Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas
It can be challenging to write a good, unique law school personal statement. Sometimes the hardest part of writing a law school personal statement is figuring out where to begin.
These are some law school personal statement brainstorming ideas that may help you figure out what topics you should discuss in your personal statement as well as what themes should permeate it. Do not become too attached to any topic or idea right away. Instead, look at all of the questions below and pick a few to begin thinking seriously about.
Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas about Travel and Cultural Experiences:
List every country, state/province, or city that you have traveled to. Have any of these experiences changed you? How? What realizations have you had as a result?
Have you had experience volunteering anywhere? Where? Was it different than you expected? Has it given you a different worldview?
Are you fluent in any languages? Go beyond the traditional languages of English, Spanish, Japanese. Can you Code? Are you great at talking to and relating to younger people or elderly people? How has this affected your life and your goals? How has it made you think about the world differently?
Where did you grow up? How has this influenced your perspective? What race are you? What is your cultural background? How has your background or race changed you? How has it made you more mature or open-minded?
Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas about Why You Are Applying to Law School:
Do you have any coursework, experiences, or legal training that has inspired you to go to law school or a particular area of law?
Is there a certain person or event that has made you want to study law?
Is there a specific area of law that you want to go into? Why? What personal experiences have made you want to go into this field?
Do you want to go to a particular law school? Make sure to state it in the personal statement that you submit to that school. What makes you want to go to that law school: the courses, clinics, professors, geographical area? Let them know that you have truly researched the law school and are serious about attending it if you get accepted.
Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas about Your Hobbies, Interests, and Relationships:
Have you “created” anything – a blog, a business, a volunteer group? How has it challenged you?
Has a professor, mentor, or any other relationship changed your life in a significant way?
Has an artist or book changed your life? How? Did it influence your decision to go to law school?
Is there any quote that has changed your perspective on life? What is it? How has it changed your perspective and your life?
What interests you? What hobbies are you passionate about?
Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas about Obstacles:
Have you overcome any physical, mental, emotional, or financial difficulties? Have you experienced any tragedies or illnesses? How has it made you more mature?
Have you helped a close family member who has had to overcome a difficulty, tragedy, or illness? How has it changed you?
Where did you grow up? Was this an obstacle to success in any way? What did you learn from it?
What is your race or ethnicity? Have you been stereotyped as a result of it? How have overcoming stereotypes associated with your race challenged you or made you stronger and more mature?
Other Law School Personal Statement Brainstorming Ideas:
Ask a friend what they find remarkable about your life or your personality. It is surprising what ideas they might come up with.
What isn’t on your application that you want to communicate to the admissions committee? How does your application not tell your full story?
List five adjectives you would use to describe yourself. How are these connected with experiences or events in your life?
Think about your childhood. Think of the first memory you can. Then write down all of the significant events, experiences, or revelations that occurred after that. Try to connect these to a choice or decision that you made or a perspective that you adopted in your adulthood.
Once you have a topic or idea, write about it for five or ten minutes without stopping. Write whatever comes to your mind. If you think you might have a good paper topic, stick with it for a while even if you can’t write a personal statement you really like right away. It usually takes a while to write a really good law school personal statement. For more tips on how to write an excellent law school personal statement, click here. If you are considering whether to submit a diversity statement along with your application, please see our other posts on how to write a law school diversity statement.
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