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Law school letter of recommendation: tips & samples.

Reviewed by:

David Merson

Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University

Reviewed: 08/30/23

Wondering how to get the perfect law school letter of recommendation? Read on to learn more!

Applying to law school means navigating the LSAC application, gathering necessary documents, and presenting your skills and self in a positive light. One application element you don’t have complete control over is your law school recommendation letters, which can make some applicants nervous about asking for them. 

We’ll outline everything you need to know about recommendations, including how they impact your candidacy, who and how to ask for a letter of recommendation for law school and more!

What Is a Law School Letter of Recommendation?

A law school letter of recommendation in an application material that attests to students’ preparedness for law school. These letters are generally written by professors and are around one page long.

How Important Are Letters of Recommendation for Law School? 

Amidst the hustle of acing the LSAT , meticulously selecting an affordable yet ideal school to fulfill your aspirations, and writing a captivating personal statement and resume, it’s essential not to underestimate the role of your letters of recommendation! 

While letters of recommendation for law school may not be as crucial as your LSAT scores and GPA , they often carry significant weight in the application process. 

UC Berkeley emphasizes letters of recommendation can strengthen students’ applications if there are deficiencies in your application. These letters can help to outweigh these shortcomings. 

Why Do You Need a Letter of Recommendation?

Law school recommendation letters are important because they: 

• Add differentiation to your profile, especially if you have a similar GPA or LSAT score as other applicants 
• Qualitatively highlight why you’re an excellent law school candidate 
• Offer a credible, third-party perspective on your skills, knowledge, character, and fitness for the legal field 

It’s worth spending time securing strong letters of recommendation; law school acceptance rates can be relatively low, especially at T14 schools . Strong recommendation letters can highlight your candidacy and fitness for law. 

Many prestigious full-ride scholarships also require letters of recommendation, meaning they can not only get you into your dream school but can even help you attend it for free !

What Makes a Strong Letter of Recommendation for Law School? 

According to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), letters of recommendation “that compare you to your academic peers are often the most useful.” LSAC also warns against “general, unreservedly praiseworthy letters.” General, complimentary letters aren’t specific enough to accurately depict your skills and qualities.

The University of Utah’s Academic Advising Center claims,

“Letters that reflect real knowledge of an applicant’s performance and character are the most useful to the admissions committee.” 

A strong law school letter of recommendation should meet these goals :

• Identifies the writer and their relationship with you
• Conveys factual evidence about you and your achievements/experiences 
• Doesn’t use “unsupported adjectives” like “creative” or “mature” without explaining why your recommender describes you that way 
• Makes clear judgments about your character based on factual evidence 
• Compares you to your peers 
• Shares distinguishing characteristics about you to breathe life into your “character” and make you more memorable 
• Be carefully edited for clarity, concision, and readability (it doesn’t include local terms, jargon, or other words and phrases that admissions committees may not know)

An excellent recommendation letter is detailed, precise, and quantifies your experiences and fitness for law school . 

How to Organize a Letter of Recommendation

Your letters of recommendation should be organized as follows:

A Letterhead

Your recommendation should begin with a letterhead including the writer’s name, position, email address, and sometimes number, if your writer is comfortable with it. 

A Brief Opening

Your letter should begin with a short opening explaining the relationship between you and the writer and the purpose of the recommendation. 

Main Paragraphs

Letters of recommendation typically have a few main paragraphs. These paragraphs will detail the reasons you’re an excellent candidate for law school, including specific examples to provide context. These paragraphs should highlight your best academic and personal qualities. 

A Conclusion

The recommendation should conclude by providing a concise summary of the writer's overarching perspective on the candidate and reiterate their readiness for law school.

Who Should You Ask to Write a Law School Letter of Recommendation? 

Before compiling a list of potential sources, you must read the admissions requirements for each school you want to apply to. Some schools may be more specific about recommenders, whereas others may give you more freedom to pick whomever you feel would write you the best evaluation. 

LSAC states that the best letters of recommendation are written by professors and work supervisors who know you well enough to comment honestly on your overall potential and share your academic, personal, and professional achievements.

Some of the best sources for your law school recommendations include: 

• Individuals who you’ve formed deep relationships with and know you well 
• A professor or other individual who has academically evaluated you, especially in one of your upper-division undergraduate classes 
• Your work supervisor 
• Anyone who has supervised you in other activities such as volunteer, internship, or research experiences 

Most law schools prefer recommendations from academic sources, such as professors from your university. If you’re still in university, you can focus on relationship-building with your professors through actively participating in the classroom and seeking research opportunities and advice.

Avoid asking people for letters who don’t know you well, even if you think their status is impressive; your manager who you interact with daily is a much better recommender than the CEO of your company you’ve met once.

On the other hand, it’s also best to avoid recommendation letters from family or friends: it could hinder your application! 

How to Ask for a Law School Letter of Recommendation

It’s time to learn how to ask for a letter of recommendation for law school. We’ll outline the best ways to approach and support your recommenders step-by-step. 

1. Identify Your Writers 

You know the best recommenders, but you may still have to narrow down your options. Make a list of people you think would be happy to write enthusiastic, detailed recommendations for you.  While you can send the same recommendation to multiple schools, you can choose recommenders to write a targeted recommendation to just one school. For example, if you want to attend NYU Law and your recommender happens to be an NYU Law school graduate, you can ask them to write a tailored letter. 

2. Pick the Right Time to Ask 

You want to ensure you give your recommenders enough time to write your letters before the application deadline or the date you hope to submit your LSAC applications. 

You should be considerate of your letter writers' time and workload, and approach them at least two months in advance of your request. An excellent time to request a law school recommendation letter is in the fall of your senior year. 

3. Meet With Your Recommenders 

You can connect with potential recommenders by email, but meeting in person has its benefits. The main benefit of meeting in person is to see if your recommender is enthusiastic about writing your letter. If you sense reluctance, you may want to consider asking someone else. 

When you meet with your recommender, you can share your motivations for attending law school and your hopes for the future. 

4. Offer Supporting Information 

Even if you have a close relationship with your letter writer, it’s unlikely they will remember every detail about your accomplishments and candidacy. Showing up to your meeting with supporting documents makes your recommender’s life easier: they’ll appreciate the context! 

You can put together a package for each of your evaluators that includes: 

• Your contact information 
• A list of schools you plan to apply to  
• Recommendation forms 
• Your unofficial transcript 
• A draft of your law school personal statement , if you have it 
• A summarization of any important projects, publications, etc. 
• Your resume 

You should also include a note on anything you want to be emphasized in your law school letter of recommendation. For example, if you want your letter to highlight your research experience, you should explicitly state that to your recommender. 

5. Don’t Forget to Say Thank You 

You can add a thank you note with your package, but it’s worth expressing in person how grateful you are if your recommender accepts your request. Remember, your recommenders aren’t obligated to provide you with an evaluation; they genuinely want to see you succeed. 

After you get accepted at your dream law school, don’t forget to follow up and say thank you one more time! 

6. Fill Out Information and Formally Request Letters in LSAC 

If you’re using LSAC’s LOR Service, you’ll need to input your recommender’s name and contact information to submit a formal request. Afterward, they’ll receive an email with instructions on submitting their recommendation. If they prefer, they can also submit paper letters.

Law School Letter of Recommendation Template

Keep this template in mind as you gather your first recommendation letter for your law school application: 

[Writer’s name]

[Writer’s place of employment]

[Writer’s address, city, state, ZIP code]

[Writer’s email]

Dear [intended law school] Admissions Committee,

[Opening paragraph explaining relationship and purpose of recommendation]

[Main paragraph 1]

[Main paragraph 2]

‍ [Main paragraph 3]

[Conclusion reiterating perspective on student]

[Writer’s position and place of employment]

You can modify this law school recommendation letter template as needed! 

Law School Letter of Recommendation Examples

To ensure you’re on the right track and know exactly what your recommendation should look like, here are two examples of strong letters of recommendation for law school:

Dr. John Doe

Yale University

451 College St, New Haven, CT, 06511

[email protected]

Dear Harvard Law Admissions Committee,

I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Kiera Dimmings, who was a dedicated and exceptional student in my Psychology class during the 2022 academic term at Yale University. I am delighted to provide my strong endorsement for Kiera as she pursues a career in law.

Kiera consistently demonstrated a remarkable level of intellectual curiosity, critical thinking skills, and an impressive work ethic. Her active participation in class discussions showcased their ability to grasp complex concepts and analyze intricate psychological theories. Notably, Kiera exhibited exceptional writing skills through their thought-provoking essays and research assignments, which highlighted their capacity to convey ideas succinctly and persuasively. 

What particularly stands out about Kiera is her exceptional aptitude for understanding human behavior and motivation. She displayed a keen interest in exploring the intersections between psychology and the legal system, often engaging in insightful discussions about the psychological underpinnings of legal proceedings, ethics, and decision-making. She even wrote her final research paper on this topic, which awarded her the highest assignment grade in the class, a 93%. Her engagement in such dialogues showcased their passion for applying psychological principles to real-world scenarios, which I believe will greatly benefit them in their pursuit of a legal education. She is also involved in some of our department research, and is an integral part of our current study on the impact of social media on student relations. 

Considering Kiera's impressive academic record, analytical abilities, and passion for the legal field, I am confident that she has the qualities necessary to excel in law school. I wholeheartedly recommend Kiera for admission to your law school and am confident that she will continue to excel and make significant contributions to any academic community she becomes a part of.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.

Professor of Psychology at Yale University

Dr. Jane Doe

University of Illinois

1201 W. University Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801

[email protected]

Dear Columbia Law Admissions Committee,

I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Adam Smith, a remarkable student whom I had the privilege of instructing in multiple political science courses during their time at the University of Illinois. I am delighted to wholeheartedly endorse Adam in his pursuit of a career in law. 

Over the three years I taught Adamn, I  had the pleasure of witnessing his exceptional growth,  intellectual abilities, passion for learning, and dedication to academic excellence. Throughout his engagement in various political science courses, Adam consistently stood out for his insightful contributions to class discussions, as well as his impressive written assignments.

Adam has an outstanding ability to synthesize complex political concepts and theories into coherent, well-reasoned arguments. His analytical skills, combined with a thorough understanding of political dynamics, allowed him to critically evaluate issues from multiple perspectives. This capacity for nuanced thinking is an essential asset in the study and practice of law, where the ability to navigate intricate legal matters is of paramount importance.

Adam not only excelled academically but also demonstrated exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills. He took the initiative to organize and participate in extracurricular political debates and seminars, where he showcased his ability to articulate ideas persuasively and engage in constructive discourse. It is also evident that Adam possesses a strong ethical foundation and an unwavering commitment to justice and fairness, as he spends the majority of his free time contributing to activist initiatives led by our justice-related school organizations. He has made an impact both inside and outside of the classroom and has certainly left a mark on our school community. 

These qualities, in conjunction with Adam’s deep understanding of political systems and institutions, equip him with the necessary tools to excel in law school and, subsequently, in a legal career. As such, I am confident in his ability to thrive in law school and beyond. Adam’s ability to think critically, engage in thoughtful discourse, and approach complex problems with a solution-oriented mindset will undoubtedly set him up for a prosperous future. I am confident that he will continue to impress and make an excellent addition to your law school.

Should you require any additional information or further insights into Adam's capabilities and qualifications, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois

FAQs: Law School Recommendation Letter 

If you still have questions about how to ask for a recommendation letter for law school, read on for more answers. 

1. What Should a Law School Letter of Recommendation Include?

A good law school recommendation letter should include your relationship with the writer and detailed, positive judgments about your character, activities, and accomplishments. If possible, a letter that quantitatively compares you to your peers can give you a competitive edge. 

2. How Many Letters of Recommendation Should I Provide?

You should provide two to three letters of recommendation, depending on your law school’s admission requirements.

3. Can I Write My Own Letter of Recommendation for Law School?

You shouldn’t write your own recommendation for law school, even if the person you asked offered to sign off on it. There’s no clear policy on whether this is against LSAC’s rules or not, but admissions committee members may sense that you wrote your own letter, even with your recommender’s signature on it. 

4. Do Any Law Schools Require Three Letters of Recommendation?

Many schools request between two and four recommendation letters. Many students will request three letters. 

5. Can You Use the Same Recommendation Letter for Multiple Law Schools? 

Yes, you can use the same letter of recommendation for multiple law schools. If you’ve asked for general recommendations, you should tag them as “General References” in your LSAC application. 

6. Do Law Schools Read Letters of Recommendation?

You can safely assume that admissions committees will evaluate every part of your law school applications. Most schools take a holistic approach, meaning they’ll consider every component before deciding its fate. Stellar letters of recommendation for law school can level up your application, so assume they’ll be read! 

7. When Should You Ask for the Letter of Recommendation?

Typically, students reach out for recommendations at least two to three months before their application deadline. This timeline allows ample time for your busy professors to craft compelling letters on your behalf.

Final Thoughts 

Law school recommendation letters offer more insight into your character, motivation, and personality. Now that you know how to ask for recommendation letters, you can feel confident knowing you can put your best foot forward with potential evaluators. 

