Lesson One: Law School

The secret to doing this theme well is to show why you want to be a lawyer. Don't just say it and expect it to stand on its own. Admissions officers want believable details from your life that demonstrate your desire and make it real to them.

One secret to avoiding the here-we-go-again reaction is to keep an eye on your first line. Starting with "I've wanted to be a lawyer since?" makes admissions officers cringe. Yes, we know it's an easy line to fall back on, but these poor people have read this sentence more times than they can count, and it gets old fast. Instead, start with a story that demonstrates your early call to law. Look, for example, at the first paragraph of this essay:

"That's not fair." Even as the smallest of children, I remember making such a proclamation: in kindergarten it was "not fair" when I had to share my birthday with another little girl and didn't get to sit on the "birthday chair." When General Mills changed my favorite childhood breakfast cereal, "Kix," I, of course, thought this was "not fair." Unlike many kids (like my brother) who would probably have shut up and enjoyed the "great new taste" or switched to Cheerios, this kid sat her bottom down in a chair (boosted by the phone book) and typed a letter to the company expressing her preference for the "classic" Kix over the "great new taste" Kix. 

In telling the story, this writer demonstrates that the roots of her political activism run deep without having to ever say it. She doesn't just tell us and expect us to take her word for it-she shows us.

Another approach that is overdone is the "my dad is a lawyer" approach. Some admissions officers said that when the only reason an applicant gives for wanting to be a lawyer is that it is a family legacy, it makes them question not only the motivation but the maturity of the applicant. While this doesn't mean you need to hide the fact that your parent is a lawyer, it does mean that you should avoid depending on that as your sole reason for wanting to go to law school. If a parent truly was your inspiration, then describe exactly why you were inspired by them, and what you have done to test your motivation in the real world.

Sample Essay

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"That's not fair." Even as the smallest of children, I remember making such a proclamation: in kindergarten it was "not fair" when I had to share my birthday with another little girl and didn't get to sit on the "birthday chair." When General Mills changed my favorite childhood breakfast cereal, "Kix," I, of course, thought this was "not fair." Unlike many kids (like my brother) who would probably have shut up and enjoyed the "great new taste" or switched to Cheerios, this kid sat her bottom down in a chair (boosted by the phone book) and typed a letter to the company expressing her preference for the "classic" Kix over the "great new taste" Kix. 

Through the plenty of "not fair" incidents that followed, my mother tried to explain that unfair things happen sometimes, but I never accepted the idea of an unfair world and began to realize that there were a great many situations and conditions that were "not fair" to women. 

At age ten, I was mortified that all the boys in my Catechism class were signing up to be altar servers, but girls could not. When my grandmother told me that, at one time, because she was a woman, she was only allowed to touch the altar when she was cleaning it-the fight against the Catholic Church was on. Once again, I sat my bottom down in the chair (still with the phone book) and typed a letter to the Monsignor requesting to be trained as an altar server. With no immediate response, I respectfully but persistently harassed the Monsignor and the other priests every Sunday when I saw them in church, until, nearly two years later, I became an altar server. At age twelve I was almost too old to appreciate the new privilege, but there are girls becoming altar servers in that church to this day.

Fighting against things "not fair" for women has been my goal throughout my education, just as it will be in my future, and I have had several unique opportunities toward this end. 

I have worked two summers in a Sacramento, California, law firm for the managing partner, a brilliant litigator and a woman who really cares about justice, on two of the biggest cases of her career. I performed legal research relevant to the issues of spoliation and antitrust, and I directly assisted Ms. F with trial preparation, accompanying her to court during the trials. Under her guidance I have learned the inner workings of litigation, and I have seen that unfairness pervades all types of law. Having experienced litigation, I know the heavy work load that characterizes trial preparation and can safely say that I approach a legal career aware of its realities.

I have also participated in the [school] Center for American Politics and Public Policy (CAPPP) Quarter in Washington program, which allowed me to take classes at the [school] Center and intern at the National Women's Law Center in D.C. The Law Center showed me the public interest side of law, the area of law that I hope to enter in order to address the women's issues that are so important to me. Public interest offers the opportunity to help women who need it the most, those who could not otherwise afford legal assistance and who are often victims of the "not fair," of violations of their civil rights. 

My classes at [school] and through CAPPP, as well as my participation in the volunteer program at the [school] Women's Resource Center, have afforded me the chance to research issues of the "not fair" for women. Violence against women, an unfairness that maims and rapes and kills, has evolved into a special interest of mine that I hope to pursue through future work in a sex crimes division in criminal prosecution. For two classes at [school] I have researched domestic violence and battered women who kill their abusers. While in Washington, D.C., I studied acquaintance rape among adolescents: after making an extensive review of the existing literature, I tried to conduct original research interviewing teenagers at a recreation center in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Though at the last moment the recreation center directors did not authorize my project, I did discover a class called "Self-Defense is More than Karate" that was developed by the Office on Women in Alexandria to instruct high school students on relationships,HIV/AIDS, dating violence, and sexual assault. After I observed one week of the program, the Community Education Coordinator asked me to research how such education influences teens, interviewing students before and after they take the class, for the Office on Women. Currently, I seek a research grant from the [school] College Honors Program that would allow me to go back to D.C. in the spring to carry out this project. 

Fighting the "not fair" is certainly a driving force for me; however, I have chosen to pursue law not only because I consider it to be a weapon against injustice, but also because it fascinates me. My love for the law echoes my love for literature. I participated in theater in high school and majored in English in college because I enjoy analyzing the subtleties, innuendos, and themes that serve as the foundation of a literary work or a dramatic performance. I strive to understand the stories behind the characters involved. I am awed by the power of language and the influence art and literature can have on the values, thoughts, and actions of the audience. So goes the influence on the law: they call it "courtroom drama" for a reason. Just as literature tells a story, so does each legal case, be it criminal or civil; the way in which the law applies to each case must be analyzed and, in some instances, constructed.Law reflects as much as it influences the beliefs of the people it governs.

Both law and literature are instruments of change. Furthermore, literature and law can give voice to people who have been traditionally silenced. Just as I love so much to hear the voices of others through literature, I want to use my voice in the realm of the law, calling out "not fair" for those who have not been heard. I want to have a positive influence on the lives of women and all people, be it in the civil or criminal realm, and in law school I hope to gain the tools to do just that.

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