Personal Statement for Law?

I did my PS ages ago (I was in university between 2013-2016), I was applying for psychology (with a view of going into clinical psychology after, I made that incredibly clear). I included talks I went to (psychological debates and lectures), extracuricular stuff I had done (cadets), posts I held in school (I was a mentor to a looked after child and also was a senior prefect); other interests I had like drama and instruments, etc. I just explained how each of these things helped me develop certain skills, examples: dealing with different types of people, different age groups; time management; motivation; responsibility; reliability; etc. There was probably some other stuff, but you get the picture.

I got all five offers.

Morning,

I have just secured a spot at LSE which has developed a reputation (rightly, or wrongly) for requiring a strong personal statement. Some tips that I would offer:

1. Show what it is about the law that interests you
2. Show how you have engaged with the law
3. Show why you are going to be a great law student
4. Show why you should be selected for the course.

The key word is "show", as you may have seen. You need to be using evidence to back up your claims in your PS. "I am going to be a great law student because I have great grades" would be an example, albeit unimaginative, of how you could "show" this

What I did when writing mine was seek out and review all of the alleged Oxbridge Personal Statements posted on this forum (someone actually made a nice list of the credible ones. I cant remember where it is though, perhaps in the comments section of the PS's). You will notice the sort of content they provide, for example, many people chose to evidence their engagement with the law by mentioning a book they have read or a visit they have made, talking about what they had gained from it. Again, I'm not necessarily saying you should do this, but it is an example none-the-less!

Drop me a PM if you wish, I'm sure I could help further.

Law undergrad at Cambridge here (and received offers from LSE, Warwick, Manchester and QMUL).

Always remember this: for an academic PS you want to RELATE EVERYTHING TO LEGAL STUDY.


1. Reading

An academic PS deals primarily with theoretical points of controversy within the subject. This means you need to know exactly what you'll be studying at uni, which means you need to have read materials that correspond to legal study. Mentioning your reading is important because 90% of the time it's what you'll be doing at uni.

The important thing is reflecting on the reading and showing insight – what was your instinctive reaction? Did it make sense? Why/why not? What does this tell you about the law? Why does it make you want to study it? Fleshing out a few points in good detail is what you want to do. Don't just name-drop books for the sake of it (I only put 3 books in my PS).

2. Subject related extra-curriculars

Court visits, mooting, debating, law firm/chambers work experience, shadowing scheme, summer school etc – it's not academic unless you relate it directly to legal study.

E.g. this is how you turn a court visit into an academic point: "I witnessed an intriguing case at the Crown Court where the defendant faced a rape conviction under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. During his cross-examination I doubted whether the term 'rapist' properly applied to the facts of the case. I followed up my uncertainty with Ashworth and Horder's explanation of fair labelling in 'Principles of Criminal Law', whereupon I solidified my opinion that the moral censure associated with the label was at a mismatch with the case I oversaw."

An extra-curricular is made academic when you relate it to legal study.

3. Extra-curriculars unrelated to subject

School leadership, sports, music, etc. If you want an academic PS, you keep discussion of this to a minimum. I wrote around 100 words about this, condensing only the most noteworthy things into one small paragraph (about 6% of my PS).

4. Organisation

An academic way of organising your PS is splitting it into identifiable topics, e.g. first paragraph mainly on the rule of law (public law). the second paragraph mainly on strict liability (criminal law) etc. One paragraph can have two topics, but keep it clear and don't muddle between topics unnecessarily.


That's about it in a nutshell.

Personal Statements are unfortunately rather short to say why you want to study something.

In mine (which I wrote now back in 2011...) I mentioned
1. A book I had read and an idea/how that book had encouraged me to study law (doesn't necessarily have to be strictly legal boring book - for example mine was on history but dealt with aspects of the law so I said I was interested in how law has changed and developed through the courts over time)
2. My experience in my school's debate team (which tbh does not help you with anything about studying - just shows you will be an active member of the University)

Can't remember what else I included.

Morning,

I have just secured a spot at LSE which has developed a reputation (rightly, or wrongly) for requiring a strong personal statement. Some tips that I would offer:

1. Show what it is about the law that interests you
2. Show how you have engaged with the law
3. Show why you are going to be a great law student
4. Show why you should be selected for the course.

The key word is "show", as you may have seen. You need to be using evidence to back up your claims in your PS. "I am going to be a great law student because I have great grades" would be an example, albeit unimaginative, of how you could "show" this

What I did when writing mine was seek out and review all of the alleged Oxbridge Personal Statements posted on this forum (someone actually made a nice list of the credible ones. I cant remember where it is though, perhaps in the comments section of the PS's). You will notice the sort of content they provide, for example, many people chose to evidence their engagement with the law by mentioning a book they have read or a visit they have made, talking about what they had gained from it. Again, I'm not necessarily saying you should do this, but it is an example none-the-less!

Drop me a PM if you wish, I'm sure I could help further.

Awww thnx for the offer! It'll probably take me a while to do it, but if I have some troubles I'll be sure to ask you

Please do not send your PS to anyone you don’t know on the internet or post it on the public forums.
You have no idea about the quality of the advice you are receiving.

PS help resources are in my signature. You can also get a review through our service.

Law undergrad at Cambridge here (and received offers from LSE, Warwick, Manchester and QMUL).

Always remember this: for an academic PS you want to RELATE EVERYTHING TO LEGAL STUDY.


1. Reading

An academic PS deals primarily with theoretical points of controversy within the subject. This means you need to know exactly what you'll be studying at uni, which means you need to have read materials that correspond to legal study. Mentioning your reading is important because 90% of the time it's what you'll be doing at uni.

The important thing is reflecting on the reading and showing insight – what was your instinctive reaction? Did it make sense? Why/why not? What does this tell you about the law? Why does it make you want to study it? Fleshing out a few points in good detail is what you want to do. Don't just name-drop books for the sake of it (I only put 3 books in my PS).

2. Subject related extra-curriculars

Court visits, mooting, debating, law firm/chambers work experience, shadowing scheme, summer school etc – it's not academic unless you relate it directly to legal study.

E.g. this is how you turn a court visit into an academic point: "I witnessed an intriguing case at the Crown Court where the defendant faced a rape conviction under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. During his cross-examination I doubted whether the term 'rapist' properly applied to the facts of the case. I followed up my uncertainty with Ashworth and Horder's explanation of fair labelling in 'Principles of Criminal Law', whereupon I solidified my opinion that the moral censure associated with the label was at a mismatch with the case I oversaw."

An extra-curricular is made academic when you relate it to legal study.

3. Extra-curriculars unrelated to subject

School leadership, sports, music, etc. If you want an academic PS, you keep discussion of this to a minimum. I wrote around 100 words about this, condensing only the most noteworthy things into one small paragraph (about 6% of my PS).

4. Organisation

An academic way of organising your PS is splitting it into identifiable topics, e.g. first paragraph mainly on the rule of law (public law). the second paragraph mainly on strict liability (criminal law) etc. One paragraph can have two topics, but keep it clear and don't muddle between topics unnecessarily.


That's about it in a nutshell.