The vast majority of Law Schools will always require a personal statement along with your application. These statements are read by the Admissions staff and can make or break the opportunity to be admitted to the school of your choice. Deans will look for mistakes and poor writing as an indication of sloppiness and low regard for the school and also consider it a reflection of your ability to do high level work. Some of the Do's and Don'ts in writing a personal statement that have been compiled by others are listed below.
Do
1. Write well -- make it flow
2. Have a good first sentence
3. Double space it and leave good margins
4. Type it or use a word processor; make sure ink is dark
5. Keep it within a reasonable length (if length is prescribed, keep it within that
length, otherwise plan on no more than two pages)
6. Put your name on each page
7. Be specific and accurate
8. Be truthful
9. Have statement support and be supported by the rest of the file
10. Look beyond fraternity/soreority offices or athletic experiences
11. Acknowledge negatives in your file
12. Turn negatives into positives
13. Mention sensitive subjects in an appropriate way (not overly dramatically)
14. Tell them why you've chosen law
15. Show them who you are -- this is your interview
Don't
1. Overuse thesaurus
2. Use clichés or quote others extensively
3. Misspell words
4. Use third person
5. Title your statement
6. Send multimedia presentations/modeling photos
7. Gush about law school or philosphize about the role of law in society
8. Include name of law school, so-called personalization
9. Pat yourself on the back too much
10. Be too cynical
11. Come across as a victim
12. Be too specific as to what you will do with your law degree unless your
experience shows that it is a logical extension of what you've already done
13. Focus too much on another person, even if they have been influential in
your life
14. Just list activities that are already in the application: don't give a narrative resume