Great Personal Statements for Law School

This was fine, but I thought the essays in the "Harvard Law School" book were higher quality. That being said, this has "how to" advice that the HLS book does not. So it depends on what you're looking for. I bought both books -- this is a case where more really is more!

A good read. When I was trying to think about what to write for law school applications I couldn't come up with a lot. After reading what others had done it made me realize I was being overly critical of what I should write.

I did not even know where to being with my personal statement. This book taught me everything I needed to know. I did additional research concurrently and found that everything that I needed to know was already in the book. I highly recommend it.

As a country bumpkin raised as a homeschooler in the boondocks of New England who was recently accepted to several top-tier graduate schools, I have been meaning to write a review raving about the book "Great Personal Statements for Law School." My fiancé lent it to me after he had read it and implemented Paul's expertise into his graduate school applications, and I was equally inspired. Although the book is tailored to prospective law students, I found almost all of the information just as applicable and relevant to my area of study, a Masters of Science in Mental Health Counseling! I can say, without any reservation whatsoever, that the tips, techniques, examples, templates, and just plain honest, down-to-earth advice Paul offered in his book is, by far, the highest contributing factor in my acceptance to Columbia, NYU, University of Rochester (whose Masters in Education program is a subset of the renowned Warner School of Education), SUNY Albany (whose PhD. program in clinical psychology was recently ranked #4 in the nation), the University of Vermont, and several State University of New York schools! Not only did I earn admission to a graduate program that is a perfect fit for me, but I was also awarded a graduate assistantship, which will cover over 75% of tuition for the 2-year program. Oh, and my fiancé? The one who recommended your book in the first place? He was also accepted at Columbia and NYU and has a graduate assistantship. 'I CAN NOT recommend Paul Bodine's expertise, genius and guidance enough.No grad school application is complete without at least taking a look at this book! Thanks, Paul!!!Sincerely, and most appreciatively,~A M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling student :)

Avoid this one at all costs. These personal statements are laughably bad, almost without exception. Treating them as models for your own law school personal statement isn't wise; these things read more like poor college admissions essays written by high school students. The writing is leaden and awkward, the subjects cliched, and the editing sloppy. Also, it's worth noting that most of the applicants whose essays are featured in the book gained admission only to mediocre law schools. A better choice is "Law School Essays that Made a Difference," which features much stronger personal statements written by borderline applicants to top schools (Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, etc.). The writers managed to gain entry to these sorts of schools, sometimes despite so-so numbers, because of their exceptional personal statements. The "Anna Ivey Guide" and Richard Montauk's "How To Get Into The Top Law Schools" also have good info about the personal statement. Or avoid the law school advice industry altogether and get a book like "The Art Of The Personal Essay," an excellent anthology edited by Phillip Lopate; "The Best American Nonrequired Reading" series, edited by Dave Eggers; Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones"; and Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird."

Paul's book is really helpful. If you aren't sure what personal experience to write about in your personal statment, Paul discusses how to choose what to write about, which is really useful. He also tells you how to write a good outline so that when you actually have to write the essay, it's not so hard.The advice on letter of recommendations is also very useful. Paul tells you how to choose the right recommenders and how to coach them so that your recommendations will really be an asset to your application.There are also many sample essays which I found very beneficial. For this alone, the book is worth it.I really recommend this book to anyone who's even thinking of applying to law school!

A helpful book! This book's real value are the excellent sections onstarting the writing process and understanding the basic types of questions that law schools ask. There are also separate chapters on secondary essays, like diversity and optional essays and wait list letters and a separate chapter just on recommendation letters.

There was nothing unique about this book. I bought 4 different books to help me write my personal statement. They all said the same thing with the same insight. Talk about plagarism. They weren't word-for-word, but the gist was the same.Save your money and buy only 1 book!

I read this book along with Paul's Great Applications for Business School because I was planning on applying to dual degree programs. This book is a great read and really helpful in giving someone new to the process a great idea of what is expected. Although, eventually, I didn't have to write a law school personal statement as I applied to a dual degree program which had integrated application that didn't require one, this book gave me loads of great ideas on how to approach writing essays for grad school - I highly recommend it.

Great product and prompt delivery