How can you make a personal statement stand out?
I'm applying for law at Cambridge (amongst other places), I've got 2 main drafts which I'm wanting to move forward with, obviously similar components, but mainly based around two of main interests in the law (the main two I've actually been exposed to) one of these is around intellectual property law, the other is human rights.
The human rights one, I think reads better. It sounds more righteous, more I want to study law at Cambridge to make a difference in the world. But I can't help but feel that's been done to death, and is very unoriginal.
The intellectual property one, I feel like it sounds less passionate. It's not that I'm not interested, its just that it's harder to sound passionate about copyright, it's not as life or death as human rights violations.
So yeah, I think that the IP one maybe stands out a little more, but is it not more important to try and show a desire to do something. They recommend mentioning what you want to do with your future career. Am I supposed to talk about my legal interests in IP for a few thousand characters then say " I wanna work at the UN~"
The human rights one, I think reads better. It sounds more righteous, more I want to study law at Cambridge to make a difference in the world. But I can't help but feel that's been done to death, and is very unoriginal.
The intellectual property one, I feel like it sounds less passionate. It's not that I'm not interested, its just that it's harder to sound passionate about copyright, it's not as life or death as human rights violations.
So yeah, I think that the IP one maybe stands out a little more, but is it not more important to try and show a desire to do something. They recommend mentioning what you want to do with your future career. Am I supposed to talk about my legal interests in IP for a few thousand characters then say " I wanna work at the UN~"
(edited 2 years ago)
I didn’t mention my future career at all for my Cambridge statement and focused solely on judicial review (public), and legal causation in tort where there isn’t a clear material contribution. I got offers from all my unis so being technical must have worked, however, I really don’t think Cambridge care about the PS that much; it’s the interview / CLT that have the meaningful weighting.
Original post by camapplicant530
I didn’t mention my future career at all for my Cambridge statement and focused solely on judicial review (public), and legal causation in tort where there isn’t a clear material contribution. I got offers from all my unis so being technical must have worked, however, I really don’t think Cambridge care about the PS that much; it’s the interview / CLT that have the meaningful weighting.
Wow thanks for replying. That is quite helpful, I think it's easy to get distracted by everything online. I've found and read 3 successful Cambridge law personal statements on the internet and they all talked about saving the world. I was worried I was a bit lacking in that regard.
Are you studying law at Cambridge then? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
If you try to make your personal statement stand out, chances are it will. For the wrong reasons.
Don’t try to be amazing. Just present yourself as you are. People are rarely rejected from Cambridge or Oxford pre-interview for an average personal statement. Some courses don’t even consider the personal statement.
They’re not going to accept one person for having epic tales of work experience and reject another for only being able to secure a day’s virtual experience. or for one person claiming they’ve read ten books and another person only having read four. They just want to see that you’ve thought about your course and made an effort to learn more about it and justify your application. That you’re an eager and enquiring learner who can think, learn and study independently. That you’re someone who would do well on their course. A modest, sincere and honest personal statement will go much further than one that sounds like it’s trying too hard to impress.
Don’t try to be amazing. Just present yourself as you are. People are rarely rejected from Cambridge or Oxford pre-interview for an average personal statement. Some courses don’t even consider the personal statement.
They’re not going to accept one person for having epic tales of work experience and reject another for only being able to secure a day’s virtual experience. or for one person claiming they’ve read ten books and another person only having read four. They just want to see that you’ve thought about your course and made an effort to learn more about it and justify your application. That you’re an eager and enquiring learner who can think, learn and study independently. That you’re someone who would do well on their course. A modest, sincere and honest personal statement will go much further than one that sounds like it’s trying too hard to impress.
Original post by pepsiu
Wow thanks for replying. That is quite helpful, I think it's easy to get distracted by everything online. I've found and read 3 successful Cambridge law personal statements on the internet and they all talked about saving the world. I was worried I was a bit lacking in that regard.
Are you studying law at Cambridge then? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
Are you studying law at Cambridge then? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
I will be, providing results day doesn’t go tits up.
Given the current climate I’m not really sure about that anymore lol
if you try to impress the admissions team with your 'righteousness' (as you put it) chances are you won't; you'll just sound cheesy or cliched, which will do the opposite effect of impressing the reader. if you want to stand out you need to demonstrate some understanding of law be it academic law or law in practice and demonstrate that you are a good writer. show your personality and skills through your writing; tell any interesting story. don't try to sound 'academic' or fancy cuz your ps will read annoying and as tho you're under-educated in academic writing or how to write a cover letter (at least, that was my approach and got offers from all the unis i applied for). does your ps on intellectual property read interesting and is it convincing enough on why you want to study law(?) cuz tbh intellectual property is only one module so you might have to expand on why that inspires or qualifies you. jmho 
(edited 2 years ago)
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