I was an adcom (which, admittedly, I'm not.  You just asked for our opinions) I really don't care all that much how whatever you did made you a better econ teacher, unless I understood how you being a better econ teacher will translate into the legal field.

For this specific school, they've given you an essay prompt, and gave you the bare bones of what they want answered.  I suggest you at least try to give them something that flows in that general direction

[rushmore]

Yeah thanks for the input.  The essay shows qualities I have that would make me a good candidate for law school and a good lawyer.  The econ teacher part just gives me a story to work with.  I think it makes for a better essay if you can tell a story rather than simply saying, "I am good because".  I think the PS focuses on the "how your past experiences may help you to accomplish your goals" part of the prompt.  It isn't just about being a good teacher.  It's about the necessary qualities of a good teacher.  I think that's relevant because, in my oppinion, these same qualities are important in law school.

Thanks

[dr_draino]

Amen to that rushmore...teaching is such an easy job to weave a law school ps from its silly.  I think yours will come out great.  Maybe one sentence saying why you want to apply these skills in a new way to show why you wanna go to law school and that should wrap it up really.

Yeah thanks for the input.  The essay shows qualities I have that would make me a good candidate for law school and a good lawyer.  The econ teacher part just gives me a story to work with.  I think it makes for a better essay if you can tell a story rather than simply saying, "I am good because".  I think the PS focuses on the "how your past experiences may help you to accomplish your goals" part of the prompt.  It isn't just about being a good teacher.  It's about the necessary qualities of a good teacher.  I think that's relevant because, in my oppinion, these same qualities are important in law school.

Thanks