diversity essay for law school

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How to write a diversity statement for law school + example.

Reviewed by:

David Merson

Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University

Reviewed: 04/15/24

If you’re wondering how to write a law school diversity statement, this article will provide insight into what you need to do to write a stellar statement.

Deciding to write a diversity statement for law school is not always the easiest call to make. In many ways, writing a diversity statement requires you to be vulnerable and speak candidly about factors in your life that have contributed to your identity. You'll have to talk about the core of who you are, which can often be challenging.

This article will cover when and how to write your diversity statement and dissect a few successful diversity statement examples. We will also go over some other burning questions you may have about writing a diversity statement.

A Complete Law School Diversity Statement Example

Now that we’ve gone over some tips on writing your statement, we’ll be looking at one of the best law school diversity statement examples and breaking down what makes it a great one. The statement we’ll be looking at below was written by Madeline Baker, a student from the California Western School of Law . 

A Strong Start

Baker’s diversity statement starts strong as she dives straight into her story.

“I was adopted when I was less than one year old from the North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. I grew up in Seattle, Washington with Caucasian parents and attended private school until college. American culture was inescapably my sole identity. Traditional American pastimes such as attending baseball games and eating hot dogs were staples of my childhood. However, as I've accumulated more life experience, I've come to acquire a taste for cultures dissimilar to my own. I'm a fanatic for spicy, flavorful foods and have become eager to understand social traditions that seem foreign to me. Although many people assume at first glance that I am accustomed to Korean culture and am fluent in the language, the comical truth is that I've never even had Korean barbeque. Unlike most of my friends and peers, I have also never met my birth mother. Having never experienced these traditions seemed normal to me until I noticed the pattern of assumptions that my outwardly Asian appearance dictated.”

‍ Why this is a strong start : She immediately highlights the conflicts she’s experienced between her racial and ethnic background and her cultural upbringing. This provides a strong base for the story she’s about to tell and keeps it straight to the point, as you know right off the bat what she’ll be talking about.

While this is only one of many great ways to start your statement, remember that your goal is to captivate your reader’s interest so they keep reading. Don’t meander too much here, and make every sentence count!

Character Development and Growth

As she continues to write, Baker discusses how she has grown in relation to a fragmented identity–one based on her appearance and the other based on her cultural upbringing. 

“As I've grown older, I have encountered more and more of a racial and cultural disconnect in my daily life. When I was a child, the fact that I had different-shaped eyes and a richer skin tone than most other children in my class was never questioned, nor was the fact that I didn't resemble my parents. Now, as an adult, I've become accustomed to looks of shock and interest when I share my life story—as if I were some type of exotic specimen. “

Why this body paragraph is successful : Discussing how your experiences have evolved and impacted you over time can provide more insight into your story. This will ultimately make a stronger essay as it provides a clear trajectory that seamlessly leads your reader from one point to the next.

A Diverse Perspective

The meat of your statement should be providing information on formative moments throughout your experience. Baker talks about going to a camp for Korean children adopted into Caucasian families in hopes of getting in touch with their Korean roots. 

“...attending camp for one week per year for eight years of my childhood was not exactly organic cultural immersion, which created a skewed view of my cultural heritage. My view of my cultural heritage. My encounters with others puts into light a new perspective for how quickly society and individuals jump to conclusions about people that they have never met. Although I have never felt discriminated against, it is eye opening to relate how I feel in culturally relevant situations to how others feel when they are treated differently for their skin color, their customs, and their lifestyles. This is a predominant issue in current society that many people will never have the opportunity to truly experience.”

Why this body paragraph is successful : These experiences contributed greatly to her perspective on culture and identity and provided some commentary on how we are often exposed to different cultures. When writing your law school diversity statement, it is essential that you consider how your story presents a diverse point of view. Once you’ve figured that out, use it as a focal point to drive your statement home.

Coming from a Place of Empowerment

Baker ends her statement with this:

‍ “I have been given a rare opportunity that every single day I am thankful for. An opportunity that many people will never have the chance to experience. I have the opportunity to see society from many different perspectives, a viewpoint I am constantly building on as I continue to blossom. I will continue developing my perspective and use it in a positive way to contribute to society through its justice system. Through my interest in criminal defense, I believe that I can help our country appreciate the benefits of a diverse culture, which will ultimately help non-predominant citizenry pursue their dreams. As a minority person with an Americanized upbringing, I hope to bridge the gap between our country's treatment of minorities in the justice system and the desire to create a society where minority citizens are encouraged to pursue their dreams—just as I am pursuing mine. We all have a right to be seen as individuals and not boxed into the preconceived notions of society. I will do all that I can to uphold this right for everyone.” 

Why this ending was successful: She speaks about her experience from a place of empowerment by stating how it has shaped her to be the person she is and how these interactions with her identity have driven her to pursue a career in law. 

