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What is a personal statement?
In a way, it is as simple as the definition suggests—a statement that is personal about yourself. Personal statements are asked for in applications for job openings, academic institutions, and other situations that require an application. The personal statement is often drawn upon to make a decision about whether you are accepted or rejected, and that is because the statement is the only place where a group gets to hear your voice.
What is a typical personal statement prompt?
Sometimes an application will not give you a prompt and just ask you to say something about yourself. When there are prompts, they are often about your past or future. For example, a common question is Describe a time where you had to overcome adversity, because schools and employers want to see how you do under pressure. Other questions involve your future goals and plans, and these are questions that you need to think carefully about.
Is there an average personal statement word count?
Personal statements are generally one or two long paragraphs, which often amounts to 200-350 words. It all depends what you are applying for, though, because that is all that is important to you. Your job is to discern what the organization wants to hear from you in the personal statement, and then you give it to them.
Is there a method for coming up with a personal statement title?
Some personal statements do not give you the option of a title, and therefore you don’t need to worry about it. If your personal statement does require a title, it’s ok! Read over your personal statement and think about what it is really saying. Most statements have an overall theme that you are pushing across, even if you don’t realize it. This should be summarized in your title, because you want the title to draw in the reader and show them what you are going to discuss.
Do your writers have a recommendation for the law school personal statement length?
There is no perfect answer to this, but for a law statement you do not want it to be too long (depending on the academic institution you are applying to). An important part of being a lawyer is choosing the right words, so schools want to see if you can summarize yourself using as few words as possible.
