<p>Unlike most law schools, Yale requires a 250 word statement in addition to an optional regular length personal statement. 250 words is barely half a page and I was wondering if anyone here has applied to YLS or has any insight on what they are looking for in such a short space. Seriously, this is damn short.</p>
<p>i'd like to know too. bump...</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>P.S. I don't think we have ever had a Yalie on the LS forum...wonder why?:)</p>
<p>I was refraining, much to the benefit of all of you, from posting in this thread, but here is my suggestion:</p>
<p>This type of personal statement is indubitably a challenge to be as concise and pithy as possible. As you all know, it is easy to write prolix papers and prolong them to a desired extent; however, it is much more difficult for one to fit a coherent argument or notion or proposition within certain confines without employing sophisticated (I use this term cautiously) vocabulary.</p>
<p>They expect you to fit as much information as possible within the constraints of 250 words.</p>
<p>I do not know what content is suggested, but I am sure that anyone applying to Yale will have the capability of discriminating between what constitutes a meaningful and meaningless topic</p>
<p>Short version: Nspeds, don't apply.</p>
<p>Hah! </p>
<p>I am working on it:D</p>
<p>Keep up the good fight. ;)</p>
<p>"Short version: Nspeds, don't apply."</p>
<p>I second this. Nspeds, you dont want to confuse the adcoms, do you? I am pretty sure you'll bore them to death. Try talking like us normal humans :)</p>
<p>Oh I get it, a college confidential conspiracy...</p>
<p>well...</p>
<p>Sorry, I have exhausted my inventory of witty retorts - not that I ever had one - check back later.</p>
<p>"collage" sorry, the spelling is "COLLEGE"</p>
<p>Go back to your dictionary and think about Yale once you can spell it. :)</p>
<p>I was vacillating between saying 'colla confa dentia' or 'college confidental'.</p>
<p>Things get ugly in here a little too quickly for my taste.</p>
<p>Is everyone so insecure that you're in here looking for the slightest chink in someone's armor so you can pounce? Very nice ethic.</p>
<p>Since y'all haven't actually given any suggestions, here goes:</p>
<p>Before you touch a single application, you should have a bullet list of what you need to present to the admissions people. For me, that list included: resume/work experience, reasons for applying to that school, major, why a JD, and reasons why I had three bad semesters. So I tried to insert all of those things into every application. A lot of it went into the cover letter, esp. the "Why this school" part. I included a resume and addendum re: the medical stuff. So... your Yale essay could highlight something you've already mentioned or include one of your little bullet points. For example:</p>
<p>*Describe in more detail the community service activities you organized
*Why your major?
*Why law school? Where do you see yourself in 10 years and how does the Yale JD help?
*Why Yale?
*What did you learn from a particular job which will help you in law school?
*What can you bring to a law school classroom that other upper-middle class white girls with a liberal arts degree can't add?</p>
<p>I had to do a one-pager for Northwestern (double-spaced, so it's about the same length) on either "why NW" or "what can you add to the classroom." It was actually pretty easy - very specific topic that sounds cheesy if it's too long. I think I said something about being an engineer and included a bunch of information about the school, then just tied it together.</p>
<p>ariesathena, this is REALLY helpful. Thanks for answering all of my questions!</p>
<p>yeah, ariesathena, that IS really helpful. You rock!</p>
<p>Thanks for putting us back on track. :)</p>
<p>You're welcome. :) Glad that my suffering known as law school admissions is good for helping y'all out. :)</p>
<p>If I get into Yale or Stanford I'm sending ariesathena a big-ass brownie</p>
<p>Whatever you do, when you get into law school, don't do what I did: go out and celebrate so much that you're still hung over two days later when you have to drive 700 miles, with the migraine from hell on a waayy-too-sunny day, to the school for an admitted student's thing.</p>
<p>Baking - might be a better plan. ;)</p>
<p>hahaha - I'll worry about the party when/if I get into a T14!</p>