Remember to ask for law school recommendation letters early and provide your recommenders with important information about you. Good luck!

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Cover Letters

E. common cover letter mistakes.

• Vide o and Slides from the CDO program “ Cover Letters That Do The Job” and handouts: Job Postings & Tips and Sample PIPS Cover Letters .

Your cover letter is as important as your resume because it is often read first and plays a vital role in your quest for an interview. A cover letter is not a transmittal letter, and you may be surprised at how time-consuming it is to craft a good one. A cover letter has a purpose, which is to let an employer know why they should bother reading your resume and why they should meet you. It also serves as an example of your written work product; thus it should be clear, brief, and written in a business letter style, without any typographical errors.

1. Cover letters for unsolicited applications come in three main types:

• Personal Letter. These are the most effective cover letters and are sent to people you have met or with whom you have a mutual acquaintance. These letters should all start with the sentence: “_______ recommended that I contact you.” As this type of letter is most likely to get a response, if you have any possibility of establishing this sort of connection to a prospective employer in advance of sending your letter, you should try your best to do so.
• Targeted Letters. Next best thing. Targeted letters are based on research of the employer, and are individually tailored. Your letter should incorporate the information learned through your research to show the employer that you have skills they will be able to put to use.
• Mass Mailers. Least desirable. These are generic except for the name and address of the employer, and have a very low success rate of getting interviews.

2. When you respond to a job listing, you will usually be requested to submit a cover letter as part of your application. In this case, use the job description and requested qualifications as a guide. While not simply imitating the language of the listing, your letter should demonstrate that you have what the employer is looking for.

3. A few employers at OCI request that students bring a cover letter to the initial interview. This is essentially to require students to think about why they want to work for this employer, but it makes for a letter which deviates from the usual “please consider me for an interview” approach. See below for suggestions on OCI cover letters.

Cover letters should follow standard business letter format, as to spacing, salutation, etc. If you are not sure of the fine points, consult a business correspondence reference source. Avoid abbreviations, contractions and shortcuts (such as a slash instead of “or”), although if there is an accepted short form of the name of the organization you are writing to (e.g., ACLU or Coblentz) it is acceptable to use it in the text of your letter. Your telephone number and email address should appear somewhere in the letter, either at the top with your address, or in the closing paragraph, when you ask them to contact you. Note that your resume is “enclosed,” not “attached” (which means clipped or stapled).

If you are not sure to whom you should send your letter, it is always acceptable to write to the executive director of a nonprofit, or the hiring partner or head of recruiting at a firm; they can forward your application to the appropriate person within the organization. If at all possible, write to an individual by name, not to “Director” or “Recruiting Coordinator.” Firm and organization web sites are very useful in finding this information (and for confirming correct spellings and the like); it may be more difficult to find the name of an individual addressee for government job opportunities. If you do not have the name of an individual, the salutation should be “Dear Sir or Madam” (not “To Whom It May Concern”). Of course if you are responding to a job posting, address your letter exactly as instructed.

As for the appropriate salutation, traditionally, it is “Dear [Mr./Ms.] [Last Name].  However, we understand that this prevailing business norm may not be inclusive of individuals who do not use either of those titles (for example, because they identify as gender nonconforming). One alternative, “Dear [First Name] [Last Name]”, avoids presuming how the recipient may identify, but it is not without some risk.  

If you use this approach, a recipient less attuned to thinking about gender inclusivity (and accustomed to seeing only “Dear [Mr./Ms] [Last Name]”) may wrongly conclude that you were unfamiliar with professional etiquette or that you used a mail merge template and did not bother to customize it.  While awareness around these issues is increasing, we believe that, unfortunately, it is still not a small number of recruiting representatives and attorneys who might draw the wrong conclusion.

One way to navigate this tricky situation might be to see if the recipient has an online presence (e.g., on the firm website or LinkedIn) that might give you a strong clue as to how they would like to be addressed.  Otherwise, you will need to make your own judgment as to whether recipients are more likely to recognize your inclusivity or to view the greeting as awkward or erroneous.

In our office, we are also working to help employers become familiar with gender-inclusive approaches like “Dear [First Name] [Last Name],” but like any process of education, this will take time. In the meantime, our primary goal is to make sure that all Berkeley Law students are fully informed as you navigate legal job markets. We are always available to discuss individually what approach would be the best fit for you.

First Paragraph. Begin your letter with a statement of who you are and why you are writing. Introduce yourself as a law student (including the year you are in) or a graduate of Berkeley Law and specify what it is you are seeking: a summer job, an associate position, a clerkship, part-time work during the school year, etc.

The goal of this paragraph is to give the reader a reason to want to finish reading the letter. If you don’t have a personal connection to cite, try to establish a nexus between yourself and the employer, such as knowledge of their practice, an established commitment to or interest in their work, a connection to their city, or something else which conveys that you are not just writing to them as part of a mass mailing for any job in any location. (If that in fact is what you are doing, try not to be too obvious about it. An employer wants to think that you sought him or her out purposely rather than randomly.)

Body Paragraph(s). This is the section in which you “sell” your experience and qualifications to the employer. Your goal here is to answer the question, “Why should the employer meet you?”

Call attention to something which substantiates your interest in this particular employer. It could be coursework in their specialty, the recommendation of a professor in their area of practice, undergraduate residency in their city, or any other indication of your interest. Try also to show how your experiences will translate into skills which will be useful to this particular employer. Highlight relevant qualifications which are not on your resume, such as coursework, research, or a prior connection to the organization or the issues they work on. If you have general legal skills such as negotiation, litigation, client counseling, interviewing, mock trials, etc., you may want to include them. As much as possible, try to convey understanding of, and enthusiasm for, the aims of the organization.

Employers do not expect first-year students to have highly-developed legal skills to offer. Therefore, for first-year students writing to private firms, this section can be a single, short paragraph, unless you have a strong background in a relevant area. However, even inexperienced first-year students writing to public interest/sector organizations should make an effort to describe skills and interests that are relevant to the employer.

It is appropriate and not uncommon for a public interest cover letter to be somewhat more detailed or personal than a private sector cover letter. Of course, it is still very important to be concise, but it is acceptable for the letter to be a full page if your experience dictates. In a public interest cover letter, it is important both to highlight your demonstrated commitment to the mission/work/client base of the organization through your own relevant work or life experience, and to illustrate your relevant skills. Take another look at your resume for items that show your interest, commitment and skills. Even if you do not have experience in the specific area in which an organization works, it is still important to emphasize your demonstrated commitment to the public interest, and to draw connections between that general commitment and the specific work of the organization. As it is important not to merely regurgitate your resume, consider including a story that illustrates you are interested or qualified in the position.

If your application raises questions that are readily answered, such as availability after the Bar exam, judicial clerkship plans, etc., the letter can address those; other issues may be better deferred to the interview stage. Consult a CDO attorney-counselor if you’re not sure whether to include something in your cover letter.

Final Paragraph. In your last paragraph, thank them for their consideration, and say you hope to hear from them soon. For out-of-town employers, indicate when you plan to be in their geographic area and state your availability for an interview. Be sure to include your phone number and email in this paragraph unless you use a letterhead style that includes them at the top of the page. If you state that you will call the employer to follow up on your application, be sure you do so.

If you are bringing a cover letter to an on-campus interview (which you should do only if the employer requests you to), the content will be a bit different. You don’t need to introduce yourself, as you will be there in person, and you won’t request an interview at the closing. But you can thank the employer for interviewing you and say that you welcome the opportunity to learn more about the employer and to discuss the possibility of working for them. The important thing is to show why you are interested in this particular employer, and how you think your background makes you a good match for them.

The mistakes most commonly found in student cover letters are:

• Restating your resume. “ I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2005, with a B.A., cum laude, in Political Science, then worked as a substitute teacher in an urban high school before starting law school in the fall of 2008 .” Don’t waste space with facts that are readily gleaned from your resume! Instead, you could say (briefly) how your work experience led you to pursue a legal career in an area practiced by the employer.
• Focusing on what you stand to gain from the job . “ I am particularly interested in your firm’s excellent training program for summer associates, and in gaining exposure to a variety of different practice areas.” Remember, employers only grant interviews to candidates who offer something of potential use to the employer. Try to say how your skills and enthusiasm will help the employer serve its clients, or otherwise further its aims.
• Being too informal or familiar. “I’m thrilled by the possibility of working with you this summer, and would love to meet with you in person/by phone to chat about what the options might be.” Enthusiasm is good, but it must be presented professionally.

Other cover letter mistakes include: being defensive or apologetic; appearing arrogant or entitled, and being too long and wordy. Unsupported statements of your qualities (“I am highly motivated and a quick study”) do not help your case. Generic reasons for your interest in the employer (e.g., its “excellent reputation”) tend to demonstrate your lack of specific knowledge. Of course typos and inaccuracies, such as misspelled names, or (please!) stating an interest in a practice area that the firm doesn’t have, are automatic application-killers.

Our cover letter template  provides suggestions only; please do not feel excessively constrained by its approach. Your letter should, of course, be original work that reflects your unique background and the job you are aiming at.

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January 27, 2024

Law School Letter of Recommendation Sample and Quick Guide

At this stage of the law school admissions process, you probably have Application Season Fatigue Syndrome. You just feel done . So corralling people to write your letters of recommendation (LORs), a nagging and seemingly redundant task, might be the last thing you feel like doing. After all, haven’t you already proven your worth through your polished essays, work experience, LSAT score, and GPA? 

We get it. But take a deep breath, and give your LORs your full attention . They carry considerable weight, and the adcoms read them very carefully. A convincing law school recommendation can be the icing on the cake of your already compelling law school application. 

In this guide, we tell you everything you need to know about these all-important LORs, including

• how effective law school recommendations boost your competitive advantage by building a more holistic image of you 
• why it’s vital to choose the right people to write these letters
• how to identify the specific traits and qualities your recommenders must discuss convincingly on your behalf 
• how to make your recommenders’ job easier, and thereby make their letters more influential  
• what to do if your recommender insists, “You write it; I’ll sign it.”

And as a bonus , we include two sample law school LORs for two very different applicants.

Six ways strong law school letters of recommendation boost your candidacy 

Compelling LORs expand on what you have demonstrated in your essays: 

• They affirm that what you have claimed about yourself is true because they are written by a third party. 
• They reassure the adcoms that you are capable of managing the rigorous academic work required at a top-tier law school .
• They can help offset a weakness in your law school application, such as a dip in your undergraduate GPA, especially if one of your college-level instructors attests to your success with a challenging course load. 
• They showcase distinct qualifications and personal qualities and characteristics that you didn’t have space or the opportunity to discuss in your personal statement. 
• They reveal a more complete picture of you – beyond the numbers – by providing a complementary (and complimentary) perspective on your intellectual abilities and personal qualities. This helps the adcom see you as a well-rounded person of high academic ability and good character, one who will fit well with the school and its community. 
• They can prove your commitment to a specialty field when written by a supervisor from somewhere you worked or had an internship, such as a business and intellectual property law practice.    

When you consider how much heavy lifting these letters can do, it’s understandable that an adcom struggling to decide between two otherwise equally qualified candidates will give the nod to the one with the stronger LORs. Beneficial LORs are ones written with genuine enthusiasm and highlight specific academic and personal strengths. Conversely, lackluster LORs – ones written by recommenders just going through the motions, without adding any new insights about you or your career potential – can be the kiss of death to your law school application. 

Who should write your letters of recommendation for law  school? 

Choosing the right people to write your LORs is crucial, yet only a few individuals will be qualified to do them justice. 

Effective LORs highlight a range of qualities that adcoms look for when assessing an applicant’s potential to succeed in their law school program. At competitive schools, these qualities include the following: 

• Intellectual abilities, particularly analytical, verbal, and writing skills
• Commitment to academic excellence
• Leadership potential
• Good character and strong ethical grounding
• Collegiality
• Maturity 

Nearly all law schools require at least one, and often two, LORs from professors or other college-level instructors who can affirm your academic promise. Some schools require two academic recommendations, even if you have been out of school for more than two years. Ideally, you will have cultivated a relationship with at least one professor with whom you have taken two or more courses and who can assert your intellectual and personal growth and performance over a longer period of time. Strong recommenders could include an advisor on a research project or someone else who can offer evidence of your success in completing advanced coursework. 

The professor you choose should also know you well enough to be able to compare you favorably with other students they have taught. They should be absolutely convinced of your academic abilities and potential. This might seem like an obvious point, but an LOR written by a professor from a political science or history class will carry more weight than one written by the instructor of your “History of Film and Social Change” course. 

Unless the law school wants academic recommendations exclusively, you have other options. For example, if you’ve been working for several years or have served in the military, one LOR should be written by your employer or supervisor. Here, too, the recommender should be able to write knowingly and enthusiastically about your intelligence, focus, character, leadership, research and writing abilities, and other relevant skills and qualities. 

If you are working currently but don’t feel you can afford to reveal to your manager that you are applying to school, go to the next-best source, such as a former supervisor. Do not seek a recommendation based on a position that you held more than three years ago. 

Always choose a law school recommender who is authentically supportive of you over a semi-stranger with an impressive title.

