A Lost American in Search of Information About Personal Statements

Hi! I'm sorry to make a banal thread... Please don't crucify me =[
I've been doing some research on the UK personal statements and such and I find the whole system much better than the US college essay structure, but I am still a bit unclear about it. I am going to apply for something in the law and/or politics field at Edinburgh and would like to ask if there are any good guides out there to baby-step me through the whats, hows, wheres and whys of the whole idea of a personal statement.

Thanks in advance,
MJ

Reply 1

artorscience?

MJ_Alexander

I am going to apply for something in the law and/or politics field at Edinburgh and would like to ask if there are any good guides out there to baby-step me through the whats, hows, wheres and whys of the whole idea of a personal statement.

Take a look through the articles on the TSR wiki, see here. There are guides to getting started and some subject specific advice as well as a bank of old personal statements from current students on this site for you to read through and get an idea of how your statement should work (and some examples of how not to do it).

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

Ace.of.Spades

Here's a handy website with a lot of useful information:
http://www.studential.com/guide/write_personal_statement.htm
Also, just in case you didn't know, (as I didn't until a few weeks before sending my application off) Edinburgh only teaches Scotts law, if you ever wanted to practice in England you'd need to do an extra year or so of study :s-smilie:

Good luck! :smile:

Reply 3

nearlyheadlessian

Ace.of.Spades

Also, just in case you didn't know, (as I didn't until a few weeks before sending my application off) Edinburgh only teaches Scotts law, if you ever wanted to practice in England you'd need to do an extra year or so of study :s-smilie:

Scots

Worth bearing in mind that English universities only teach English law, so if you studied south of the border and wanted to practise law in Scotland you'd also need to do a one year conversion course :smile:

Reply 4

jjarvis

nearlyheadlessian

Scots

There's no one year conversion course in Scotland--you would need to do a two year LLB, or to qualify as a solicitor in England and then take the Qualified Lawyer Transfer Test.

Also, a degree from England or Scotland in law would not entitle you to take the bar exam in any American state *except* New York and California. It is very difficult to pass the bar in both states, and you would need to learn American law. You could, however, apply to American law schools with an undergrad degree in law from a US uni.