Interview Summary

For my second project, I chose to focus on the personal statement that law school applicants are required to write as a part of their application. The reason I chose to write about something as boring as a law school application is because I plan on attending law school once I finish my bachelor’s degree. I chose to interview my sister for my article, she has just finished her first year at Stetson Law School, and she vividly remembers how difficult it was trying to write about herself.

First off, I saw my sister struggle with writing her personal statement for her law school applications and realized that although it is a very short article, it can cause for a lot of self-examination, and understanding who you are as a person. A personal statement for law school is also very different from a personal narrative or a blog post. A personal statement for law school can be very difficult, because you nearly have to brag about yourself. Applicants can’t write about an experience that made them sad, or an event that made them cry tears of joy. Applicants must talk about the reasons why they deserve to attend this law school, and why they are so qualified on a personal level to attend law school. This can be especially exhausting, because growing up most children are taught not brag about themselves or boast about the great things that they have accomplished.

During my sister’s interview, I asked my sister twelve questions that included subjects such as, how long it took her to write her personal statement, what the most difficult aspects of writing it was, and whether law school students should write more than one personal narrative during law school. One of the most interesting responses that I heard from my sister was when I asked her if law schools students should self-analyze themselves more before applying to law school to ensure that they want to enter the professional law field. To my surprise, my sister claimed that a student with any interest in law should go to law school, and that most of the self-examination required for choosing a profession related to law occurs during a law school student’s studies. Another interesting response from sister was when I asked her if a personal statement can make or break an application. She said yes, regardless of LSAT scores and GPA’s, she claimed that the personal statement in an application allows the institution to gain a feel for who you are and what type of person you are.

Overall, my first interview with my sister was very insightful, and a lot of the responses that my sister gave me I did not expect. Being my sister, I thought that I would be able to predict many of her response to my questions. However, many of her answers caught me off guard and were the opposite of what I was expecting. On top of this, not only did my sister answer all my questions, she gave me ideas for numerous more questions to ask.