What if you’re self-employed or run your own company? In that case, choose a partner, consultant, major client, vendor, supplier, attorney, or accountant to write your LOR. You should have a long-standing relationship (of at least two years) with anyone you select. Additionally, that individual needs to have had opportunities to witness your intelligence, integrity, professionalism, and other strengths. The same holds true if you work in a family business, but don’t make the mistake of asking a relative to write your LOR, especially if the relative shares your last name. 

Never choose a recommender based purely on their job title. A teaching assistant or internship supervisor writing about you with genuine enthusiasm is better than the chair of the political science department or your brother-in-law’s stepmother, who is a judge you met once at a summer picnic, writing a vague semi-endorsement that could be about almost anyone. 

A heartfelt LOR from someone who knows you well and believes in your academic and personal strengths will shine above one from a relative stranger with a fancy title every time. 

Good writing takes time and thought, and this is true of meaningful and beneficial LORs. Writing a recommendation is a lot to ask of an already busy person, so you might feel a little intimidated at the prospect of doing so. But you won’t know whether your professor, boss, or mentor will be available for the task or receptive to the idea until you sit down and make your request. Asking a professor shouldn’t take long – college instructors are used to being asked and will understand what you need. Still, it will help your professors if you explain something about your career goal, why you have chosen the schools and programs you have targeted , and what you’d particularly like them to highlight in their letters. 

People who work outside of academia might be less familiar with this process, so make sure to explain why these letters are so important. Be up-front about the time you estimate it will take to draft the letter, and assure them that you’ll make the task as easy as possible by providing a copy of your personal statement, your resume, and a list of highlights from your work/internship experience that will help reinforce your abilities and skills. Once you’ve laid it all on the line, ask your potential recommender whether they feel they are the right person for the job. If they admit – or you sense – that they cannot endorse you enthusiastically, or if they’re hesitant about being able to give the letter the time and attention it requires, they will probably politely decline. If that happens, just move on to the next prospect. 

How long should all this take for you, the applicant? It might sound excessive, but we recommend giving this entire process a good three months from the time you approach a recommender with your request until the date the letters are due. This avoids adding pressure to your already packed schedule or to that of the recommender. This is especially true for professors, who are at their busiest in the fall and receive many similar requests. 

Eight simple things that will make your law school recommenders’ job easier

Now that you’ve secured commitments from your recommenders, give them the tools they need to get the job done. Provide them with as many of the following as are relevant:

• Your personal statement (However, if your personal statement focuses on a personal topic and does not highlight academic or professional achievements or aspirations, then you should also provide a note detailing how you are positioning yourself and your profile to the school’s adcom. Then, explain what you would especially like your recommender to emphasize in the LOR that is not covered in your personal statement.)
• A description of your short- and long-term goals
• Your resume
• Your college transcript
• Any significant work or reports you did for the recommender, with their grades/comments highlighted – This could be in addition to, or in place of, copies of work evaluations and/or a list of projects, experiences, or other anecdotes that your recommender will recall. These documents will further underscore your academic strengths, analytical abilities, collegiality, creativity, maturity, personal or academic growth, and integrity. As much as possible, the examples you suggest should be different from those you wrote about in your personal statement.
• The specific wording from each school regarding what the adcom wants to see in an evaluation letter – Most are open-ended requests for material that verifies an applicant’s academic abilities and character. However, many law schools explicitly list the qualities they want evaluators to confirm in their LORs. These can include intellectual ability, work ethic, analytical skills, maturity, and leadership potential. Check each program’s website to see how specific its requests are. Pay attention to nuance and details in the different schools’ requests. 
• Deadline to submit through the Law School Admissions Council’s (LSAC’s) Credential Assembly Service – This service is used by most American Bar Association–approved law schools as a clearinghouse for law school applications and supporting materials. Some law schools will accept additional letters above and beyond their baseline request, but in such cases, the letters are usually required to be submitted directly by the recommender to the school and might not be accepted at all if sent by the applicant. It’s a good idea to check out the LOR preferences among the LSAC’s participating law schools. 
• A copy of this brief, excellent guide: Ten Tips for Writers of Letters of Recommendations

Help! My law school recommender told me, “You write it; I’ll sign it.” What should I do now? 

It’s possible that even with all the supporting materials you have provided, your recommenders might doubt their ability to fulfill their commitment because of time constraints (or maybe they don’t like writing). In these cases, they might ask you to draft the letter on their behalf and say they will then approve and sign it. 

This option might be very tempting. However, it will be a huge red flag if the adcom suspects that you wrote one of your own evaluation letters. And it’s very difficult to pull off sounding like someone else, no matter how hard you try. Your distinctive voice has come through clearly in your personal statement. That’s a good thing and was precisely your goal! Similarly, your LORs must reflect your evaluators’ unique voices, observations, and assessments. Now, because college professors are so often asked to write evaluation letters, if yours begs off, it might be a sign that they are not comfortable writing a convincing one for you. 

Employers or supervisors of applicants who are working full-time should also write evaluation letters themselves. However, if they insist that they simply do not have the time or the ability to write an endorsement, yet they seem sincere about wanting to submit one for you, you might have to default to this option. However, this should absolutely be a last resort. If your recommender is not a native English speaker and it would be especially burdensome to them to write the LOR in English, suggest that they write the letter in their native language and offer to pay to have it professionally translated.

Distinct voices in law school letter of recommendations are essential ingredients that add to their authenticity.

If you see no way out of writing a draft for an important recommender, set up a time to meet with them – in person, if possible – and interview them to understand their perspective on your work and your suitability for law school. Be prepared with a list of convincing highlights from your work history that will reinforce the qualities you want the recommender to discuss in their letter. You will already have provided a list of anecdotes and achievements, including projects you completed successfully and what was notable about them. 

With some luck, the recommenders will already have read this material, as well as your personal statement and resume, and have ideas ready to share with you. But if they seem unprepared, have the list with you so you can ask questions to help jog their memory. Write down as many points and anecdotes that your recommender discusses during the meeting as possible. Take note of specific words and phrases that are distinctive to their personality and communication style as well as their point of view.  

LORs are not long, so don’t repeat information in them that already appears in your personal statement. That being said, certain achievements are so significant that it would only make sense for both you and your recommender to have mentioned them. In this case, your recommender should shed some new light on the achievement from their perspective as a manager or mentor. 

Remember that in LORs of this kind, comparative evaluations of the applicant are most helpful to the adcom. For example, “In my five years of running this department and supervising more than 50 employees, Justin has proven to be one of the most nimble thinkers I have ever supervised.” Or “Shannon’s attention to detail and sense of responsibility have stood out notably from those of the dozen or so interns I have managed in recent years.” 

Armed with your notes on your recommender’s recollections, you’ll be ready to write an LOR made up of their observations with minimal prompting from you. 

Here’s another idea: have your recommender work with an Accepted expert to draft a winning, authentic, and convincing LOR. Click here to learn more about this package!

Law School Letter of Recommendation Sample #1: The Environmental Policy Analysis Major 

Daniel is a 22-year-old recent grad who majored in environmental policy analysis. Although he had two internships in the field of environmental planning and research, after much thought, Daniel decided to devote his personal statement to the life lessons he learned from more than 14 years of studying piano and performing in music competitions. Daniel is counting on his LORs to prove his capacity to handle challenging academics. 

This letter was written by one of his professors: 

It is with great pleasure that I recommend Daniel R. for admittance to your law school. I have been a professor of public policy and environmental law for the past 18 years and first met Daniel during his sophomore year, when he took a lower-division course in environmental law, a challenging topic in which he earned an A-. This course doesn’t lend itself to a lot of class participation, and I appreciated that Daniel seemed thoroughly engaged during every class. He also approached me during office hours for clarification on points he had not understood to his satisfaction. I was pleased to have him return to an upper-division course of mine during his junior year, in ethics in environmental policy. This was a much more participatory class that involved not only class discussions but also cooperative student projects. In class, Daniel’s questions and comments were always thoughtful and to the point. When responding to others who made comments with which he did not agree, Daniel debated them respectfully and often won over classmates with his logic, pleasant attitude, and command of the facts. 

Because Daniel is extremely bright and very personable, when my research assistant graduated, I offered Daniel the job. He seemed both flattered and enthusiastic about the prospect, and with his help, I was able to expeditiously collect research on a paper I am now finalizing on the performance of incentive-based policy instruments as they relate to industrial greenhouse gas emissions. My trust in Daniel’s abilities was not misplaced. He was organized and responsible, and showed a refreshing ability to conduct extensive literature reviews with little direction from me. These included data-driven literature reviews and small-scale studies from which he extrapolated the relevant data. His analytical abilities, organizational skills, and sense of responsibility will help him perform at the top of his game in law school and beyond. 

I’d also like to point out that Daniel’s major in environmental policy analysis is highly demanding. It requires coursework in both hard science and social science, including biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus, as well as environmental and natural resource economics, ecology, spatial and dynamic bioeconomic modeling, and policy analysis. This makes Daniel’s 3.8 GPA in the major that much more impressive. 

This past year, I supervised Daniel again for his senior thesis on water quality planning and public policy. He asked me for feedback on the critical analysis of his data collection methodology a good month earlier than most of his classmates, and also asked me for advice on whom to approach to learn about the latest research on the topic that hadn’t yet been published. His thoroughness and planning showed: his thesis was an outstanding and incisive analysis of this complex issue, particularly his focus on the long-standing issues of water shortages and political turf wars over water in the state of California. Daniel does have a tendency toward perfectionism, but I have seen him learn to trust himself more over the past year and worry slightly less about the final results. 

In addition, he has a friendly, collegial personality and many interests, including piano, which I understand he has played at the competitive level for many years. His written and verbal communication skills are of a very high level. (In fact, I have rarely heard him use the irksome verbal tic “like” every third word, as so many other young people do nowadays.) Daniel’s training in environmental analysis and public policy will serve him well in the field of environmental law, and I give him my highest recommendation for admittance to your program. 

Let’s look at some of the aspects that make Daniel’s evaluation letter so effective. 

His professor established his credibility as a recommender from the start, noting his tenure as a professor at the university and examples of interactions with Daniel showing a long-standing relationship with him. These include the following: 

• Distinguishing Daniel from his peers on a comparative basis by detailing the rigors of his major and his impressive GPA in that major
• Quantifying Daniel’s organizational, verbal, and analytical strengths, evidenced through his work as a research assistant and how he planned and carried out his senior thesis project
• Noting his class participation, which also underscored his respect for others and personal warmth
• Putting his weakness of perfectionism in context, noting this trait is common among high achievers while also giving Daniel credit for his efforts to relax and overcome it 

All in all, Daniel comes across as not only extremely capable but also likable and well-rounded. 

Law School Letter of Recommendation Sample #2: The Social Worker

Now let’s look at our second applicant. Sonya is 27 and has worked for three years at a not-for-profit agency serving immigrant, refugee, and low-income women and children in need of housing and other social services. This letter of recommendation was written by her direct supervisor: 

I have known Sonya D. for the past three years, since she joined our agency as a novice case worker. Last year, during a management shake-up, Sonya was promoted from case worker to housing specialist, and I became her direct supervisor. Sonya brought an abundance of enthusiasm to both her roles, successfully going to bat for clients who were entitled to housing and other publicly funded benefits but whose applications had fallen into the quicksand of government bureaucracy. She is firm and unyielding on behalf of her clients, a trait that will make her a very effective legal advocate on behalf of the underprivileged. 

In my eight years as a supervisor in the world of social services, I would rank Sonya in the top 1% of the dozens of case workers and volunteers I have worked with. Most people enter this field with a strong emotional commitment to helping the underprivileged, but far fewer also have the intelligence, ability to see the bigger picture, and even business smarts that can make their efforts most effective. For example, Sonya joined the agency during a rocky time when finances were perilous, employee turnover (including management) was rapid, and morale was low. Despite her youth and relative inexperience, within three months, Sonya had suggested creative initiatives to streamline and improve our services and to boost morale. 

Sonya caught my attention in particular when she documented the inefficiencies in our client intake system and made specific recommendations for streamlining that system. She lobbied hard for these changes, which were approved and have allowed us to save countless hours of paid staff time each month. Notably, it has also saved as much as two weeks from the time a client registers with us to when she is transitioned into safe, appropriate housing – a dramatic difference in the life of someone who might lack any adequate or safe housing at all. Sonya also offered to manage several volunteers to work on staff-initiated projects, freeing up the time of employees for other casework and reducing administrative costs. Although she is much younger than nearly all our volunteers, she was granted approval. Despite a few bumps along the way, she was able to earn respect from our much older volunteer corps. She is clearly a young woman who is eager to improve her performance in every task she undertakes. 

In addition to these achievements, Sonya organized a series of community events in collaboration with our local police precinct to raise our profile in the community, engaging social media and local media outlets to spread the word. Two other community events are already on the calendar for next year. 

When Sonya joined our agency, we desperately needed to increase our client base to secure more government funding. Within nine months of implementing her initiatives, we more than doubled the number of clients we had served from the year before, to well over 300 a month. She has been the driving force in helping to reverse our agency’s fortunes. Her ability to see the bigger picture and think creatively and with a business mind-set has made our agency more stable and better equipped to fulfill our mission of helping a vulnerable population find safe housing. 

