Law School FAQs
Questions
- General
- Does your service ever write the essays for the students?
- Are there services out there that actually write the essays? Is this good or bad, if it gets a student into a school?
- Does myEssay.com review essays?
- The Essay: General
- How important is the personal statement?
- What practical advice would you give student beginning to write their admission essays?
- The Essay: Content
- What can I do to get started?
- What should I write about?
- Are there any topics I should avoid in my personal statement?
- What kind of brainstorming tips do you have for the planning period?
- What should the applicant remember while choosing a topic?
- What should the applicant remember when writing the conclusion?
- The Essay: Style
- The Essay: Mechanics
- Should I title my essay?
- How long should my essay be?
- How do you feel about using quotes?
- Should I use "legalese"?
- Recommendations
- How do I ensure that my recommendations are good?
- Who should write my recommendations?
- What makes a recommendation good?
- Can I send additional recommendations?
- The Application: General
Answers
General
- Does your service ever write the essays for the students?
No, myEssay.com does not write essays for students ever. - Are there services out there that actually write the essays? Is this good or bad, if it gets a student into a school?
There are services that actually write the essay, but we do not recommend using them for three reasons.
1. No writing service can write a successful application essay. How can a third party write a personal essay where the applicant's character and personality shine through?
2. Admission officers can spot a phony from the other side of the room. They will know immediately that it wasn't the applicant who wrote the essay.
3. It is fraud. If you are caught you will automatically be denied admisson. And even if the school finds out years later, you may risk expulsion. - Does myEssay.com review essays?
No, myEssay.com does not provide an essay review service.
The Essay: General
- How important is the personal statement?
The personal statement is very important because it offers you the chance to convey a more human picture of yourself. If your grades and scores are borderline, then your essay is even more important, and may make or break your chances of admission. - What practical advice would you give student beginning to write their admission essays?
1. Begin early. Start working on your essays in the summer.
2. Visit our site (www.myEssay.com). Within the world of the application essay, we really do provide you with everything. The application kits are the best products by far available in the market today.
The Essay: Content
- What can I do to get started?
Try some stream-of-consciousness exercises. Pick any topic and fill up a piece of paper with words as fast as you possibly can, essentially writing down your thoughts as they come to you. You may find it helpful to impose a time limit on yourself. At this stage, don't worry about content, style, or grammar; just get the words going and you might be able to find a usable topic in that mess of words. Also try myEssay.com's innovative interactive tool, The Brainstormer™, to help generate essay topics. - What should I write about?
For general personal statements, you may choose any topic. Do not feel obligated to write about any legal experience you may have had. Make sure to use plenty of specific, illustrative details to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded, interesting person. Discuss experiences that have informed who you are; your values and personality should show through in your essay. - Are there any topics I should avoid in my personal statement?
Avoid any topic that is so intimate or serious that it would make the admissions committee excessively uncomfortable. Also avoid reciting a list of activities or a string of experiences without providing any real insight. Do not write an explicit answer to the question “Why do you want to go to law school?†or an essay that naively tells the admissions committee that you want to “save the world.†Finally, avoid talking about personal weaknesses or flaws. - What kind of brainstorming tips do you have for the planning period?
Brainstorming is an integral part of writing the essay. Most students spend zero to very little time brainstorming and as a result, end up sitting in front of a blank computer screen for hours.1. Be willing to invest a significant amount of time (time unit is days) brainstorming. Get started early so time will not be an issue.
2. But create a deadline. Don't spend weeks brainstorming, or rather daydreaming.
3. First spend time thinking about yourself and the question. You must reflect thoroughly. Ultimately you will want to focus one to two themes and develop those thoughts. Then spend time thinking about approach and style.
4. Try free writing for ten minutes at a time. Choose a topic and do nothing but write for ten minutes. Try to stay with your topic, but if you can't, just continue writing. The important thing is to keep writing and avoid any interruptions that could hinder your flow of thought, such as editing what you've written. Save the editing for later.
