hink it through. What exactly are they asking for? What is the Scope of the question? Application questions often range from the extremely specific [e.g., what are the personal challenges regarding interpersonal matters that you feel brought out your conflict mediation and management skills?] to the open-ended and amorphous [e.g. tell us something about yourself regarding your desire to become an attorney]. In addition to the question posed, most schools provide guidelines for answering their questions. Follow these guidelines carefully. Don't deviate from them.Some question formats pose one general question and several more specific questions. Don't let your answer to the general question be a mere repetition of the specific queries. Pay close attention to the precise question asked and avoid being repetitive. Reserve all other information worthy of some detail for the general personal statement. Make your general statement a "catch-all" document which gives the Admissions Committee the impression that there is more to you than you have previously revealed.Avoid redundancies among the differing parts of your application package. Don't just recite your GPA and/or courses taken in your personal statement. These will probably be given adequate consideration elsewhere in the application. However, you may mention your GPA and courses taken if you believe they require explanation. For instance, you may state that your GPA discrepancy was due to an illness that required hospitalization or due to family problems. Aside from such situations, do not make "excuses" for your grades. The Admissions Committees probably run into hundreds of such excuses each and every year.Beware of a "one size fits all" attitude!Once you estimate the parameters of what the personal statement question is asking for, you must discern the type and structure of an essay that would be the most efficient and responsive to the question posed. With this in mind, be...