Sonya’s outstanding performance as a case worker and her significant contributions to improve workflow agency-wide resulted in her becoming the first staff member to receive a raise during the two years our agency hobbled along during a severe financial crisis. Last year, she also earned the Best Employee Recognition Award for her service. 

Her biggest weakness, in my opinion, has been learning to control her frustration when faced with inefficiencies or ineptitude in the government agencies and other social service arms we work with. She is impatient when waiting for weeks for housing when a more efficient system would have transitioned her clients within days. But she has learned that she must swallow her frustration, because many of these colleagues are often overwhelmed by their own workloads and also lack her talent at envisioning a better way of getting things done. I am satisfied with her progress in this area and am confident that as she grows in maturity and experience, she will manage these trying situations with relative calm.  

I can easily imagine Sonya bringing the same commitment, drive, intelligence, and initiative to her studies in law school that she brought to this agency. Our loss will be your law school’s gain. 

Sonya’s evaluation is chock-full of impressive achievements. Although none are related to academics or research, it’s clear that someone with this level of intelligence, foresight, determination, organizational and problem-solving skills, and creativity is also likely to excel in law school. Let’s look at a summary of her achievements:  

• Pushing bureaucrats harder to get clients desperately needed safe housing
• Diagnosing problems and conceiving solutions to streamline client intake processes and other efficiencies, improving agency functionality and staff morale
• Helping the agency double the number of clients served and thereby earning more government funding
• Raising the agency’s profile through community events and a targeted social media presence
• Leading volunteers to ease the workload of the paid staff 
• Getting better at handling frustration (probably a nice way of saying “anger”). Sonya’s weakness is understandable given her work with governmental channels, but the supervisor documents her growing maturity, which has helped to control the problem.

Now you’re ready to supercharge your law school applicant profile!

Choosing the right recommenders and giving them the tools they’ll need to write a powerful LOR can upgrade your profile in an already competitive applicant pool. 

Remember, there’s no better feeling during law school application season than knowing you have a supportive, experienced expert guiding you every step of the way. Whether your recommenders would appreciate assistance, or you would personally, we have helped thousands of applicants gain seats at top law schools across the country – and we can help you, too. Want to get Accepted? Schedule a free consultation with an expert today!

By Judy Gruen, a former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University and is the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools . Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Help! My LSAT Is Low – Should I Still Apply to Law School?
• Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Law School Applicants
• How to Answer Character and Fitness Questions on Law School Applications

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Letters of Recommendation

The most effective letters of recommendation are written by professors or work supervisors who know you well enough to describe your academic, personal, or professional achievements and potential with candor, detail, and objectivity. Letters that compare you to your academic peers are often the most useful.

Most schools do not consider general, unreservedly praiseworthy letters helpful.

LSAC Letter of Recommendation (LOR) Service

Access to LSAC’s Letter of Recommendation (LOR) service is included in Credential Assembly Service (CAS) registration . This service allows you to manage your letters of recommendation through your LSAC JD Account .

If you use LSAC’s LOR service, your references will only need to submit their letters of recommendation once to LSAC — even if you intend to include these letters in every one of your law school applications. LSAC will make copies of each reference’s original letter to include in your CAS Reports .

You get to assign which letters you want each law school to receive. If you change your mind early enough in the application process, you can reassign your letters through your LSAC JD Account.

How to Use LSAC’s LOR Service

• In your LSAC JD Account , provide the name and contact information for each of your recommenders.
• Indicate the number of letters that each recommender will submit, and describe each letter’s use (e.g., for all law schools).
• You must assign the appropriate letters to each law school to which you’re applying (or they will not be sent). You can find information about each school’s requirements by clicking the “LOR Requirements” link beneath the school names on the Letters of Recommendation page of your LSAC JD Account.

This is important.  If your recommender is submitting your letter of recommendation on paper, you must print the required LOR Form from your LSAC JD Account and deliver it to your recommender. This form must accompany your letter of recommendation. Paper letters received without an accompanying LOR Form or without the recommender’s signature will be returned to the recommender.

If your recommender is sending more than one letter for you, be sure to emphasize the importance of attaching the correct form to the corresponding letter.

Please allow LSAC two weeks from the time of receipt to process your paper letters.

The status of each of your letters will be listed on the homepage of your LSAC JD Account .

Do I Need to Use LSAC’s LOR Service?

Most ABA-approved law schools accept LSAC’s LOR service. However, unless a law school states that you must use this service, you may choose not to use it. For individual application requirements, log in to your LSAC JD Account or contact the law school .

Can My Campus Credential Service Submit Letters to LSAC?

Yes, LSAC accepts copies of letters from undergraduate school credential services or career planning offices. However, the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Form must still accompany each letter, even if the school’s service uses its own preprinted forms in the collection process.

There must be one LSAC LOR Form for each letter your campus service will be sending to LSAC. This is true even if the credential service issues a “packet” that includes several recommendations. Be certain that your school’s service understands that each LOR Form you give them must be submitted with the packet to LSAC.

When identifying your recommenders in your LSAC JD Account, enter the name and contact information for each individual recommender, NOT the name and contact information of your campus credential service. LSAC will use this contact information to send your recommender a confirmation of receipt.

In the event that a recommender on file in the credential service office is no longer associated with the institution, or has passed away, you should still enter the recommender’s name on your LOR Form. However, enter the contact information associated with your credential service office. LSAC will send a confirmation of receipt to the campus credential service.

Describing Your Letters

Descriptions will help you assign the correct letters to each school to which you’re applying. If you aren’t sure how to describe your letters, these examples might help:

• Program/Specialty-Specific References: If you interned for the EPA, you could ask either a professor or your supervisor to write a letter about that experience. Describe this letter as “Environmental Law Programs” if you only plan to assign it to law schools that offer environmental law specialties.
• School-Specific References: If one of your professors is a law school graduate, you could ask this professor to recommend you to their alma mater. The description for this letter could read: “Smith School of Law.” You would assign this letter to Smith School of Law only .
• General References: For letters that aren’t targeted to specific specialties or law schools, the description could read: “General Use.” You could assign this letter to any law school.

Law schools receive both the LOR Form and the letter, so write your descriptions carefully.

• Letters sent to LSAC remain the property of LSAC and will remain active for the life of your file. Letters will be neither returned to nor copied for you, the candidate.
• If you intend to reuse a letter of recommendation for an admission year other than the one for which it was written, or for a different law degree program, it is a good idea to contact the recommender as a courtesy to make sure that the person does not mind this reuse. Some recommenders may wish to write an updated letter when you apply in a subsequent reporting year or to a different type of program. A recommender may decide to rescind a letter after becoming aware that it has been repurposed, if permission to reuse the letter has not been requested and granted.

Questions You May Have

• How Law Schools Determine Whom to Admit : What other factors do law schools consider?
• The Application Process: An Overview : What steps are involved in the law school application process?
• Requesting Transcripts : How do I request transcripts?
• CAS FAQs : I have a different question.

18 Law School Personal Statement Examples That Got Accepted!

This blog contains law school personal statement examples written by applicants who were successfully accepted to multiple law schools after working with our admissions experts as part of our  application review programs . Your  law school personal statement  is one of the most important parts of your application and is your best opportunity to show admissions officers who you are behind your numbers and third-party assessments. Because of its importance, many students find the personal statement to be daunting and demanding of the full scope of their skills as writers. Today we're going to review these excellent law school personal statement examples from past successful applicants and provide some proven strategies from a former admissions officer that can help you prepare your own stellar essay. 

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 44 min read

Law school personal statement example #1.

When I was a child, my neighbors, who had arrived in America from Nepal, often seemed stressed. They argued a lot, struggled for money, and seemed to work all hours of the day. One day, I woke early in the morning to a commotion outside my apartment. Police officers were accompanying my neighbors out of the building. They were being deported. In my teens, I was shocked to see that our kind, friendly neighbors had exhausted their last chance to stay in America as they lost a court appeal. 

Since that time, I have worked closely with the many immigrant families in my neighborhood, and now university town. I began by volunteering at a local community center. Together with social workers, I served food and gave out clothes to new arrivals. My diligent work ethic led to more responsibility, and I received training in basic counseling techniques, first aid skills and community services. Soon, I was tasked with welcoming new community members and assessing their health and social needs. I heard the many difficult stories of those who had traveled thousands of miles, often through several countries, risking everything to reach a safe, welcoming country. I was proud to contribute in some small way to making America welcoming for these individuals.

The community center is where I had my first formal contact with legal aid lawyers, who were a constant source of knowledge and support for those who needed assistance. I was struck by the lawyers’ ability to explain complex legal processes to nervous and exhausted incomers: law, I realized, was about more than procedure. I decided that I, too, would strive to balance a wealth of technical knowledge with my caring, compassionate personality.

As soon as I enrolled in university, I knew I had the chance to do so. In my very first week, I signed up to volunteer at the university’s legal aid center, where I worked closely with law professors and students on a range of cases. Academically, I have focused on courses, such as a fourth-year Ethics seminar, that would help me develop rigorous critical reasoning skills. More importantly, I knew that, given my experience, I could be a leader on campus. I decided to found a refugee campaign group, Students4Refugees. Together with a group of volunteers, we campaigned to make our campus a refugee-friendly space. I organized a series of events: international student mixers, an art installation in our student commons, and concerts that raised over $5,000 for the charity Refugee Aid. I am proud to say that my contributions were recognized with a university medal for campus leadership.

I have seen time and again how immigrants to the United States struggle with bureaucracy, with complex legal procedures, and with the demands of living in a foreign and sometimes hostile climate. As I plan to enter law school, I look back to my neighbors’ experiences: they needed someone who knew the law, who could negotiate with the authorities on their behalf, who could inform them of their rights—but they also needed someone who would provide a caring and compassionate outlet for their stresses. I know that Townsville University’s combination of academic rigor, legal aid services, and history of graduates entering labor and non-profit sectors will allow me to develop these skills and continue making contributions to my community by advocating for those in need.

• Thematic consistency: It focuses on just one theme: justice for immigrants. Each paragraph is designed to show off how enthusiastic the student is about this area of law. Personal statements—including those for law school—often begin with a personal anecdote. This one is short, memorable, and relevant. It establishes the overall theme quickly. By constraining their essay’s focus to a single general theme, the writer can go into great depth and weave in emotional and psychological weight through careful and vivid description. The personal statement isn’t a standard 3-paragraph college essay with a spotlight thesis statement, but it conveys similar impact through presenting a central focus organically, without resorting to simply blurting out “the point” of the piece.   
• Shows, rather than tells: Connected to this, this statement focuses on showing rather than telling. Rather than simply telling the reader about their commitment to law, the applicant describes specific situations they were involved in that demonstrate their commitment to law. “Show don’t tell” means you want to paint a vivid picture of actions or experiences that demonstrate a given quality or skill, and not simply say "I can do X." Make it an experience for your reader, don't just give them a fact. 
• Confident, but not arrogant: Additionally, this personal statement is confident without being boastful—leadership qualities, grades, and an award are all mentioned in context, rather than appearing as a simple list of successes. 
• Specific to the school: It ends with a conclusion that alludes to why the applicant is suitable for the specific school to which they’re applying and points to their future career plans. Thoroughly researching the law school to which you’re applying is incredibly important so that you can tailor your remarks to the specific qualities and values they’re looking for. A law essay writing service is really something that can help you integrate this aspect effectively. 

What Should a Law School Personal Statement Do?

1.      be unique to the school you’re applying to.

Students are always asking how to write a personal statement for law school, particularly one that stands out from all the rest. After all, advice from most universities can often be quite vague. Take this zinger from the  University of Chicago : “Write about something personal, relevant, and completely individual to you… Just be yourself.” Every school will have different requirements or content they want to see in a personal statement. This is why it’s a good idea to review specific guidelines for the school to which you’re applying. For example, you can read Yale Law School personal statement examples , Stanford Law personal statement examples , and an NYU personal statement to get an idea of what these schools look for.

2.      Demonstrate your skills and capabilities

For motivated students with the world at their fingertips, it’s a tough ask to narrow your character down into a few hundred words! But this is exactly the point of such generic guidelines—to challenge aspiring law students to produce something unique and convincing with minimal direction by the university. Law is, after all, a profession that demands your language to be persuasive, and the personal statement is merely one of many exercises where you can demonstrate your language skills. 

3.      Meet basic requirements

While the law school personal statement is about far more than just following essay directions, you still need to keep basic formatting and length restrictions in mind. Most law schools ask for a 2-page personal statement, but lengths can range from 2-4 pages. Georgetown Law School , for instance, recommends a 2-page personal statement but explicitly states that there is no official minimum or maximum. In general, length does not make a personal statement better. Rambling, meandering sentences and tiresome descriptions will only hurt the impact of your ideas, especially considering how many thousands of pages admissions committees have to churn through each year.  

In short, keep to 2 double-spaced pages, and only go below or above this is if you absolutely have to, and if the school to which you're applying allows it. You want to keep things as widely applicable as possible while drafting your personal statement, meaning that you don't want to draft a 4 page letter for the one school that allows it, and then have to significantly rewrite this for your other schools. Stick to 2 pages. 