While these experiences can be easily seen as negative ones, she reframes her own experiences as those of learning and growth. 

As you write your diversity statement, think about how you can approach your experiences from the vantage point of growth. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• How has this experience shaped me to be the person I am now?
• How have I grown and learned from my experiences?
• How have they impacted what I choose to do with my life?

These are some great questions that will ultimately highlight your strength, resilience, and character as you write your law school diversity statement.

By studying law school diversity statement examples, you can develop a stronger understanding of how to effectively communicate your strengths, resilience, and character, enhancing your own diversity statement.

How Important is a Diversity Statement for Law School?

Much like your personal statement, your diversity statement gives the admissions committee a chance to get to know you and the experiences that shape you. Though it isn’t the be-all and end-all of your application, an excellent diversity statement can definitely help you stand out.

On the other hand, it’s also important to understand that a weak diversity statement can compromise the impact of your overall application. So, think about how this might affect your application.

Knowing When to Write a Diversity Statement

Diversity within any student body strengthens the community and expands the breadth of ideas and perspectives within it. As an aspiring law school student, writing a diversity statement allows you to talk about your life experiences. Doing this gives the admissions committee an opportunity to get to know what makes you you. 

By the time you get to writing your diversity statement, you probably would have looked over your entire law school application about a million times. Going over parts of your application, like your personal statement , for example, should give you an idea of whether or not you should consider writing a diversity statement. 

Before you start writing your statement, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Have I covered everything that is essential to cover in my personal statement?
• Am I trying too hard to find something to write about?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, it probably means that writing a diversity statement for your law school application may not be necessary. 

If you feel that your personal statement covers your background adequately, and you’re finding writing an additional diversity statement isn’t coming naturally to you, you’re probably better off skipping this part of the application. 

Generally speaking, the key to writing a diversity statement for your law school application is genuinely having something to write about. 

In the same right, it is crucial to consider what you have to offer in terms of diversifying the school community. Seriously think about your background and the experiences you have faced and how they enable you to contribute diverse perspectives and ideas to the community.

How to Write a Law School Diversity Statement

Now that we’ve covered whether or not writing a diversity statement is best for your application, we’ll go over a few tips on how to write a stellar diversity statement. 

Tip 1: Do Your Research

As with any supplemental essay or statement, you’ll want to do research on what is required to write a successful one. While this article will leave you with less guesswork on how to approach your diversity statement, it’s essential that you know what each school’s requirements are to write a successful statement. 

This includes how each law school defines diversity and what they expect in terms of statement length and formatting. For instance, Harvard and Yale law diversity statement prompts are vague, stating that you write about how you are able to contribute to their community based on your breadth of experience. 

In contrast, some law schools like Duke provide a more detailed set of sample topics to guide your writing, which include the following:

• Economic disadvantage
• Personal adversity or other social hardship (perhaps stemming from one’s religious affiliation, disability, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity)
• Experiences as a first-generation college student
• Significant employment history (such as in business, military or law enforcement, or public service)
• Experience as an immigrant or refugee
• Graduate study or impressive leadership achievement (including college or community service)

While some schools may consider diversity socio-cultural (things like race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual identity), others may also consider factors like age, career shifts, and socio-economic status, so make sure you know what each school expects.

Tip 2: Find a Good Topic

Once you have reviewed the prompts and guidelines for each diversity statement, it’s time to find a topic. You’ll want to write about something memorable and impactful. All law schools look for a common factor: your ability to contribute diverse perspectives to the school community. 

With this said, use your background and life experiences to guide your writing. Although these things can often feel vulnerable and challenging to write about, whatever topic you choose should come naturally to you–but more on this later!

Tip 3: Approach Your Experience from a Place of Empowerment 

Many experiences highlighting diversity often go hand in hand with some hardship, challenge, or adversity. Though it might not be your intention, these statements can sometimes come across as a victim’s narrative. As you write your diversity statement, make sure you write from a place of empowerment instead of victimhood. 

Regardless of what experience you choose to write about, center your statement around how you were able to persevere against all odds. Talk about what you learned and how that impacted and expanded your perspectives. 

Tip 4: Know How to Start and End Your Statement

An essential aspect of any essay or statement is having a strong beginning and end. Your diversity statement should catch your reader’s attention, keeping them interested up until the very end. 

Once you’ve chosen your topic, there are many ways that you can go about starting a strong essay and finishing it off with a bang. To do this effectively, you’ll want to draft a strong trajectory for your diversity statement. See your statement as your hero’s journey, and tell your story.

FAQs: Diversity Statement for Law School

After going over what makes a great diversity statement, you might still have some questions about writing a diversity statement for your application. Below, we will cover some frequently asked questions that might clarify any concerns you might still have. 

