The “Why” Behind Your Graduate School Personal Statement

I work frequently with people who are applying to law, medical and other graduate school programs. I love this work!

Personal statements for law, medical and graduate school allow students to tell the admissions readers WHY they want to pursue their degree and what has led them to this point. In other words, personal statements are a bit more structured and topic-specific than college essays.

Ideally, personal statements should create a feeling of inevitability. We want the admissions readers to think, "Of course this person’s next step is medical school (or law school or graduate school)! This is what their next step should be!”

Creating this feeling of inevitability isn’t easy to do, however. When I ask students why they want to pursue a law, medical or graduate degree, they often say they have always wanted to be a lawyer, a doctor, a therapist, and so on, but they are not sure why.

I work with students to draw out that answer. Together, we review all they have accomplished so far — from educational and professional background, to volunteer experience, and more. We work to create a narrative that shows the readers who they are, what they hope to achieve, and why the degree they seek will enable them to reach their goals.

Sometimes students feel that their background is so unrelated to the degree they want to pursue that it will be impossible to write a compelling personal statement. That is not true. Even when applicants have worked in fields totally unrelated to the field in which they wish to pursue graduate studies, the skills and lessons they have learned are valuable and relevant to what is next in their life.

Let me help you tell admissions readers why you would be a great addition to their incoming class! In addition to personal statements, I work with students on diversity statements, addenda, and more. Let’s talk about how to get this process started for you.