4.      Embody what the school is looking for

Lastly, many law schools won’t offer hyper-specific prompts, but will give you general law school admissions essay topics to follow. For instance, the University of Washington’s law school provides a number of topics to follow, including “Describe a personal challenge you faced” or “Describe your passions and involvement in a project or pursuit and the ways in which it has contributed to your personal growth and goals.” These topics may feel specific at first, but as you begin drafting, you’ll likely realize you have dozens of memories to choose from, and numerous ways of describing their impact. While drafting, try to explore as many of these options as possible, and select the best or most impactful to use in your final draft.  

Want to write the perfect law school personal statement? Watch this video:

Law School Personal Statement Example #2

In my home community, the belief is that the law is against us. The law oppresses and victimizes. I must admit that as a child and young person I had this opinion based on my environment and the conversations around me. I did not understand that the law could be a vehicle for social change, and I certainly did not imagine I had the ability and talents to be a voice for this change. I regularly attended my high school classes because I enjoyed the discussions and reading for English and history, and writing came easily to me, but I wasn’t committed to getting good grades because I felt I had no purpose. My mindset changed as I spent time with Mark Russell, a law student who agreed to mentor and tutor me as part of a “high school to law school” mentorship program. Every week, for three years, Mark and I would meet. At first, Mark tutored me, but I quickly became an “A” student, not only because of the tutoring, but because my ambitions were uncorked by what Mark shared with me about university, the law, and his life. I learned grades were the currency I needed to succeed. I attended mock trials, court hearings, and law lectures with Mark and developed a fresh understanding of the law that piqued an interest in law school. My outlook has changed because my mentor, my teachers, and my self-advocacy facilitated my growth. Still, injustices do occur. The difference is that I now believe the law can be an instrument for social change, but voices like mine must give direction to policy and resources in order to fight those injustices.

Early in my mentorship, I realized it was necessary to be “in the world” differently if I were to truly consider a law career. With Mark’s help and the support of my high school teachers, I learned to advocate for myself and explore opportunities that would expand my worldview as well as my academic skills. I joined a Model UN club at a neighboring high school, because my own school did not have enough student interest to have a club. By discussing global issues and writing decisions, I began to feel powerful and confident with my ability to gather evidence and make meaningful decisions about real global issues. As I built my leadership, writing, and public speaking skills, I noticed a rift developing with some of my friends. I wanted them to begin to think about larger systemic issues outside of our immediate experience, as I was learning to, and to build confidence in new ways. I petitioned my school to start a Model UN and recruited enough students to populate the club. My friends did not join the club as I’d hoped, but before I graduated, we had 2 successful years with the students who did join. I began to understand that I cannot force change based on my own mandate, but I must listen attentively to the needs and desires of others in order to support them as they require.

While I learned to advocate for myself throughout high school, I also learned to advocate for others. My neighbors, knowing my desire to be a lawyer, would often ask me to advocate on their behalf with small grievances. I would make phone calls, stand in line with them at government offices, and deal with difficult landlords. A woman, Elsa, asked me to review her rental agreement to help her understand why her landlord had rented it to someone else, rather than renewing her lease. I scoured the rental agreement, highlighted questionable sections, read the Residential Tenancies Act, and developed a strategy for approaching the landlord. Elsa and I sat down with the landlord and, upon seeing my binder complete with indices, he quickly conceded before I could even speak. That day, I understood evidence is the way to justice. My interest in justice grew, and while in university, I sought experiences to solidify my decision to pursue law.

Last summer, I had the good fortune to work as a summer intern in the Crown Attorney’s Office responsible for criminal trial prosecutions. As the only pre-law intern, I was given tasks such as reviewing court tapes, verifying documents, and creating a binder with indices. I often went to court with the prosecutors where I learned a great deal about legal proceedings, and was at times horrified by human behavior. This made the atmosphere in the Crown Attorney’s office even more surprising. I worked with happy and passionate lawyers whose motivations were pubic service, the safety and well-being of communities, and justice. The moment I realized justice was their true objective, not the number of convictions, was the moment I decided to become a lawyer.

I broke from the belief systems I was born into. I did this through education, mentorship, and self-advocacy. There is sadness because in this transition I left people behind, especially as I entered university. However, I am devoted to my home community. I understand the barriers that stand between youth and their success. As a law student, I will mentor as I was mentored, and as a lawyer, I will be a voice for change.

What’s Great about this Second Law School Personal Statement?

• It tells a complete and compelling story: Although the applicant expressed initial reservations about the law generally, the statement tells a compelling story of how the applicant's opinions began to shift and their interest in law began. They use real examples and show how that initial interest, once seeded, grew into dedication and passion. This introduction implies an answer to the " why do you want to study law? ” interview question.
• It shows adaptability: Receptiveness to new information and the ability to change both thought and behavior based on this new information. The writer describes realizing that they needed to be "in the world" differently! It's hard to convey such a grandiose idea without sounding cliché, but through their captivating and chronological narrative, the writer successfully convinces the reader that this is the case with copious examples, including law school extracurriculars . It’s a fantastic case of showing rather than telling, describing specific causes they were involved with which demonstrate that the applicant is genuinely committed to a career in the law. 
• Includes challenges the subject faced and overcame: This law school personal statement also discusses weighty, relatable challenges that they faced, such as the applicant's original feeling toward law, and the fact that they lost some friends along the way. However, the applicant shows determination to move past these hurdles without self-pity or other forms of navel-gazing.  Additionally, this personal statement ends with a conclusion that alludes to why the applicant is suitable for the specific school to which they’re applying and points to their future career plans. The writer manages to craft an extremely immersive and believable story about their path to the present, while also managing to curate the details of this narrative to fit the specific values and mission of the school to which they’re applying.

What’s Great About This Third Law School Personal Statement? 

• Description is concise and effective: This writer opens with rich, vivid description and seamlessly guides the reader into a compelling first-person narrative. Using punchy, attention-grabbing descriptions like these make events immersive, placing readers in the writer's shoes and creating a sense of immediacy. 
• Achievements are the focus: They also do a fantastic job of talking about their achievements, such as interview team lead, program design, etc., without simply bragging. Instead, they deliver this information within a cohesive narrative that includes details, anecdotes, and information that shows their perspective in a natural way. Lastly, they invoke their passion for law with humility, discussing their momentary setbacks and frustrations as ultimately positive experiences leading to further growth. 

Want more law school personal statement examples from top law schools?

• Harvard law school personal statement examples
• Columbia law school personal statement examples
• Cornell law school personal statement examples
• Yale law school personal statement examples
• UPenn law school personal statement examples
• Cambridge law school personal statement examples

Law School Personal Statement #4

What’s great about this fourth law school personal statement.

• Engaging description: Like the third example above, this fourth law school personal statement opens with engaging description and first-person narrative. However, the writer of this personal statement chooses to engage a traumatic aspect of their childhood and discuss how this adversity led them to develop their desire to pursue a career in law.  
• Strong theme of overcoming adversity: Overcoming adversity is a frequent theme in personal statements for all specialties, but with law school personal statements students are often able to utilize uniquely dramatic, difficult, and pivotal experiences that involved interacting with the law. It may be hard to discuss such emotionally weighty experiences in a short letter but, as this personal statement shows, with care and focus it's possible to sincerely demonstrate how your early struggles paved the way for you to become the person you are now. It's important to avoid sensationalism, but you shouldn't shy away from opening up to your readers about adverse experiences that have ultimately pointed you in a positive direction. 

Why "show, don't tell" is the #1 rule for personal statements:

Law School Personal Statement Example #5

What’s great about this fifth law school personal statement  .

• Highlights achievements effectively: This writer does a fantastic job of incorporating their accomplishments and impact they had on their community without any sense of bragging or conceit. Rather, these accomplishments are related in terms of deep personal investment and a general drive to have a positive impact on those around them—without resorting to the cliches of simply stating "I want to help people." They show themselves helping others, and how these early experiences of doing so are a fundamental part of their drive to succeed with a career in law.   
• Shows originality: Additionally, they do a great job of explaining the uniqueness of their identity. The writer doesn't simply list their personal/cultural characteristics, but contextualizes them to show how they've shaped their path to law school. Being the child of a Buddhist mother and a Hindu father doesn’t imply anything about a person’s ability to study/practice law on its own, but explaining how this unique aspect of their childhood encouraged a passion for “discussion, active debate, and compromise” is profoundly meaningful to an admissions panel. Being able to express how fundamental aspects of law practice are an integral part of yourself is a hugely helpful tactic in a law school personal statement. 

If you\u2019re heading North of the border, check out list of  law schools in Canada  that includes requirements and stats on acceptance. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab2" template="BlogArticle">

Law School Personal Statement Example #6

What’s great about this sixth law school personal statement .

• Weaves in cultural background: Similar to the writer of personal statement #5, this student utilizes the cultural uniqueness of their childhood to show how their path to law school was both deeply personal and rooted in ideas pervasive in their early years. Unlike the writer of statement #5, this student doesn't shy away from explaining how this distinctiveness was often a source of alienation and difficulty. Yet this adversity is, as they note, ultimately what helped them be an adaptable and driven student, with a clear desire to make a positive impact on the kinds of situations that they witnessed affect their parents.  
• Describes setbacks while remaining positive: This writer also doesn't shy away from describing their temporary setbacks as both learning experiences and, crucially, springboards for positively informing their plans for the future. 

What’s Great About This Seventh Law School Personal Statement? 

• The writer takes accountability: One of the hardest things to accomplish in a personal statement is describing not just early setbacks that are out of your control but early mistakes for which you must take responsibility. The writer of this personal statement opens with descriptions of characteristics that most law schools would find problematic at best. But at the end of this introduction, they successfully utilize an epiphany, a game-changing moment in which they saw something beyond their early pathological aimlessness, to clearly mark the point at which they became focused on law.  
• The narrative structure is clear: They clearly describe the path forward from this moment on, showing how they remained focused on earning a law degree, and how they were able to work through successive experiences of confusion to persist in finishing their undergraduate education at a prestigious university. Of course, you shouldn't brag about such things for their own sake, but this writer makes the point of opening up about the unique feelings of inadequacy that come along with being the first person in their family to attend such a school, and how these feelings were—like their initial aimlessness—mobilized in service of their goal and the well-being of others. Their statement balances discussion of achievement with humility, which is a difficult but impactful tactic when done well. 

Law School Personal Statement Example #8

What’s great about this eighth law school personal statement .

• Shows commitment to the community: Commitment to one’s community is a prized value in both law students and law professionals. This writer successfully describes not only how they navigated the challenges in their group environments, such as their internship, the debate team, etc., but how these challenges strengthened their commitment to being a positive part of their communities. They don’t simply describe the skills and lessons they learned from these challenging environments, but also how these challenges ultimately made them even more committed to and appreciative of these kinds of dynamic, evolutionary settings.  
• Avoids negative description: They also avoid placing blame or negatively describing the people in these situations, instead choosing to characterize inherent difficulties in terms neutral to the people around them. In this way, you can describe extremely challenging environments without coming off as resentful, and identify difficulties without being accusatory or, worse yet, accidentally or indirectly seeming like part of the problem. This writer manages to convey the difficulty and complexity of these experiences while continually returning to their positive long-term impact, and though you shouldn’t seek to “bright-side” the troubles in your life you should absolutely point out how these experiences have made you a more capable and mature student. 

Watch this for more law school personal statement examples!

Law School Personal Statement Example #9

What’s great about this ninth law school personal statement  .

• The writer effectively describes how their background shaped their decision to pursue law: Expressing privilege as adversity is something that very few students should even attempt, and fewer still can actually pull it off. But the writer of this personal statement does just that in their second paragraph, describing how the ease and comfort of their upbringing could have been a source of laziness or detachment, and often is for particularly well-off students, but instead served as a basis for their ongoing commitment to addressing the inequalities and difficulties of those less comfortable. Describing how you’ve developed into an empathic and engaged person, worked selflessly in any volunteer experiences, and generally aimed your academic life at a career in law for the aid of others—all this is incredibly moving for an admissions board, and can help you discuss your determination and understanding of exactly why you desire a career in law.  
• The student shows adaptability, flexibility, and commitment: Additionally, this writer is able to show adaptability while describing their more prestigious appointments in a way that’s neither self-aggrandizing nor unappreciative. One of the big takeaways from this statement is the student’s commitment and flexibility, and these are both vitally important qualities to convey in your law school personal statement.  

Law School Personal Statement Example #10

What’s great about this tenth law school personal statement .

Shows passion: If you’re one of the rare students for whom service to others has always been a core belief, by all means find a novel and engaging way of making this the guiding principle of your personal statement. Don’t overdo it—don’t veer into poetry or lofty philosophizing—but by all means let your passion guide your pen (well…keyboard). Every step of the way, this student relates their highs and lows, their challenges and successes, to an extremely earnest and sincere set of altruistic values invoked at the very beginning of their statement. Law school admissions boards don’t exactly prize monomania, but they do value intense and sustained commitment.  

