The One Thing That Can Instantly Destroy Your Credibility

Do you know where most essays fail?

It is not in minor grammatical details like if you use the Oxford comma or not. It is not in if you write 800 words or 600 words. It is not even in the choice of content.

It is in following the specific prompt of the essay.

Although the vast majority of essays fall within the categories of personal statement, diversity statement, and addendum, subtle nuances can require you to alter your essay to meet the school’s requirements. Consider these two personal statement prompts:

·      Columbia: We are curious about your interests, goals, and aspirations and how the J.D. program at Columbia can help you achieve these. You are encouraged to think about the contributions you hope to make to both the Columbia community and the legal profession while considering your personal, intellectual, and professional background and any relevant information that you may not have otherwise conveyed through your other application materials. 

·      Stanford: Please attach a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application.

Notice how Columbia asks you to describe your future goals, while Stanford asks you to write about “important or unusual aspects of yourself.” Can the answers to these prompts overlap? Absolutely, and usually, they will. But before you write one personal statement and slap it to every law school you apply to, make sure you are answering everything they ask for—though this may sound basic, it is common for students to miss it.

And no matter what you do, do not accidentally leave one school’s name in for another’s essay. That can practically guarantee you will not get admitted, no matter how good the rest of your application looks.

What Is Your Core Message Across the Board?

“I’m really thinking about the application as a whole. You are, of course, going to evaluate each individual piece of it, but you’re not looking at it as individual pieces. Everything fits together.” -Jayme McKillop, Former Admissions Director at University of Chicago

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Whether you look at your essay as a chance to tell your story, to market yourself, or to showcase your writing, you need to understand what overarching message you want to convey to the law school committee across all your essays. In storytelling, you would call this the theme; in marketing, you would call this your USP (unique selling proposition). What is it that truly makes you stand out that you can convey, directly or subtly, through your essays?

To come up with a proper answer, it is often useful to brainstorm some ideas first. While your first instinct may prove correct, it is worth doing your due diligence first to make sure you have exhausted all possibilities. Some questions you can ask yourself to do this include:

·      What would be one word that defines your journey to this point so far, or your ambitions for the road ahead?

·      What do you value most about yourself?

·      When people talk about you, what do they most often praise you for?

Note that this is not asking what the content should be, but what the message underneath that content is. Two people can both write about a meaningful internship experience in Washington D.C., but one student might discuss the theme of “positioning myself to make the greatest legislative difference” while another might discuss the USP of “tenacity to go from small town to the nation’s capital.” Your content and your message are unique to you, but it is important to start with your message before you write out any of your content.

To Be a Plotter, or To Be a Pantser—That is the Question (of Outlining)

Once you have your core message, you can start working on your essays—but how you begin working on them is a matter of very personal taste.

Depending on who you talk to, outlining is either the only way to ensure your content makes sense, or it is an unnecessary step that impedes your creativity. Writers usually fall into one of two camps—plotters (those who outline everything down to the specific words they want to use) and pantsers (those who get a whim of an idea and start writing more or less on the spot). Like most things in life, 99 percent of writers fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, but it is useful to know the pros and cons of each as you think about this process.

Plotters

PROS

·      It is much easier to organize your thoughts.

·      You can get detailed and see if it makes sense without writing hundreds of words.

·      You can bust through writer's block because you already know what to say!

CONS

·      It takes more time, as outlining and writing are often spaced out quite a bit.

·      How it looks on an outline does not always translate smoothly to paragraph format.

·      Once you get started, you can get too boxed into trying to make your outline work.

Pantsers

PROS

·      It is quick.

·      You can get into a “flow” state and write amazing essays in a very short period of time.

·      It can feel more “organic” when you are not confined to a rigid structure.

CONS

·      It is too easy to wait for that “magic moment” that may not come.

·      You can write yourself into a corner that will require a complete rewrite.

·      You may start writing generic, passive language if you are unsure of what to say.

We recommend, at the very least, spending twenty to thirty minutes just jotting down ideas, even if you are a full pantser. You need to have some idea of what you want to say, and if you just see the prompt and start writing, you may produce something good—but you may also have failed to give yourself the brainstorming session to produce something great.

Remember, while your first instinct may be right, you should always verify the validity of that instinct first.

Love Your First Draft, Hate Your Other Drafts

Establishing how you want to prepare is useful—but you do not submit essay outlines to law schools. So, eventually, you will have to actually write your essay. But there is a common problem many writers, even experienced ones, face.

Often, just getting something on the page can feel daunting. In our experience, the best thing you can do is to feel you can do no wrong when you write your first draft. Even though you will probably have poorly phrased sentences, generalized descriptions, and possibly typos and errors, the goal is to fill the blank page with content. It is much easier to edit a poorly written first draft into a great second draft than to try and create a great first draft from a blank page.

After, though, once you have a written draft, it is time to become a critic. Pick apart every word choice. Dissect if your story is showing what you want it to show. Analyze if the flow makes sense. And give it to other people! They can provide a perspective you may not have—but when they do come back with critiques, trust yourself to know how to fix it.

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“When somebody tells you there’s something wrong… they’re almost always right. When they tell you how to fix it, they’re almost always wrong.” -Cassandra Clare, Author

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Now that you know how to tackle any essay from a content perspective, we can dive into some specific writing tips for all essays.