5. Use myEssay.com's brainstorming workshop. - What should the applicant remember while choosing a topic?
The topic itself is not important. What is important is what the essay reveals about you. So if you choose your grandfather as the topic of your essay for instance, the focus of your essay should not only be about your grandfather; instead, it should be about your relationship with your grandfather and why that relationship in particular is meaningful or significant to you.Don't ask too much of your essay. Don't try to fit your life history in one page. Share a snippet instead, a piece of yourself with the reader. Give the reader an insightful glimpse into your life.
- What should the applicant remember when writing the conclusion?
Conclusions and summaries are for term papers; endings are for admissions essays. Don't use phrases like in conclusion or in summary. First, good writing doesn't require these kinds of clauses. Second, you have a stated or implied word limit and using clauses like these is wasteful. A good ending rounds out your essay, resolves any hanging issues, and provides a lasting impact so the admissions committee won't forget you. Remember...Schools want bright, active people-- not wet blankets. So finish on a positive note. Tie up and resolve any loose or hanging issues. You don't want to leave the reader hanging.
Beginnings can also make a difference. You need to grab your reader's attention, right from the start. Why? Because if the admissions officer doesn't get beyond the opening few sentences, you've missed your opportunity. Now you're just another face in the crowd, one of a thousand applicants. With the right beginning, you draw the reader in and have him or her not wanting to put the essay down until the very end.
The Essay: Style
- Is it acceptable to be funny?
Part of writing a good essay is making yourself memorable, and one way to do that is with a little humor. You should, however, be careful. If overused or used too flippantly, humor can make the writer seem too casual, too glib, or uninterested in getting admitted. - How can I sound self-confident without sounding arrogant?
The key to differentiating confidence from arrogance is your tone. Do not be overtly boastful about your accomplishments. Rather than tell admissions committees what you have achieved, convey your achievements indirectly by showing them evidence from specific past experiences.
The Essay: Mechanics
- Should I title my essay?
The use of titles is acceptable, but is superfluous to most admissions committees, who are far more concerned with the content of the essay itself. Go ahead and title your essay if you think it would help communicate your message; otherwise, leave your essay untitled. - How long should my essay be?
Some schools state a word or page limit. Always try to stay within specified limits, but if there are none, a good standard length is one and a half to two pages. - How do you feel about using quotes?
You should quote sparingly. Using too many quotes can make your essay sound overly scholarly or cliché. - Should I use "legalese"?
Try to avoid using legalese as much as possible. Also avoid discussing legal concepts because in doing so, you risk exposing your ignorance. Stick to using words and concepts you fully understand.
Recommendations
- How do I ensure that my recommendations are good?
Ask your recommenders early, give them all the necessary materials (forms; stamped, addressed envelopes; a list of deadlines), and provide materials that will help them be as specific as possible about you (papers; presentations; your résumé). A good recommendation should relay insightful anecdotes about you and attest to your character and abilities. - Who should write my recommendations?
Ask teachers and counselors who know you well, and who can write about your qualities sincerely and enthusiastically to write your recommendations. Pay careful attention, furthermore, to each college's specific requirements on recommendations; some schools, for example, ask that you provide at least one letter from a teacher in the sciences. - What makes a recommendation good?
A good recommendation should relay insightful anecdotes about the applicant and attest to his or her character and academic abilities. - Can I send additional recommendations?
In most cases, you should not send additional recommendations beyond the number the school requested. Most schools do not appreciate being flooded with extra paper, and additional recommendations will not compensate for below-average grades and scores.
The Application: General
- Can I handwrite my application?
No, do not handwrite your application. Type it and make sure it's neat. - Should I list all of my extracurricular activities from college and high school?
You should list only your most important college activities. Do not mention high school activities or accomplishments unless they are exceptionally stellar. - Do interviews help my chances of admission?
Law schools do not generally conduct in-person interviews. Some law schools, like the University of Chicago, only grant interviews to borderline candidates. If you are a borderline candidate, everything matters because anything may end up being the decisive factor.