Shows maturity: This student also successfully elaborates this passion in relation to mature understanding. That is, they make repeated points about their developing understanding of law that sustains their hopefulness and emotional intensity while also incorporating knowledge of the sometimes troubling day-to-day challenges of the profession. Law schools aren’t looking for starry-eyed naivete, but they do value optimism and the ability to stay positive in a profession often defined by its difficulties and unpredictability. 

Every pre-law student blames their lack of success on the large number of applicants, the heartless admissions committee members, or the high GPA and LSAT score cut offs. Check out our blog on  law school acceptance rates  to find out more about the law school admission statistics for law schools in the US . Having taught more than a thousand students every year, I can tell you the REAL truth about why most students get rejected: 

Need tips on your law school resume?

8 Additional Law School Personal Statement Examples

Now that you have a better idea of what your law school personal statement should include, and how you can make it stand out, here are five additional law school personal statements for you to review and get some inspiration:

Law school personal statement example #11

According to the business wire, 51 percent of students are not confident in their career path when they enroll in college. I was one of those students for a long time. My parents had always stressed the importance of education and going to college, so I knew that I wanted to get a tertiary education, I just didn’t know in what field. So, like many other students, I matriculated undecided and started taking introductory courses in the subjects that interest me. I took classes from the department of literature, philosophy, science, statistics, business, and so many others but nothing really called out to me.

I figured that maybe if I got some practical experience, I might get more excited about different fields. I remembered that my high school counselor had told me that medicine would be a good fit for me, and I liked the idea of a career that involved constant learning. So, I applied for an observership at my local hospital. I had to cross “doctor” off my list of post-graduate career options when I fainted in the middle of a consultation in the ER.

I had to go back to the drawing board and reflect on my choices. I decided to stop trying to make an emotional decision and focus on the data. So, I looked at my transcript thus far, and it quickly became clear to me that I had both an interest and an aptitude for business and technology. I had taken more courses in those two fields than in any others, and I was doing very well in them. My decision was reaffirmed when I spent the summer interning at a digital marketing firm during my senior year in college and absolutely loved my experience. 

Since graduating, I have been working at that same firm and I am glad that I decided to major in business. I first started as a digital advertising assistant, and I quickly learned that the world of digital marketing is an incredibly fast-paced sink-or-swim environment. I didn’t mind it at all. I wanted to swim with the best of them and succeed. So far, my career in advertising has been challenging and rewarding in ways that I never could have imagined. 

I remember the first potential client that I handled on my own. Everything had been going great until they changed their mind about an important detail a day before we were supposed to present our pitch. . I had a day to research and re-do a presentation that I’d been preparing for weeks. I was sure that I’d be next on the chopping block, but once again all I had to was take a step back and look at the information that I had. Focusing on the big picture helped me come up with a new pitch, and after a long night, lots of coffee, and laser-like focus, I delivered a presentation that I was not only proud of, but that landed us the client. 

Three years and numerous client emergencies later, I have learned how to work under pressure, how to push myself, and how to think critically. I also have a much better understanding of who I am and what skills I possess. One of the many things that I have learned about myself over the course of my career is that I am a fan of the law. Over the past three years, I have worked with many lawyers to navigate the muddy waters of user privacy and digital media. I often find myself looking forward to working with our legal team, whereas my coworkers actively avoid them. I have even become friends with my colleagues on the legal team who also enjoy comparing things like data protection laws in the US and the EU and speculating about the future of digital technology regulation. 

These experiences and conversations have led me to a point where I am interested in various aspects of the law. I now know that I have the skills required to pursue a legal education and that this time around, I am very sure about what I wish to study. Digital technology has evolved rapidly over the last decade, and it is just now starting to become regulated. I believe that this shift is going to open up a more prominent role for those who understand both digital technology and its laws, especially in the corporate world. My goal is to build a career at the intersection of these worlds.

Law school personal statement example #12

The first weekend I spent on my undergrad college campus was simultaneously one of the best and worst of my life. I was so excited to be away from home, on my own, making new friends and trying new things. One of those things was a party at a sorority house with my friend and roommate, where I thought we both had a great time. Both of us came from small towns, and we had decided to look out for one another. So, when it was time to go home, and I couldn't find her, I started to worry. I spent nearly an hour looking for her before I got her message saying she was already back in our dorm. 

It took her three months to tell me that she had been raped that night. Her rapist didn't hold a knife to her throat, jump out of a dark alleyway, or slip her a roofie. Her rapist was her long-term boyfriend, with whom she'd been in a long-distance relationship for just over a year. He assaulted her in a stranger's bedroom while her peers, myself included, danced the night away just a few feet away. 

I remember feeling overwhelmed when she first told me. I was sad for my friend, angry on her behalf, and disgusted by her rapist's actions. I also felt incredibly guilty because I had been there when it happened. I told myself that I should have stayed with her all night and that I should have seen the abuse - verbal and physical harassment- that he was inflicting on her before it turned sexual. But eventually, I realized that thinking about what could, should, or would've happened doesn't help anyone. 

I watched my friend go through counseling, attend support groups, and still, she seemed to be hanging on by a thread. I couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through, and unfortunately, there was very little I could do to help her. So, I decided to get involved with the Sexual Assault Responders Group on campus, where I would actually be able to help another survivor. 

My experience with the Sexual Assault Responders Group on campus was eye-opening. I mostly worked on the peer-to-peer hotline, where I spoke to survivors from all walks of life. I was confronted by the fact that rape is not a surreal unfortunate thing that happens to a certain type of person. I learned that it happens daily to mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends. I also learned that most survivors try to manage this burden on their own, afraid of judgment and repercussions and fearful of a he-said-she-said court battle.

I am proud to say that I used my time in college to not only earn an education, but also to advocate for survivors of sexual assault. I protested the university's cover-up of a gang rape that took place in one of the fraternity houses on campus. I spearheaded a 'no means no' campaign to raise awareness about consent on campus. I also led several fundraising campaigns for the Sexual Assault Responders Group that allowed us to pay for legal and mental health counselors for the survivors who came to us for support. 

One of the things that this experience helped me realize is that sexual assault survivors often do not know where to turn when the system tries to tell them that it'd be best to just keep quiet and suffer in silence. My goal is to become one of those people that they can turn to for counsel and support. I believe that a law degree would give me the knowledge and tools that I need to advocate for survivors on a more significant scale. 

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Law school personal statement example #13

I grew up in two different worlds. My world at home was full of people of various skin tones and accents. It was small, loud, and often chaotic in the best ways. I remember walking home and getting to experience music from across the world before I got to my apartment building. Loud reggaeton and afrobeat were always playing somewhere in the distance. Aunties and uncles usually stopped by unannounced and slipped money in your palm when they hugged you goodbye. And the smell of fried plantains was almost always present. 

My other world was in school. It was a much quieter, more organized world with white hallways, navy blazers, and plaid skirts. It was full of people who did not look or sound like me and teachers who thought my hair was "interesting." It was also full of great books and engaging debates about everything from foreign policy to the influence of Jazz on hip hop. 

I lived in these two worlds because I was born and raised in Xtown, but I went to a private school in a much richer neighborhood. I loved both of my worlds, but I hated that I had to act differently in both of them. When in school, I had to "code switch" to sound like I belonged there. When I was at home, all the people who shared the interests I was developing in school were either working or in college, so I had no one to talk to about them. 

My words never felt more divided until I started considering a career in law. I remember telling one of my uncles that I wanted to become a lawyer and his response was, "So you want to become the man, huh?" 

I wasn't surprised by his response, or at least I shouldn't have been. One of the things that I know for sure about the first world I lived in is that many of its inhabitants do not trust the law. I had believed this for so long simply because of the conversations that I would hear around me. However, in my second world, I was learning about all of these great freedoms and rights that the law was designed to give all Americans, and I wanted to bring those to my community. 

I started working on this during the summer before my final year of high school. I got an internship with the legal aid office in my neighborhood and spent three months learning from people who, like me, had grown up in Xtown and wanted to help people. During my time in the legal aid office, I understood that the people in my community did not trust the law for two main reasons: 1. They did not understand a lot of it, and 2. It had been used against people like us many times. 

I remember one particular case that Ms. Sharma - the lawyer I was learning from then and who still mentors me today - handled that summer. It was the case of a young mother who had received a notice of eviction from her landlord two days after refusing his advances. The man claimed that she violated her contract because she made homemade shea butter that she sold on Etsy. Ms. Sharma had me look through her rental agreement. After she confirmed that I was right in determining that the young mother had not violated her contract, she contacted the landlord to advise him that what he was doing was intimidation and sexual harassment. 

My experiences in the legal aid office with Ms. Sharma opened my eyes to the disgusting behavior of human beings, but it also gave me the opportunity to see that the law was my opportunity to use what I learned in my second world to help the community that I was raised in. I returned to school with a new motivation that followed me to college. In addition to completing my bachelor's degree in sociology and African American studies, I spent most of my college years participating in legal internships and community outreach programs. 

I believe that these experiences have given me the foundation I need to be a successful law student and, eventually, a lawyer who can truly be an advocate for members of his community. 

Law school personal statement example #14

One day, my parents noticed that the other children in my age group had been speaking and communicating, but I had not. At first, they thought that my lack of speech was just me being shy, but eventually, they realized that on the rare occasions that I did speak, my words were practically incomprehensible. It wasn't long before they took me to a specialist who diagnosed me with a severe phonological disorder that hindered my ability to verbalize the basic sounds that make up words.

I started going to speech therapy when I was three years old. I saw numerous speech therapists, many of whom believed that I would never be able to communicate effectively with others. Lucky for me, my parents did not give up on me. I went to speech therapy thrice a week until the 8th grade, and I gave every single session my all. I also spent a lot of time in my room practicing my speech by myself. My efforts paid off, and even though I didn't become a chatterbox overnight, I could at least communicate effectively. 

This was a short-lived victory, though. A year later, my speech impediment was back, and my ability to articulate words was once again severely limited. This complicated matters because it was my freshman year of high school, and I was in a brand-new school where I did not know anyone. Having been bullied in middle school, I knew first-hand how vicious kids can be, and I didn't want to be the butt of any more jokes, so I didn't try to speak at school. I knew that this was preventing me from making new friends or participating in class and that it was probably not helping my impediment, but I was not ready to face the fact that I needed to go back to speech therapy. 

Eventually, I stopped resisting and went back to speech therapy. At the time, I saw it as accepting defeat, and even though my speech improved significantly, my self-confidence was lower than it had ever been. If you ask any of my high school classmates about me, they will likely tell you that I am very quiet or timid – both of which are not true, but they have no way of knowing otherwise. I barely spoke or interacted with my peers for most of high school. Instead, I focused on my studies and extracurricular activities that didn't involve much collaboration, like yearbook club and photography. 

It was only when I was getting ready for college that I realized that I was only hurting myself with my behavior. I knew I needed to become more confident about my speech to make friends and be the student I wanted to be in college. So, I used the summer after my high school graduation to get some help. I started seeing a new speech therapist who was also trained as a counselor, and she helped me understand my impediment better. For example, I now know that I tend to stutter when stressed, but I also know that taking a few deep breaths helps me get back on track. 

Using the confidence that I built in therapy that summer, I went to college with a new pep in my step. I pushed myself to meet new people, try new things, and join extracurricular organizations when I entered college. I applied to and was accepted into a competitive freshman leadership program called XYZ. Most of XYZ's other members were outgoing and highly involved in their high school communities. In other words, they were the complete opposite of me. I didn't let that intimidate me. Instead, I made a concerted effort to learn from them. If you ask any of my teammates or other classmates in college, they will tell you that I was an active participant in discussions during meetings and that I utilized my unique background to share a different perspective.

My experience with XYZ made it clear to me that my speech disorder wouldn't hold me back as long as I did not stand in my own way. Once I understood this, I kept pushing past the boundaries I had set for myself. I began taking on leadership roles in the program and looking for ways to contribute to my campus community outside of XYZ. For example, I started a community outreach initiative that connected school alumni willing to provide pro bono services to different members of the community who were in need. 

Now, when I look back at my decision to go back to speech therapy, I see it as a victory. I understand that my speech impediment has shaped me in many ways, many of which are positive. My struggles have made me more compassionate. My inability to speak has made me a better listener. Not being able to ask questions or ask for help has made me a more independent critical thinker. I believe these skills will help me succeed in law school, and they are part of what motivates me to apply in the first place. Having struggled for so long to speak up for myself, I am ready and eager for the day when I can speak up for others who are temporarily unable to. 

“ You talk too much; you should be a lawyer.” 

I heard that sentence often while growing up because Congolese people always tell children who talk a lot that they should be lawyers. Sometimes I wonder if those comments did not subconsciously trigger my interest in politics and then the law. If they did, I am grateful for it. I am thankful for all the experiences that have brought me to this point where I am seeking an education that will allow me to speak for those who don’t always know how to, and, more importantly, those who are unable to. 

