When it comes to a personal statement for the JD, it seems as though you speak about a experience in the past that will allow you to succeed in law school, add diversity to the classroom, and grow as an individual. When applying for an LLM, what is the personal statement suppose to cover? I have writers-block and have no clue where to start...past experience, current situation, future possibilities? If you have written a personal statement for an LLM program, could you please offer some advice on how you began, or what you wrote about, thanks.

Hi,
your personal statement has to reflect your background and future plans. it has to be a well written, but a very precise essay. If you are planning to try studying something new, different, something that is not related to your work/life experience, I don't think you are going to be accepted. It comes from my personal experience with applications.

Having had success with my LLM personal statement I can attest to everything Marla said. In essence the personal statement should be an academic appraisal of yourself, starting off with your past achievements, how those academic decisions/results have led to your application and what you hope to gain from your LLM study. (It does not necessary have to directly relate to your work/life experience - if you can reasonably justify why you wish to study something unrelated, or how your previous study on an unrelated subject will give you a unique perspective.)

This should lead to an explanation of the career you aspire to. It always helps to be quite specific as to why the particular LLM program you are applying to appeals to you. Identify specific courses or professors, or aspects of the program, such as if it offers a concentration in your subject area.

Remember to include ANYTHING that makes you different/stand out. This would include extra-curricular activities, study abroad, cultural background, an interesting summer you spent volunteering.... Hope this helps. Do let me know if you'd like me to expand further on anything. Good luck!

Thank you for the reply, but I have heard conflicting ideas about the LLM personal statement. For example, I was told not to include any material, such as previous work experience, from which you can just look at my resume and get the same information. I had a dramatic experience during my second term of law school and lost a family member to a horrific disease which has inspired me to learn more about how health law interacts with a small family of four, as well as its daily interaction with the Mayo clinic. That is my inspiration, and unfortunately my school does not offer ANY health law courses. My past work experience has nothing to do with Health law, but I know that is the area of law I want to be in. I've researched Health law so many times my points on Westlaw have topped-off, and I've spoken with several attorneys who practice health law asking way too many questions. Now what??

In my opinion you cannot simply write a generic "personal statement." The statement must be crafted to the topic(s) the school is asking you to write about. I applied to between 5 and 10 schools and the "personal statement" question was different on all of them. My advice is to get hold of the application form(s) for the school(s) you are interested in and then tailor your response to the specific questions.

Good luck to you!

guys, did u read sample sop's and if you did pls tell me where to find them...Its hard to grasp what they want without a roadmap...thanks