Lesson Ten: Why Program Essays
Do Your Relevant Research
Most schools will typically expect you to write one personal statement, one diversity statement, and one addendum. These three essays, save for some minor adjustments here and there, can go to almost all the schools you apply to. Occasionally, though, you will get a school wanting to know why you consider it a good fit for you. Consider the following example from Berkeley:
· Tell us more about your interest in Berkeley Law. What makes our school a good fit for you in terms of academic interests, programmatic offerings, and learning environment? (350 word maximum)
Or the following from the joint JD-Ph.D. program at UCLA:
· Please provide a brief statement (not to exceed two double-spaced typed pages, and no less than 11-point font) concerning your interest in law and philosophy and in the joint-degree program.
Such "why school" essays will most frequently come up in joint-degree programs or specialized scholarship opportunities. Even if you are not considering such programs or opportunities, the question may still pop up in the application or the rare instance of an interview. Here is how to address such a question.
Focus on What Matters
A good rule of thumb for when you are working on these essays—if you can find out the information from memory or a quick Google search, it will not be specific enough.
The admissions committee at NYU, for example, already knows it is great to be in the heart of New York City. UC-Berkeley knows it has a beautiful campus. The scholarships know they provide life-altering financial aid to you.
What you need to focus on is what specifically matters to you and your future goals.
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“It is really helpful to be detailed and specific when you say something…. It is just so much more compelling to read something specific than something general.” -Sarah Zearfross, Senior Assistant Dean at the University of Michigan Law School
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Examples of this include:
· A professor or lecturer who focuses on a specific industry or type of law, such as IP in Big Tech or discrimination in housing laws, that you can network with.
· A pipeline, whether formal or informal, to a legal firm, corporation, or industry that you have wanted to work in for some time.
· A research center that aligns with your interests—for example, Duke Law School has the Center for Sports Law and Policy if that was a field you wanted to go into.
Be Detailed in Your Writing
Simply listing these reasons for attending, however, will not get you far enough. You need to explain why they matter to you.
Using the above example of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke—there is a difference between wanting to spend a couple of days there out of curiosity to know the legal workings of sports and having a commitment to become a lawyer for a league or a sports agent. The former, while perhaps a personal interest, is not compelling enough to make Duke more important than other options. The latter can give a window into why you'd want to attend Duke specifically and make the committee better understand your ambitions.
In an essay addressing this, you would want to elaborate on how you want to get into sports law, what specific offerings at the center you would use, and how that would give you the foundation of skills and knowledge to do better in law. In doing so, the school will not only see that you’ve done your research, they’ll see that you have a clear vision for how you want to advance your career.
How and How Not to Write This Essay
Using Duke as an example, this would not work:
Studying at Duke University School of Law would provide me endless opportunities. I could, for example, spend free time exploring the Center for Sports Law and Policy. I could also network with the world-class faculty.
This does not tell us anything about you specifically other than that you could explore the sports center. “World-class faculty” is also too broad and generic to be useful—you need to hone in on who you’d study with and why. On the other hand, this would work much better:
As someone who interned with the NCAA the summer before my senior year, I have long had an interest in studying law with the purpose of ensuring best legislative actions for female collegiate athletes. With this in mind, studying at Duke University School of Law makes the most sense, as I can utilize the Center for Sports Law and Policy to study and conduct research in the “Regulation & Business of Sport” field. At the center, I hope to work with faculty like Doriane Lambelet Coleman because her work on the role of sex and its evolving definition in sports aligns with my own interest.
Here, not only do we understand how this specific aspect of law school ties into the applicant’s background, we get specific details about how the center will help and how a certain faculty member will best help them on their journey. If you can provide this level of detail in your “why program” essay, you will have as strong an essay as possible.
Now, we can look to any other remaining essays that may pop up from time to time.
