Writing about your experiences
in the law field supports both the Why
I Want to Be a Lawyer theme and the
Why I Am Qualified theme, so it is always
a good idea to spend time on the experiences
that qualify you as a potential law
student.
Direct work experience
is always the best, of course, for a
number of reasons. For one, it proves
your motivation to the committee. For
another, it shows that you have the
potential for being successful in the
field. Perhaps most importantly, it
shows the committee that you understand
the profession and know what you will
be getting into upon graduating. One
type of applicant that the committee
keeps a wary eye out for is the kind
who wants to go to law school but doesn’t
have any realistic idea of what lawyers
do beyond the glamorized images seen
in television and movies.
But you do not need to
have had an internship at a law firm
to show that you are qualified. Your
experience might be political, such
as the convention you volunteered to
help organize or the campaign you helped
raise funds for. Or it can be academic
or issues-based, such as the thesis
you wrote on law and the Internet. The
rule here is, if you have it, use it.
If you have a lot of experience,
the bulk of your essay may be spent
on this theme rather than on the Why
I Want to Go to Law School theme. You
should try to relate your qualifications
back to your motivation at some point,
though, even if it is only a reference.
Often, people will do this in a single,
concluding sentence. This can be a powerful
approach as long as your passion is
clearly demonstrated through your description
of your experiences. Look at the essay
below for an example of this. The writer
spends all but the last paragraph of
his essay describing his dedication
to activism, first by lobbying to have
the Confederate flag removed from the
Boy Scouts, and later by actions taken
as student body president. He doesn’t
make a verbal tie-in to his motivation
until the last few sentences of his
essay:
I sought practical improvements
through independent thinking, perseverance,
and tenacity in the face of fierce criticism.
A legal education would give me tools
to better use these abilities. I am
not headed to law school on a mission,
but I see law as an opportunity to contribute
as we build our future.
Admissions Officers’ Pet
Peeve: Making Lists
For some candidates the
problem will not be that they don’t
have enough direct experience to write
about; they have too much. The danger
inherent in wanting to include all your
experience is that space is limited
and you can either end up with an essay
that is too long, or one that consists
of little more than a listing of your
activities and accomplishments. Says
one officer:
“The essay should never
be merely a prose form of a C.V. That’s
dry to read, and again, doesn’t offer
any additional information about the
candidate.”
It is all right to include
all the experience you have had somewhere
in your essay but keep it short and
do it in the context of a story or a
personal account using colorful details.
After all, you can attach a resume that
will list all your jobs and promotions.
The essay has the much more important
job of bringing these experiences to
life.
Also, resist the hard-sell
approach. The admissions officers at
top schools read so many essays written
by extremely qualified applicants that
writing a self-serving “I did this,
I did that” essay isn’t going to wow
them; it will simply make them yawn.
You are much better off with a humble
attitude. Let your experiences speak
for themselves and focus on making your
essay personal and interesting instead.
Having someone objective read your essay
before you send it in will help you
discern the kind of impression you are
making.
From
ESSAYS THAT WILL GET YOU INTO COLLEGE,
by Amy Burnham, Daniel Kaufman, and
Chris Dowhan.
Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman.
Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's
Educational Series, Inc.
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