For context, I am the child of Congolese immigrants, and my parents have a fascinating story that I will summarize for you: 

A 14-year-old girl watches in confusion as a swarm of parents rush through the classroom, grabbing their children, and other students start running from the class. Soon she realizes that she and one other student are the only ones left, but when they both hear the first round of gunshots, no one has to tell them that it is time to run home. On the way home, she hears more gunshots and bombs. She fears for her survival and that of her family, and she starts to wonder what this war means for her and her family. Within a few months, her mother and father are selling everything they own so that they can board a plane to the US.

On the other side of the town, a 17-year-old boy is being forced to board a plane to the US because his mother, a member of parliament and the person who taught him about the importance of integrity, has been executed by the same group of soldiers who are taking over the region. 

They met a year later, outside the principal’s office at a high school in XXY. They bonded over the many things they have in common and laughed at the fact that their paths probably never would have crossed in Bukavu. Fast forward to today, they have been married for almost two decades and have raised three children, including me. 

Growing up in a Congolese household in the US presented was very interesting. On the one hand, I am very proud of the fact that I get to share my heritage with others. I speak French, Lingala, and Swahili – the main languages of Congo – fluently. I often dress in traditional clothing; I performed a traditional Congolese dance at my high school’s heritage night and even joined the Congolese Student Union at Almamatter University. 

On the other hand, being Congolese presented its challenges growing up. At a young age, I looked, dressed, and sounded different from my classmates. Even though I was born in the US, I had picked up a lot of my parents’ accents, and kids loved to tease me about it. Ignorant comments and questions were not uncommon. “Do you speak African?” “You’re not American! How did you get here?” “You don’t look African” “My mom says I can’t play with you because your parents came here to steal our jobs”. These are some of the polite comments that I heard often, and they made me incredibly sad, especially when classmates I considered my friends made them. 

My parents did not make assimilating any easier. My mother especially always feared I would lose my Congolese identity if they did not make it a point to remind me of it. She often said, “Just because you were born in America doesn’t mean that you are not Congolese anymore.” On one occasion, I argued that she always let me experience my Congolese side, but not my American side. That was the first time she told me I should be a lawyer. 

Having few friends and getting teased in school helped me learn to be comfortable on my own. I Often found refuge and excitement in books. I even started blogging about the books I read and interacting with other readers online. As my following grew, I started to use my platform to raise awareness about issues that I am passionate about, like climate change, the war in Congo, and the homeless crisis here in XXY. I was able to start a fundraising campaign through my blog that raised just under $5000 for the United Way – a local charity that helps the homeless in my city. 

This experience helped me understand that I could use my skills and the few tools at my disposal to help people, both here in America and one day, maybe even in Congo. I realized that I am lucky enough to have the option of expanding that skillset through education in order to do more for the community that welcomed my grandparents, uncles, aunties, and parents when they had nowhere else to go. 

The journey was not easy because while I received immense support and love from my family for continuing my education, I had to teach myself how to prepare and apply to college. Once there I had to learn on my own what my professors expected of me, how to study, how to network, and so much more. I am grateful for those experiences too, because they taught me how to be resourceful, research thoroughly, listen carefully, and seek help when I need it. 

All of these experiences have crafted me into who I am today, and I believe that with the right training, they will help me become a great attorney.

Law School Personal Statement Example #16

During my undergraduate studies, in the first two years, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with my career. I enjoyed doing research, but I found that I became more interested in presenting the research than the process of contributing to it. I spoke to most of my science professors to ask if I could participate in their research. I worked in biology labs, chemistry labs, and in psychology classrooms working on a variety of projects that seemed meaningful and interesting. I gained new perspectives on study habits and mental health; the influence of music on the human mind; and applications of surface tension. I noticed that I was always taking the lead when we were presenting our findings to peers and research groups. I enjoyed yielding questions and addressing the captivating the audience with engaging gestures and speech. This was what led me to consider a career in law.

I always thought that I would become a scientist, so when I discovered that there were aspects of law that could be considered “scientific”, I was all ears. Still during my second year of undergraduate studies, I wanted to join an environmental awareness group, but noticed there weren’t any active. So, I took it upon myself to create my own. I wanted to do cleanup projects across the city, so I mapped out parks and areas that we could walk or drive to. I advertised my project to other students and eventually gained approximately fifteen students eager to help out. I was struck by the pollution in the water, the negligence of park maintenance. I drafted a letter to the municipal government and petitioned for a stricter environmental compliance approach. I wanted to advertise fines to hold polluters accountable, as there were hardly any to enforce the rules. A letter was returned to me stating that the government would consider my request. I felt a sense of gratification, of purpose; I discovered that I had the ability to enact change through policy. This drew me closer to the prospect of building a future in law, so I looked at other avenues to learn more.

I still wanted to find a way to bring together my love of science and discourse/communication. As a science student, I had the privilege of learning from professors who emphasized critical thinking; and they gave me a chance to learn that on my own. I took an internship as an environmental planner. There, I helped present project ideas to various groups, updating demographic/development information, and managing planning processes. I engaged in analytical thinking by looking at maps and demographic information to develop potential plans for land use. It was also the experience I was looking for in terms of a balance between science and oral communication. Using data analysis, I spoke to other planners and review boards to bring ideas together and execute a plan.

Through science, I learned how to channel my curiosity and logical thinking; as an advocate, I learned how to be creative and resourceful. Presenting research findings and being questioned in front of a group of qualified researchers, having to be sharp and ready for anything, taught me how to be more concise in speech. Developing an advocacy group dedicated to improving my community showed me what it lacked; it opened my eyes to the impact of initiative and focused collaboration. I was eager to begin another science project, this time with the environment in mind. It was titled “determining and defining the role of sociodemographic factors in air pollution health disparities”. I compiled and summarized relevant research and sent it over to a representative of the municipal government. In a couple of weeks, my request to increase advertising of fines in public areas was agreed to.

This Juris Doctor/Master in Environmental Studies program will allow me to continue deepening my knowledge of environmental law. With my goal of developing a career in environmental affairs, overseeing policies that influence land protection/use, I know that this program will give me the tools I need to succeed. With my experience working with large groups, I also believe I will fit into the larger class sizes at your institution. I understand the value of working together and how to engage in healthy discourse. With your Global Sustainability Certification, I will equip myself the expertise I need to produce meaningful change in environmental policy.

Here's how a law school advisor can help you with your application:

Law School Personal Statement #17

Growing up in a poor neighborhood, what my friends used to call “the ghetto”, I was always looking for my way out. I tried running away, but I always ended up back home in that tiny complex, barely enough room to fit all my brothers and sisters with my parents. My dad was disabled and couldn’t work, and my mother was doing her best working full-time as a personal-support worker. There was nothing we could do to get out of our situation, or so it seemed. It wasn’t until years later when I started my undergraduate degree that ironically, after I found my way out, that I began looking for a way to come back. I wanted to be a voice for people living in those bleak conditions; hungry, without work. Helpless.

Getting my degree in social work was one of the best decisions of my life. It gave me the tools to lobby for solutions to problems in poor communities. I knew my neighborhood better than anyone because I grew up there. I had the lived experience. I started working with the local government to develop programs for my clients; the people living in those same neighborhoods. We worked to provide financial assistance, legal aid, housing, and medical treatment—all things sorely lacking. My proudest moment was securing the funds and arranging surgery for my father’s bad hip and knees. I’m currently working on a large project with one of the community legislators to lobby for a harm reduction model addressing addiction in our communities.

With five years of experience as a social worker, I knew it was time for a career change when I learned that I could have more influence on public opinion and legislative decisions as a social-security disability lawyer. I knew firsthand that people victimized from racism, poverty, and injury needed more help than they were currently allotted. I knew that, from becoming and advocate and communicating with influential members of the local government, that I could do more with a law degree helping people attain basic needs like disability benefits, which are often denied outright.

This desire to help people get the help they need from local programs and government resources brought me to Scarborough, a small town outside of Toronto. I was aware of some of the issues afflicting this community, since I’d handled a few clients from there as a children’s disability social worker. Addiction and homelessness were the two main ones. I worked with children with ADHD or other physical/mental disabilities impairing their ability to attend school and function normally. I helped many of them get an IEP with the details of the special services they require, long overdue. I made sure each child got the care they needed, including special attention in school. Also noticing that so many of these families lacked proper nutrition, I organized a report detailing this finding. In it, I argued that the community needed more funds targeting lowest income families. I spoke directly with a legislator, which eventually got the city on board with developing a program more specifically for the lowest income families with residents under 18.

My goal has always been to be a voice for the inaudible, the ignored, who’ve been victimized by inadequate oversight from the ground up. Many of these groups, as I’ve witnessed firsthand, don’t have the luxury of being their own advocates. They are too busy trying to support their families, to put food on the table for their children. I’ve realized that it isn’t quite enough to work directly with these families to connect them with resources and ensure they get the support they need. Sometimes the support simply doesn’t exist, or it isn’t good enough. This is why I’m motivated to add a law degree to my credentials so I can better serve these people and communities. As a future social-security disability lawyer, I want to work with local governments to assist clients in navigating an assistance system and improving it as much as possible. This program will give me the access to a learning environment in which I can thrive and develop as an advocate.

Law School Personal Statement #18

“You’re worthy and loved”, I said to a twelve-year-old boy, Connor, whom I was supervising and spending time with during the Big Brother program at which we met. A few tears touched my shoulder as I pulled him into me, comforting him. He was a foster child. He didn’t know his parents and never stayed in one place longer than a few months; a year if he was lucky. I joined the program not expecting much. I was doing it for extra credit, because I wanted to give back to the community somehow and I thought it would be interesting to meet people. He confided in me; he told me that his foster parents often yelled at each other, and him. He told me he needed to escape. I called Child Protective Services and after a thorough investigation, they determined that Connor’s foster parents weren’t fit for fostering. He was moved, yet again, to a different home.

I wrote an op-ed detailing my experience as a Big Brother. I kept names anonymous. I wanted people to know how hard it was for children in the welfare system. Many of them, like Connor, were trapped in a perpetual cycle of re-homing, neglect, and even abuse. He and other children deserve stability and unconditional love. That should go without saying. I sent the op-ed to a local magazine and had it published. In it, I described not only the experience of one unfortunate kid, but many others as well who saw their own stories being told through Connor. I joined a non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to quality education for young people. I started learning about disparities in access; students excluded by racial or financial barriers. I was learning, one step at a time, how powerful words can be.

With the non-profit organization, I reached out to a few public schools in the area to represent some of our main concerns with quality of education disparities. Our goal was to bring resources together and promote the rights of children in education. We emphasized that collaboration between welfare agencies and schools was critical for education stability. Together, we created a report of recommendations to facilitate this collaboration. We outlined a variety of provisions, including more mechanisms for child participation, better recruitment of social service workers in schools, risk management and identification strategies, and better support for students with child protection concerns.

The highlight of that experience was talking to an assembly of parents and school faculty to present our findings and recommendations. The title of the presentation was “The Power of Words”. I opened with the story I wrote about in the op-ed. I wanted to emphasize that children are individuals; those trapped in the welfare system are not a monolith. They each have unique experiences, needs, and desires they want to fulfill in life. But our tools to help them can be improved, more individualized. I spoke about improving the quality of residential care for children and the need to promote their long-term development into further education and employment. Finally, I presented a list of tools we created to help support a more financially sustainable and effective child welfare system. The talk was received with applause and a tenuous commitment from a few influential members of the crowd. It was a start.

Although I lost contact with Connor, I think about him almost every day. I can only hope that the programs we worked on to improve were helping him, wherever he was. I want to continue to work on the ground level of child welfare amelioration, but I realize I will need an education in law to become a more effective advocate for this cause. There are still many problems in the child welfare system that will need to be addressed: limited privacy/anonymity for children, service frameworks that don’t address racism adequately, limited transportation in remote communities, and many more. I’ve gained valuable experience working with the community and learning about what the welfare system lacks and does well. I’m ready to take the next step for myself, my community, and those beyond it.

Assuredly, but this length varies from school to school. As with all important details of your law school application, thoroughly research your specific schools’ requirements and guidelines before both writing and editing your personal statement to ensure it fits their specifics. The average length is about 2 pages, but don’t bother drafting your statement until you have specific numbers from your schools of choice. It’s also a good idea to avoid hitting the maximum length unless absolutely necessary. Be concise, keep economy of language in mind, and remain direct, without rambling or exhaustive over-explanation of your ideas or experiences.

You should keep any words that aren’t your own to a minimum. Admissions committees don’t want to read a citation-heavy academic paper, nor do they respond well to overused famous quotes as themes in personal statements. If you absolutely must include a quote from elsewhere, be sure to clearly indicate your quote’s source. But in general, it’s best to keep the personal statement restricted to your own words and thoughts. They’re evaluating you, not Plato! It’s a personal statement. Give them an engaging narrative in your own voice. 

Admissions committees will already have a strong sense of your academic performance through your transcripts and test scores, so discussing these in your personal statement is generally best avoided. You can contextualize these things, though—if you have an illuminating or meaningful story about how you came to receive an award, or how you enjoyed or learned from the work that won you the award, then consider discussing it. Overall though, it’s best to let admissions committees evaluate your academic qualifications and accomplishments from your transcripts and official documents, and give them something new in the personal statement. 

