Personal statement for law
Hi everyone, we have started our personal statements currently but we haven’t had much assistance yet from our school. My first draft is due in a first few weeks but I’m struggling on the opening sentence and how to structure it. I intend to apply to study law to all the unis and aim to apply to Cambridge and LSE too so if anyone has any advice on how to start or a good structuring tip it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve done a lot of super curricular also so any tips on choosing out of those the best ones would be helpful too!
Original post by Hailey629
Hi everyone, we have started our personal statements currently but we haven’t had much assistance yet from our school. My first draft is due in a first few weeks but I’m struggling on the opening sentence and how to structure it. I intend to apply to study law to all the unis and aim to apply to Cambridge and LSE too so if anyone has any advice on how to start or a good structuring tip it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve done a lot of super curricular also so any tips on choosing out of those the best ones would be helpful too!
theres a ton of videos on youtube that go through examples and structures but for mine i did a 80/20 split of subject-specific and personal. i started with an intro about what drew me to architecture, then books/media, then work experience and an epq and then a trip that opened my eyes to future ideas. finally i added on skills i got my hobbies and volunteering that make me a good candidate and a short conclusion (literally one sentence)
Original post by arch17
theres a ton of videos on youtube that go through examples and structures but for mine i did a 80/20 split of subject-specific and personal. i started with an intro about what drew me to architecture, then books/media, then work experience and an epq and then a trip that opened my eyes to future ideas. finally i added on skills i got my hobbies and volunteering that make me a good candidate and a short conclusion (literally one sentence)
Thank you, how would you avoid to sound cliche as I feel like there’s no way around it and almost anything I want to say I feel like is being said by everyone.
Original post by Hailey629
Thank you, how would you avoid to sound cliche as I feel like there’s no way around it and almost anything I want to say I feel like is being said by everyone.
avoid things like using direct quotes or 'since i was a child' or other really cliche/common terms like that. in terms of what you write and say, id say its not necessarily a bad thing to say the same things as others cuz lets face it theres not much you can really say before it goes into bs territory, but i would defo defo recommend making sure theres always a personal like so if you've read a common book or saw a tedtalk or learnt about something in class or on the news talk about what that inspired you to do next like i said something like 'i watched a tedtalk on sustainable materials for building which led me to researching greenwashing in architecture as nowadays the word 'sustainable' is oversaturated in the public eye so i began my CREST award project on the success of sustainable cities'
Hi @Hailey629
That's great that you're starting to apply for university soon! I really hope you get into the course and uni you want to.
Structure wise, my advice would be:
Intro - Strong opening sentence that relays your interest about why you want to study that course. You could even relate it to a skill, e.g. 'As someone who has great written and verbal communication skills, I have always considered a discipline like Law to be for me..'
Middle paragraphs - My advice would be to write down your middle paragraphs first, so a paragraph about:
Why you want to do law - you can highlight your relevant experiences here and how they inspired you to pursue law, maybe you read a book about law/ family members are lawyers etc
Maybe a paragraph about different law modules or aspects of law you want to study and you can mention your ambitions - so what you want out of your degree / what type of lawyer you want to be. This is a good way to show you've done research around the subject area.
And a final middle paragraph about the knowledge and skills you have, particularly Universities such as Cambridge, like the applicant to have some knowledge of current affairs too. You could also include your hobbies and interests outside of education and pull out skills you've gained through them.
Conclusion - End with a small conclusion about looking forward to studying law at that university and why you would make a great student.
Make sure that nothing is plagiarised and that everything is grammatically correct. Don't downplay any skills and experiences you have. Use the most relevant as opposed to most recent when it comes to experiences.
There is also a 'personal statement builder' tool available on The Student Room you could use.
Good luck and all the best for your applications - hope you don't stress too much about them!
Mumina
University of Salford Rep
That's great that you're starting to apply for university soon! I really hope you get into the course and uni you want to.
Structure wise, my advice would be:
Intro - Strong opening sentence that relays your interest about why you want to study that course. You could even relate it to a skill, e.g. 'As someone who has great written and verbal communication skills, I have always considered a discipline like Law to be for me..'
Middle paragraphs - My advice would be to write down your middle paragraphs first, so a paragraph about:
Why you want to do law - you can highlight your relevant experiences here and how they inspired you to pursue law, maybe you read a book about law/ family members are lawyers etc
Maybe a paragraph about different law modules or aspects of law you want to study and you can mention your ambitions - so what you want out of your degree / what type of lawyer you want to be. This is a good way to show you've done research around the subject area.
And a final middle paragraph about the knowledge and skills you have, particularly Universities such as Cambridge, like the applicant to have some knowledge of current affairs too. You could also include your hobbies and interests outside of education and pull out skills you've gained through them.
Conclusion - End with a small conclusion about looking forward to studying law at that university and why you would make a great student.
Make sure that nothing is plagiarised and that everything is grammatically correct. Don't downplay any skills and experiences you have. Use the most relevant as opposed to most recent when it comes to experiences.
There is also a 'personal statement builder' tool available on The Student Room you could use.
Good luck and all the best for your applications - hope you don't stress too much about them!
Mumina
University of Salford Rep
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