By V.W. Barber

More commonly known as extracurricular activities, your after school accomplishments are a vital part of your law school personal statement. With so many people applying to law school, these so called ‘extra’ activities may prove to be the defining characteristic of your application. Use your law school personal statement to capitalize on your accomplishments and show why you are the one who will go on to become the lawyer who brings their school fame.

Leadership

If you were President of your school’s NOW chapter, took up grant writing on behalf of the local animal shelter, or organized a Take Back The Night march, don’t be shy. Tell the admissions committee all about it. Show them how important community is to you and how you’ve integrated service into your every day life. By pointing out the leadership roles you have taken in your community service, you are also showing them that you are more than just someone who showed up on picture day. Emphasize skills that you used that would apply to your potential law degree, like writing, public speaking, and organizing.

Tell a Story, Don't Write A Novel

If you’ve listed your accomplishments on the extracurricular activity section on your application, you don’t need to run down another list on your law school personal statement for the admissions committee. Instead, pick out the most important services that you performed that also crossover into skills you acquired that you will apply toward your law degree. From these, find a little anecdote to demonstrate your acquired skill and interesting volunteer activity. It doesn’t need to be dry and academic to be impressive. Entertaining the admissions committee with just the right touch of humor will be remembered as much as strong achievements. But don’t go the other way and write a sitcom, either. Balance, as they say, is essential in everything.

Also, if you listed it on your application, don’t repeat it on your law school personal statement. You can talk about skills you gained during a listed volunteer service that you performed, but an admissions committee will notice if your only volunteer work was Girl Scout fundraising in the third grade. No amount of repeating it in different ways is going to spread that thin enough to look good.

Hobbies and Diversity

Law school admissions committees are feeling the heat like everyone else to produce as diverse a student population as possible. One way to emphasize your individuality if your race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual preference doesn’t do it for you, is to talk about your interests. If you publish a zine or a blog, enjoy installing intricate car stereo systems, or speak German for fun, talk about it. Get them interested in the subject, then apply it to your law school education.

However, if your hobby is burning things or spray painting your name across store fronts, don’t bring it up. Find something positive and interesting about yourself to focus on (and there is something). That goes without saying.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Don’t claim a summer tour de-worming orphans in Afghanistan if it didn’t happen. Chances are, no one is going to do a background check, but if for some reason it is revealed that you lied anywhere on your application including your law school personal statement, you won’t get in and any offer of attendance will be revoked.

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