1. Should You Write a Law School Diversity Statement?

You should only write a diversity statement if you have something thoughtful to say. Remember that, at times, what you say in your personal statement may overlap with your diversity statement–if this is the case, you may want to skip it.  

2. How Long Should a Diversity Statement Be for Law School?

Typically, your diversity statement will be no more than 1-2 pages long, but remember to do research on each school’s requirements. 

3. What Can I Write a Diversity Statement About?

Generally, you’ll be asked to write about how your diverse experiences have shaped your perspective. While each school might provide a different prompt, you’ll want to write about experiences or parts of your life that are less conventional. 

If you’re an aspiring law school student who might be switching career paths or are returning after a long hiatus, you might consider writing about what has led you to law. 

Similarly, you can also write about your experiences as a socio-economically or culturally diverse student if that applies to you. There are a plethora of topics to consider–make sure you pick one that is true to you.

4. What Not To Write In A Diversity Statement For Law School?

There are many elements you should avoid in diversity statements (and personal statements) , including rehashing stories you’ve already shared in your application, using quotes, being too ambiguous, and focusing your story on others rather than on your own experiences.

Final Thoughts

Figuring out whether or not to write a law school diversity statement can be tricky, and writing one can be even more challenging. Remember that this statement is a great opportunity for you to introduce yourself and share your background with the admissions team. 

Make sure that your statement highlights what you have to bring to your school community. Best of luck!

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Law School Diversity Statement Examples That Worked!

Law school diversity statements seem simple enough at first glance, but crafting a unique essay that doesn’t simply regurgitate elements of your law school personal statement is harder than you may expect. Diversity statements demand concise but sophisticated introspection, and this tension can make drafting and editing feel dizzying. Don’t worry though—with some basic guidelines and a few examples to consult, you can easily craft a standout diversity statement that perfectly complements and enhances the rest of your law school application.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 11 min read

The law school diversity statement vs personal statement.

Understanding the ultra-specific purpose of the law school diversity statement is the first and most important step in beginning your drafts, and no one really knows these tiny differences except for law school admissions consulting professionals. And you are in luck! We are sharing these details with you today!

At first glance, it’s hard to figure out how to avoid redundancy with the personal statement. After all, answering the question of who you are is central to both essays, and since a big part of that is showing both the social and personal forces that have shaped you, it may seem difficult to determine what information goes where.

Fortunately, there are some significant structural differences that can help you organize your thoughts. At the outset, it’s important to understand that the diversity statement, with some exceptions, is almost always constructed in response to a specific prompt and is usually considered as a law school optional essay . Conversely, the personal statement is almost never constrained to a specific question, and rather asks you to explain who you are in a broad sense.

The law school diversity statement is therefore a counterpart to the personal statement, and serves as a deeper, more detailed explanation of how you understand yourself in relation to the world. Think of the personal statement as more heavily focused on your intrinsic understanding of yourself—your motivations and the experiences that illustrate them—and the diversity statement as more focused on extrinsic/external or contextual factors. It’s still about you, but it needs to show an understanding of your place(s) in the world.

It’s important to note right away that “diversity” and “adversity” are not synonyms. Many students fall into the trap of considering diversity in wholly negative terms, or that their diversity must have been the target of some sort of difficulty or bias in order to be worth discussing. This is often the case, of course, but diversity essays are often not so specific. Law schools want to understand how your uniqueness has shaped you and your relationship to the people and social structures around you. Even more importantly, they want to see what this allows you to bring to the school and your cohort of students if admitted. The uniqueness of your perspective and sense of self does not need to be the result of staggering adversity in order to warrant a diversity essay, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the essay prompt.So, what qualifies as diversity? There are some traditional categories of identity and experience that are commonly discussed in diversity statements, such as these:

Keep in mind that these are just examples of diversity topics you can cover in your diversity essay – you are encouraged to explore a variety of diversity elements that made you who you are.

It’s crucial to be able to talk about the ways in which these identifiers or characteristics posed experiences of difference or uniqueness at various points in your life, as well as how these experiences would shape your performance as a law student. Again, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been the target of overt bias or discrimination, although if that’s the case you absolutely should discuss it. What matters most is that these qualities allow you to contribute a unique voice to your chosen program.

On the other hand, there are ways in which these characteristics can be hard to mine, so to speak. You need to be able to discuss the ways in which the particularities of your identity make you stand out from other applicants, how they’ve influenced your pursuit of a law degree, and how they can make a positive impact both at the institutional level and in the lives of your fellow students. As Harvard Law School notes, “Think carefully about whether and how you use this optional component. There are times when an application is actually weakened by an optional statement due to a lack of cohesion or relevance to the rest of the file.”

