Personal Statements: Marketing Yourself

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• The importance of marketing

• What the schools are looking for

• Researching particular schools

Marketing Is Job 1!

Although the preceding quotations all concern the personal statement, they are applicable to the complete application file. The application file in its entirety is your interview for a seat in a law school class. Effective applicants treat the application file as a "marketing tool" which is targeted to the specific requirements and personalities of different law schools. As a good example of targeted marketing, consider the following excerpt from a recent biography of Bill Gates by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews:

"Toward the end of the year, Lakeside senior classman Bill Gates took on a different marketing project: the selling of William Henry Gates. Potential customers? College admissions officers. Bill had scored 800 on his math SAT and five achievement tests (although only in the low 700s on the verbal SAT), and he put it, "I wanted to know which personality of mine would appeal to the world at large."

Witness the transformation! To Harvard, he was Bill Gates, son of a prominent lawyer, someone with connections, "the guy who was into politics... so my whole page experience was the central part of that application." For Princeton, "I positioned myself as a computer nerd," the programming magician who could hypnotize a minicomputer or mainframe into doing anything he commanded. For Yale, he was a consummate do-gooder and sensitive artist with thespian aspirations, "the guy who did drama, the guy who was a Boy Scout." It was one of the earliest displays of his chameleon like, Thomas Crown-like ability to change his skin, to transform his persona - and eventually, his company's - in order to "do business."

The personal statement and autobiographical sketch are controllable and afford the most opportunity for "direct applicant input." They should be targeted to meet the requirements of specific schools.

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Before attempting to formulate answers you must understand the purpose(s) of the question(s) asked. If you knew how the answer to the question influenced the admissions process, you would know how to better answer the question. How do you learn what the school is looking for?

The Basics - What All Schools Look For

All schools seek applicants who have the tools required to complete the program. The two primary tools are:

• Ability - intellectual and academic
• Motivation - because intelligence without focus is wasted

Applicants must have the academic and intellectual ability to complete the program. For many applicants their grades and LSAT scores provide adequate evidence of that ability.

Intellectual ability is not sufficient. The world is full of intelligent people who have never achieved anything. A high achiever is motivated to direct his ability in a focused way to achieve results. Hence, schools look for evidence that the applicant is motivated to complete the program.

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Beyond The Basics - How They Are Different!

Beyond attracting students with ability and motivation different schools have different objectives in admitting students. Hence, you may wish to emphasize different things about yourself at different schools.

Targeted Marketing - The Importance Of Researching The Schools!

Consider the application process as being analogous to a job search. Imagine that you are applying to ten different jobs. Effective applicants would not send exactly the same resume and covering letter to each potential employer. Effective applicants would research two major issues.

• First, what is the business of the employer?
• Second, what role does the specific job play in the business of the employer?

The applicant would then design the job application to target the specific requirements of the employer. In the same way that prospective employees must research potential employers, applicants must research the law schools. On the basis of this research, all forms of direct applicant input should be targeted to specific schools. This may mean writing different personal statements for different schools!

Great! But, How Do I Do This Research?

Research each school by asking the following three general questions.

• What Is The School's Generalized Policy On Admission?

Different schools have different agendas. Ask, what is the school trying to achieve by admitting applicants to its program? Look for statements about generalized policies on admission. Sources of information include:

For Law Schools In General:

-the calendar of information (pay particular attention to the dean's message);

-the application form itself (there is now one common application form for Ontario law schools - U.S. and other Canadian law schools have their own forms);

-most schools now have web sites on the internet;

For U.S. Law Schools:

-The Official Guide To U.S. Law Schools published by Law Services;

-The MAPLA Profiles Guide to U.S. law schools;

For Canadian Law Schools

-The section of the LSAT Registration Book which has information about all Canadian law schools;

-The information about Ontario law schools in the Ontario Law School Application Service (OLSAS) package.

What follows is an example of a generalized policy on admission:

"The purpose of the admissions policy is to admit students from among the many applicants, who will excel at the study of law and, at the same time, contribute creatively and meaningfully to the law school and the community"

• What Application Categories (Marketing Avenues) Are Available?

All schools have a "regular applicant" category. In addition, some schools may have categories for "mature students", or students in an "access" or "special circumstances" category. In determining whether an application category is suitable for you, carefully review the requirements of the category and determine how the category furthers the school's generalized policies on admission. Different schools use different applicant categories. Even if two schools use the same label to describe a category, that category may be defined differently at each school.

• How Does The School Use The Direct Applicant Input?

Different schools use personal statements in different ways. Try to determine how the school uses the personal statement or other form of direct applicant input. For example, is it appropriate to use direct applicant input to talk about grades and LSAT scores? Take care to respond to the specific question asked.

The most effective direct applicant input is tailored directly to the requirements of a specific school. All other things being equal, any admissions officer would rather admit somebody with a specific interest in their school.