When you first sit down to begin, cast a wide net. Consider all the many influences and experiences that have led you to where you are. You’ll eventually (through editing and rewriting) explain how these shape your relationship to a career in law, but one of the best things you can give yourself during the initial drafting phase is a vast collection of observations and potential points for development. As the New England School of Law points out in their, “just write!” Let the initial draft be as messy as it needs to be, and refine it from there. It’s a lot easier to condense and sharpen a big draft than it is to try to tensely craft a perfect personal statement from nothing.  

Incredibly important, as should be clear by now! Unlike other specialties, law schools don’t usually conduct interviews with applicants, so your personal statement is in effect your one opportunity to speak with the admissions committee directly. Don’t let that gravity overwhelm you when you write, but keep it in mind as you edit and dedicate time to improving your initial drafts. Be mindful of your audience as you speak with them, and treat writing your personal statement as a kind of initial address in what, hopefully, will eventually turn into an ongoing dialogue.  

There are a variety of factors that can make or break a law school personal statement. You should aim to achieve at least a few of the following: a strong opening hook; a compelling personal narrative; your skills and competencies related to law; meaningful experiences; why you’re the right fit for the school and program.

Often, they do. It’s best for you to go to the schools you’re interesting in applying to so you can find out if they have any specific formatting or content requirements. For example, if you wanted to look at NYU law or Osgoode Hall Law School , you would find their admissions requirements pages and look for information on the personal statement.

There are lots of reasons why a personal statement might not work. Usually, applicants who don’t get accepted didn’t come up with a good strategy for this essay. Remember, you need to target the specific school and program. Other reasons are that the applicant doesn’t plan or proofread their essay. Both are essential for submitting materials that convince the admissions committee that you’re a strong candidate. You can always use law school admissions consulting application review to help you develop your strategy and make your essay stand out.

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How long should a Personal Statement be? Is there any rule on that?

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Hello V! Thanks for your question. Some schools will gave very specific word limits, while some will not. If you do not have a limit indicated, try to stick to no more than a page, 600-800 words. 

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• Application Parts

Sample Letters of Recommendation for a Law School Application

When it comes to letters of recommendation (LORs), there are good ones that help propel you forward in the process, and bad ones that actually can drag you down. Below is a sample of each so that you may properly guide your recommenders to create stellar examples of LORs.

Example of a bad LOR: August 10, 2010

Re: Suzie Student

Dear Law School Admissions Committee:

For a number of years I taught a part-time course at Minnesota College called Introduction to the International Law of Human Rights – POLS 410. This was a challenging course intended for upper-level students. Students were required to read, analyze and digest a large number of judicial decisions as well as participate in the classes/seminars. Evaluation was on the basis of a term test, a major paper, and a final examination.

I recall Suzie Student from the 2009 fall semester as having been in regular attendance, always obviously prepared and an active and able participant in the class. She wrote an excellent paper for the course dealing with the complexities of the law of citizenship as it is influenced by the International Covenant on Civil Rights.

Based on my experience of Suzie in my course, I believe that she clearly has the ability and work ethic to successfully complete law school, and would recommend that you accept her to your program.

Yours very truly, Andy Adjunct Andrew T. Adjunct, J.D.

This letter, while seemingly good, has several flaws:

• The writer needs to establish credibility with the reader, especially since he has a JD. He should state his experience, education, and number of years in practice and/or teaching college students.

• The mention of regular attendance is faint praise.

• The writer gives very little information about the applicant’s skills. The only specific example was a general reference to an “excellent” paper.

• The letter fails to identify any outstanding characteristics of the student.

• There is no comparison to how she stacks up to other students.

Example of a Great LOR: August 10, 2010

Suzie Student asked me to supply you with a letter of reference in support of her application for admission to your law school. Suzie has been a student of mine in Labor Economics (fall 2008) and Advanced Econometrics (Spring 2009). I have been teaching at Minnesota College since 1976 and before that as a doctoral student, at University of Nebraska for 3 years. I am one of 3 full professors in my department.

Suzie Student definitely falls into one of the top 100 students I have taught, measured against approximately 10,000 students. Her outstanding grasp of logic, maturity, clarity, and communication skills have made her a standout. I view these skills as extremely important in her planned career.

In my Labor Economics class students participated in debate, and in my Advanced Econometrics class there were presentations. Suzie excelled in both, and was one of the few students with perfect attendance in both courses. Without being loud or interruptive, she was a ready and regular participant in class discussions and always added value to such discussion—a rare occurrence indeed. Her writing skills are similarly strong as she demonstrated in her 15 page research paper about applying U.S. economic models to emerging markets. In that essay, she presented a thoroughly-researched thesis and persuasively presented the benefits of applying American models to the Chilean economy.

Suzie also represented my class, and the University, at the Economic Education Forum held at the University of Iowa last spring. She was kind enough to make a voluntary presentation to the class about what she learned upon her return. Despite growing up in an impoverished community, she is held in high esteem by her peers. My experience is that such students usually have difficulty relating to other students, a trait usually amplified in group projects. Suzie was the opposite. She worked well in group settings and her groups always received the highest marks.

Economics is extremely demanding and I am not known as an easy grader. Suzie was awarded A’s in both of my classes. Economics also has a reputation for forcing students to use logic, the same logic which I have noted to be a characteristic trait of my students who have gone on to be great lawyers.

I am familiar with Suzie’s reputation in our local community where she is held in high regard. She is a regular volunteer at the Minneapolis homeless shelter, and was given a University award for her outstanding community service. I believe she would be a highly professional member of both your school and the bar.

It has been a pleasure to write this letter for Suzie Student. I hope you are able to take into account that she worked a full-time job to help support her family while attending school full-time during her first two years. I believe her grades during the last two years are more representative of her true ability.

Over the years I have written many law school recommendations for my students. I cannot think of another reference I have written, however, where I feel as strongly about a student’s potential to excel in law school. It is for these reasons that I provide her with my most outstanding recommendation. Suzie will make a great addition to your law school’s program.

Warmest regards,

Theresa Tenured Theresa A. Tenured, Ph.D. Professor of Economics

Note the differences between this and the previous letter:

• Recommender is a credible professor in a demanding discipline.

• The writer seems to know the student well.

• The letter provides concrete examples of the student’s skills.

• The letter reflects well on the student’s character.

• The letter explains weaknesses in the student’s transcript.

• The letter subtly highlights her diverse perspective.

• The letter gives a clear comparison between the recommended student and other students the professor has taught.

• The letter gives the student an enthusiastic recommendation.

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Application Toolkit: Letters of Recommendation

On this webpage, you will find our advice and guidance on the letters of recommendation component of the application.

Instructions

The J.D. Admissions Office requires two letters of recommendation, but you may submit up to three. We strongly recommend that at least one letter of recommendation come from an academic source.

Blog Advice

• Visit the Admissions Blog
• View All Letters of Recommendation Blog Posts

Overrated/Underrated Part 3

Continuing our Overrated/Underrated series, this week, we shift our focus to highlight some of the overrated approaches that we recommend applicants avoid as they craft their applications. 

November 17, 2021

Overrated/Underrated Part 2

This week, we continue our Underrated Approaches to the Application series with some additional advice.

October 21, 2021

Real Talk: Letters of Recommendation

Our next installment in the “Real Talk” blog series covers letters of recommendation. Read on for more!

August 11, 2020

Our Recommendations for Your Recommendations

Letters of recommendation are an important part of your application. We’ve compiled some tips and advice on how best to approach these letters to help you better prepare for this part of the process.

September 24, 2019

Podcast Advice

Navigating law school admissions with miriam & kristi.

Miriam Ingber (Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Yale Law School) and Kristi Jobson (Assistant Dean for Admissions at Harvard Law School) provide candid, accurate, and straightforward advice about law school admissions — direct from the source. They will be joined by guest stars from other law schools to discuss application timing, letters of recommendation, personal statements, and more.

• View All Episodes

We strongly recommend that at least one letter come from a professor, advisor, or other educational contact who can address your academic and scholarly abilities. However, applicants who have been out of school for several years and struggle to find an academic recommender may submit letters from employers or others who have worked closely with them.

We require two letters of recommendation, at least one of which  must  be from a law professor at your current law school. Although you may use one letter from a previous application in your transfer application, you must still provide a letter of recommendation from a professor at your current law school.

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Securing a job in today’s competitive job market is pretty challenging, a well-written job application letter can make all the difference in landing a dream job. It serves as your first introduction to your potential employer and offers a valuable opportunity to showcase your qualifications, skills, enthusiasm, and suitability for the role.

To explore the ins and outs of writing a job application letter, and how to make a strong impression with it, check out this blog. This blog will show you how to write an exceptional job application letter that will help you stand out from the competition.

A job application letter is commonly referred to as a cover letter. This letter of application is a document that is sent along with your resume when you apply for a job. Its main purpose is to introduce yourself to the potential employer or hiring manager, providing an opportunity to present your skills, qualifications, and experience that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Additionally, it aims to persuade the hiring manager to consider you for the role. 

Therefore, a strong job application letter serves as your ultimate gateway to your dream job.

• Components of a Job Application Letter

To draft an outstanding application you need to follow the right step to write a letter. Therefore, here are the key components that you should follow:

Include your contact information and the date at the top of the letter, followed by the employer’s contact details.

Begin your letter with a formal greeting to the hiring manager. It’s best to address the letter with the name of the hiring manager. For this, it’s advisable to call the company and ask for the hiring manager’s name as it would look professional. Alternatively, use a generic salutation like “Dear Hiring Manager”.

Craft a standout introduction to build that positive impression from the start of your letter. Your introduction should highlight your relevant skills, experiences, and achievements that make you a suitable candidate for the job.

Highlight what value you can bring to the company with this position. Talk about why you’re the perfect fit for the job; this way, you can showcase your professional skills and stand out from other applicants.

Express your enthusiasm for the position and reiterate your interest in the opportunity. Also, thank the employer for considering your application. End the letter with professional closing for example: “Yours sincerely”, “Best regards”, or “Thanks for your consideration”, followed by your name and signature.

Read More: All You Need to Know About Resume Headlines – With Example

• Tips on How to Write a Job Application Letter

Customize your application letter for the job; formally, it’s best to follow the key components that we discussed above. This way, you can tailor your application letter to each job, highlighting the qualifications and experiences most relevant to the position.

Show your understanding of the company and its values in your application letter as this shows that you are aware of what the company does, and your genuine interest in the position.

Though you have a lot to say and express in your letter, do not go over the board, keep it concise and to the point, focusing on key skills and experiences that align with the role.

It sometimes happens that the hiring manager may not read the entire letter but rather would just find the relevant keywords that match the job requirements. Additionally, incorporating keywords will also help your application stand out to applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Finally, once you have drafted your outstanding job application letter, give a quick check on the grammatical errors to ensure the letter is professionally well formatted without any blunders.

• Best Job Application Letter Format (Example Templates)

Subject: Application for the Role of [Job Title] at [Company Name]

I am writing to express my interest in the [Job Title] position listed on [where you found the job posting]. As a recent graduate from [University/College Name], I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to [Company Name] and grow both personally and professionally.

During my academic studies, I developed strong skills in [relevant skills or coursework]. I am particularly drawn to [specific aspect of the company or job description] and am eager to apply my knowledge and enthusiasm to support [Company Name]’s goals.

I am highly motivated and detail-oriented, and I possess excellent communication skills. I am confident that my academic background and passion for [industry or field] make me a strong candidate for this position.

Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss how my skills and experiences align with the needs of [Company Name].

Best regards,

[Your Name]

Subject: Job Application for [Job Title] Position at [Company Name]

Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name],

I am writing to apply for the [Job Title] position at [Company Name], as listed on [where you found the job posting]. With over [number of years] years of experience in [relevant industry or field], I am excited about the opportunity to bring my expertise to your esteemed organization.

In my current role at [Current Company], I have successfully [mention key achievements or responsibilities]. These experiences have equipped me with strong skills in [relevant skills or competencies], including [specific skills mentioned in the job description].

I am particularly drawn to [specific aspect of the company or job description], and I am confident that my background in [relevant experience or industry] aligns well with the needs of [Company Name].

Thank you for considering my application. I am eager to further discuss how my qualifications and experiences can contribute to the continued success of [Company Name].

Yours Sincerely,

Subject: Expressing Interest in [Job Title] Position at [Company Name]

I am writing to express my interest in the [Job Title] position at [Company Name], as posted on [where you found the job posting]. With [number of years] years of experience in [relevant industry or field], I am confident in my ability to contribute effectively to your team.

In my previous role at [Previous Company], I [briefly mention key responsibilities or achievements]. These experiences have honed my skills in [relevant skills or competencies], and I am eager to apply them to drive success at [Company Name].

I am particularly impressed by [specific aspect of the company or job description], and I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the talented team at [Company Name].

Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the possibility of discussing how my background and expertise align with the needs of your organization.

Read More: Resume Headline For Freshers: 30+ Examples and Tips

Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, you understand that a well-written job application letter can significantly enhance your chances of securing an interview with your dream company in this challenging job market. Therefore, follow these tips, key components, and templates to draft a successful job application letter that impresses your hiring manager. With the right approach, you’ll be one step closer to your next career opportunity.

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