Optional Essays
Most law schools offer applicants the opportunity to submit additional information about themselves in the form of optional essays. Although these essays are termed “optional,” it is actually in your best interest to submit any essay for which you can articulate a strong, well-drafted response that provides relevant additional information to the admissions team.
The most common two types of optional essays are: (1) a Statement of Perspective (diversity statement) and (2) a “Why ‘X Law School’?” essay. Some law schools may provide additional prompts to which you are permitted to respond. For example, in the 2023-24 application cycle, Georgetown Law offered applicants the choice among six prompts for an optional 250-word statement (e.g., “If you could “uninvent” one thing, what would it be,” “Share a top ten list with us.””) as well as the option to submit a video statement in place of an essay. Michigan Law suggested 9 topics, and applicants were permitted to submit up to 2. Regardless of the nature of the essays, consider them an opportunity to round out your application and provide another writing sample.
“Part of what we value—and that we actually evaluate for—is capacity for good judgment. And one way to display good judgment is in the decision that one makes in what essays to submit, whether you do optional essays, whether you submit addenda, and whether those optional essays and addenda are actually useful to us.… [T]hese are invitations to submit information if you have something important to say. And really, it’s not at all expected, and it actually could be harmful to actually submit several addenda that speak to different issues, that really don’t provide much helpful information other than what’s there already.”
Bill Hoye, Associate Dean of Admissions, Duke University School of Law
A “Statement of Perspective” (formerly known as a diversity statement) is a common type of optional essay that encourages applicants to reflect on any personal experience that they may contribute to the incoming class, if selected. The most important thing to realize is that “perspective” is interpreted broadly by law school admissions offices and is not limited to what we would think of as traditional diversity factors. You can discuss any element of your identity, circumstances, or experiences that you believe may give you a different perspective from fellow classmates or a different lens through which you view the world. Examples may include (but are not limited to) experiences related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religious identification, sexual orientation, military experience, single parenting, nontraditional age, underrepresented major (e.g., STEM majors), or first-generation student status.
The change in label from calling this a Statement of Perspective instead of a Diversity Statement coincides with the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina (SFFA). The Court in SFFA limited the ability of institutions of higher education to consider an applicant’s race in and of itself as a factor in deciding whether to admit the applicant. As a result, law schools cannot use the mere factor of race to influence admissions decisions. This does not mean, however, that you cannot or should not discuss race on a statement of perspective if it is relevant to your experiences.
From the College Board:
“nothing in [the SFFA] opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.[…] This means that universities may[…] assess how applicants’ individual backgrounds and attributes—including those related to their race, experiences of racial discrimination, or the racial composition of their neighborhoods and schools—position them to contribute to campus in unique ways. For example, a university could consider an applicant’s explanation about what it means to him to be the first Black violinist in his city’s youth orchestra or an applicant’s account of overcoming prejudice when she transferred to a rural high school where she was the only student of South Asian descent. […]Similarly, an institution could consider an applicant’s discussion of how learning to cook traditional Hmong dishes from her grandmother sparked her passion for food and nurtured her sense of self by connecting her to past generations of her family.” (See more)
It is not, however, sufficient to merely identify a perspective. You should articulate why that perspective enriches the law school class. It is not always easy to articulate, so it may take significant time to prepare a solid first draft. Think about sitting in the law school classroom, reading cases about all kinds of situations. What life experience have you had that would allow you to chime in on a case discussion and provide more context to the facts, or empathize with the parties to the case? If you are not sure about your topic, a pre law advisor is happy to discuss this with you, or review a draft of your statement.
If you don’t feel that you have a meaningful type of perspective, then don’t submit a statement or perspective. Don’t stress about not submitting a statement of perspective! It is truly an optional statement and you will not be penalized for choosing not to submit one.
Many law schools offer applicants the opportunity to use a separate “Why ‘X Law School’?” essay in order to articulate specific reasons why the applicant believes the school would be a strong fit. Presumably, if you are applying to a school, there were reasons that led you to apply to that school above other similarly situated law schools. So if a school permits such an essay, you should make the effort to write one.
Start by identifying your actual reasons for applying, then do more research.
- What classes would you be most interested in taking?
- What clinics and organizations interest you?
- Does the school have a particular focus or philosophy that you appreciate (e.g., law and economics, law in action)?
- Does the school place a significant number of graduates in the area of law in which you are most interested (e.g., public interest law, “big law”)?
- Does it have smaller class sizes than the average law school?
- Do you have ties to the community? Do you plan to work nearby when you graduate?
By providing evidence of your strong interest in a school and of an appropriate fit, you can increase your likelihood of admission.
So do your research, but don’t just regurgitate information from the website or other sources. Internalize the information, and reflect on why that information is important to you. If you truly can’t find something substantive to say about the school, reconsider applying there.
When Are Optional Essays a Bad Idea?
- DON’T submit an optional essay if you really have nothing to say about the topic. Admissions committees only want additional material that is helpful to them in evaluating your application.
- DON’T submit an optional essay if you aren’t willing to spend significant time drafting a strong essay. Admissions committees do not want you to go through the mechanical process of drafting and submitting materials without putting significant thought and effort into them.
- DON’T submit an optional essay if your additional essay tells them nothing new about you that they could not glean from other parts of your application.
Addenda
An addendum is a brief, factual summary of the circumstances surrounding an element of your application that could raise a genuine question or concern for admissions committees. The personal statement and optional essays are not the place to address weaknesses in your application. Instead, you should use one or more addenda to provide context for any significant weaknesses in your application.
The following are common types of addenda:
- GPA addendum to address circumstances that contributed to a very low GPA in one particular class or during a certain semester or other defined period of time;
- LSAT addendum addressing multiple LSAT cancellations or a significant jump in LSAT score between two tests;
- Character and Fitness addendum addressing incidents of misconduct (required by most if not all schools along with your honest reporting of those character and fitness concerns); Note that incidents of misconduct are not an automatic disqualification of your application. Many schools mainly use the character and fitness questions to consider your eligibility for the Bar. It is important to be honest, because the discovery of a failure to disclose when you apply to the Bar could lead to disqualification.
- Absence addendum addressing a leave of 1+ semesters from college or a significant gap on your resume. Use good judgment when deciding whether an addendum is needed.
- Disruption grading addendum to explain SD/UD grades taken during the pandemic. View CPLA’s guidance on campus’s Spring 2021 SD/UD grading option here.
When Are Addenda a Bad Idea?
- DON’T use addenda to address minor weaknesses. You risk drawing attention to weaknesses and making them seem more significant than they truly are.
- DON’T use an LSAT addendum to explain that you were scoring much higher on your practice tests. Law schools only care what happens on test day. But you may describe significant events that negatively impacted your test-day score.
- DON’T use an addendum to assign blame for misconduct or poor grades elsewhere. Explain the circumstances, take responsibility, then end on a positive note—briefly state what you learned from the situation.
How to Write Addenda with Examples
Excellent examples and step by step instructions for many types of addenda are available for free in the No B.S. Guide to The Law School Addendum by Peg Cheng on the Pre-Law Guru website.
Workshop Recording: Writing Addenda without Sacrificing Mental Health
The Writing Center gives some examples of addenda for law school applications that can be hard to write, and UHS joins us to talk about how to take care of your mental health when the law school application process is starting to impact you.