The Long and Winding Road

In the past two weeks I have thought about myself more than I have in my entire life. Not because I'm generally super humble - I'm actually fairly self-centered, at least as much so as every other 21 year old female. No, because I have been working A TON on law school applications.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, it is that time again. I started my law school notebook last week and have been working on resumes, curriculum vitas, personal statements, supplementary personal statements, and more non-stop over the past week. Call it a coping mechanism (as in I'm drowning myself in the aspects of my law school applications I can control, since I can't do anything about my LSAT score now). Call it an obsession (you'd probably be right). Call it a waste of time... but nevertheless it's been my every day for the past 12 days.


Upside, I really like the first paragraph of my personal statement and the format of my resume.

Downside, I'm already tired of applications. And I haven't actually filled any out. Yes, it's partially my fault because once I start doing something (except possibly blogging) I do it obsessively. But still. The application process sucks.

Dear NYU, Will you just let me in? I promise I'm smart, smarter than my GPA makes me seem. And I'm a hard worker and I'm organized and... oh, let's face it. I'm exactly like every other applicant. Great.


Sooo here are my top 5 things that every future law student THINKS is his or her strength:

• "I really want to help people." Because it sounds bad to say 'I really just want to be able to make money someday, but also to prove to people that I'm smart enough to get a post-graduate degree.
• "I'm highly competitive, but also personable." Sure, say that to the guy whose self-esteem you slowly broke down each day in gym class by staring at him as he ran around the gym. No one ever knew why he dropped out of the races for class president, mu alpha theta historian, and LAX captain. But you do. Write about that in your personal statement.
• "I add diversity to the campus." Sorry people, there are only about 4 things that truly add diversity. And unless you immigrated from a land where only 6 people spoke English, saved an entire school building worth of seven year olds from the fire that your local government set to eliminate all education, AND went to Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and / or Stanford... no one cares where you volunteered or what kind of neighborhood you grew up in. And absolutely none of that counts if you're white. Or Asian.
• Academic Achievement. Okay. That's probably fair. Rock that 4.0 and 175... you're golden.

As for the rest of us... let's just pray for that 14 point curve and / or really low application rates. Here's hoping.

With love,
S