We’ve created this online video help course to help give you the best start to your essay writing process! Feel free to read more on each topic from these videos in the lessons below as well.

By the time you open the application portal to apply to law school, you have done 90 percent of the work already. You have finished at least three years of undergraduate school, if not already graduated; you have put in plenty of hours preparing for the LSAT or taken it already; and you have already built relationships with professors and professionals who can write you glowing letters of recommendation. For better or for worse, there is not much more you can do—except for one crucial part.

One of the most fundamental aspects of marketing is to "know your audience." While you are not creating a billboard of yourself or creating social media advertisements for yourself, you are trying to market yourself as an ideal candidate for each program. In other words, you are selling each school on why it should accept you.

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.

If you are considering a career in law, you likely know how to write well, or at least know how to avoid typical pitfalls. However, simply adhering to the rules of grammar you learned in middle school and using vocabulary words you picked up during your SAT prep will not cut it. You need, first, a checklist of common mistakes we have seen in essays, and second, some tips on structuring your essay.

Your GPA score shows what you have done in your undergraduate years. Your LSAT score suggests what you might do in your law school years. Your resume shows what you have done in your professional career, or at least what you have done outside the classroom.

Your personal statement shows why you have done these things.

Below, we will review excerpts of two different personal statements, analyzing what worked and what can be improved.

For many law programs, diversity has become more than just a buzzword—there has been a genuine interest in getting a broader range of voices both into the classroom and into the legal field. The diversity statement offers you a chance to explain how you would bring a different perspective to your class, but for such a seemingly simple question, it can prove deceptively difficult. Even if you think you have an obvious answer, how should you address it?

A poor grade, a period of unemployment, a low test score, or academic punishment does not have to automatically end your chances of admission to your dream school.

But not taking ownership with a proper, mature explanation in your addendum can do just that.

In the previous section, we outlined how the Addendum gives you the chance to address any academic shortcomings, gaps in employment, or other notable deficiencies. While that is typically an optional section of the application, Character & Fitness questions are not. In this page, we will briefly outline how to approach these questions to present yourself as best as possible.

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:

Given the number of programs out there, it is impossible to address every prompt. While writing a strong personal statement, diversity statement, and addendum—plus the occasional “why school” prompt—will cover over 90 percent of your essay content, you will still have the occasional one-off question pop up. Using the tips for brainstorming, outlining, and writing we have provided will put you on the right track, but here are some final tips for some other essays from three top-tier schools.

We said it once and we will say it again—if you have gotten this far, congratulations! You have (probably) finished at least three drafts of your personal statement and all your other essays. You have thought about these essays ad nauseam, and you are probably ready to just upload everything and hit submit. If you want to ensure you have checked off every box, though, and avoided any mistakes, we recommend doing the following.

No matter how much work you put into the essay, you are going to have blind spots. The more work you put into it, the harder it will be to recognize these blind spots since you will be so invested in it, even if you edit your draft multiple times. To ensure the highest quality product, it makes the most sense to get help. There are two ways to do it.