You should take that note of caution with a grain of salt, however. Yes, it’s true that writing a flat or ineffective diversity essay is likely worse than not including one at all, but to reiterate a point we’ve made a few times now, a compelling narrative that captures your sense of difference and diversity is absolutely worth writing, even if the particularities don’t seem totally bombastic to you. Odds are you have something to discuss, whether it’s a big move or an unlikely extracurricular pursuit. The point is that it has impacted you and will, in turn, impact your performance in law school. 

Are you wondering which law school application components admission committees value the most?

In the prompts you encounter, it’s worth noting that many schools will offer a working definition of what they believe diversity to be. Be mindful of this when crafting your statement—that is, show that you “understand the assignment,” so to speak. In other words, always answer the prompt. Attention to detail is always important on graduate school applications, but especially so for law, which is rooted in linguistic specificity and careful constructions. Moreover, having a preexistent definition to work with can serve as a springboard for your own exploration of how your unique identity can contribute to a diverse student cohort.

Law School Diversity Statement Example 1 – Stanford

“[Describe] how your background, life and work experiences, advanced studies, extracurricular or community activities, culture, socio-economic status, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other factors would contribute to the diversity of the entering class (and hence to your classmates’ law school educational experience)."

Despite growing up surrounded by other Inuit in Igloolik, I have been aware of the fundamental uniqueness of my people and culture for as long as I can remember. Each time I travelled inland across the light blue, glimmering channel, I was met with an ever-evolving mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces, languages, and activities. As I got older and began travelling further away from the island, the vast complexity of Canada’s cultures both fascinated me and deepened my understanding of who I was. By the time I applied to college, I had amassed a network of friends and acquaintances that included French-speakers, recent immigrants, and people from many other first peoples and nations. Among the many diverging aspects of our identities and upbringings that we discussed, one dimension that continually piqued my interest was the role of tradition and law in our individual understandings of ourselves and our cultures. I was especially intrigued by the varying definition of law and legality across cultures—the diversity of oral and written traditions, of worldviews and codified legal systems. It’s not surprising that I became deeply drawn toward the study of environmental law midway through my undergraduate years, and have only grown more immersed as I’ve completed my studies.

The complexity of diverging concepts of law and tradition in relation to environmental stewardship has been a central drive for my seeking a career in law. It’s not simply that my being Inuk is unique in itself, but that the radical uniqueness of our traditional lands compared to that of the rest of North America makes my understanding of human and environmental interaction extremely unique. The ways in which institutional land management practices and legal designations have evolved over time, specific to regions and peoples, is something to which I’m keenly attuned, and is a central gravitational pull in my scholarship both present and future. The environmental law track at Stanford Law would therefore not only allow me to continue developing my own understanding, but to share it with other students and study groups who come from significantly different cultural backgrounds and places. I of course believe having representation of first peoples in any academic program is a boon to its diversity of worldview and ideology, but I think especially so in Stanford’s environmental law program, whose faculty have played an important role in positively resolving environmental disputes between the Muwekma-Ohlone and state and federal governments. The uniqueness of these tensions in Northern communities has afforded me, what I believe, an uncommon but deeply informed perspective that can be of great benefit to the work of students and faculty alike. (438 words)

Want to review the basics of a good law school personal statement? Our video’s got you covered:

“An applicant may choose to describe the challenges as a first-generation college graduate; an applicant's struggle with a serious physical or mental disability; an applicant's encounter with discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or national origin; or an applicant's limited educational opportunities due to geographical or other restrictions; or whatever the applicant believes is appropriate and relevant. The committee believes factors such as these may contribute to an applicant's academic potential and how they will enhance the richness and diversity of the learning environment.”

Breaking nearly half the bones in my body before finishing high school was in some ways almost a benefit as a student. My being born with osteogenesis imperfecta type IV was a terrifying prospect for my parents, and it has of course regularly been an obstacle to doing a lot of normal things. But recovering from broken collarbones, femurs, and more than a dozen skull fractures, among much else, gave me a lot of time to read. In fact, reading was about all I could do most of the time, as my parents couldn’t afford typical distractions like cable or gaming systems throughout my childhood. Although I did end up watching fuzzy reruns of Night Court when my recent library haul ran out, I’d much more readily cite Mary Shelley as an inspiration to pursue law studies than Harry Anderson.

Oddly enough, though, I often felt lucky as a kid. Growing up poor with a fairly dangerous genetic disorder didn’t register as an oppressive restriction most days but rather, oddly enough, a kind of natural simplicity in my environment. It wasn’t until I got into my teenage years that I understood just how hard my parents had to work to maintain the perceptual bubble that made me feel like our situation was at least mostly normal. Once I started to really understand just how much of a toll my condition and our economic circumstances took on them, I became firmly convinced that I wanted to make sure others in similar situations would have more resources and opportunities than we did.

Disability law became a central focus of my recreational reading during my prelaw years, and I was fortunate enough to gain a significant amount of experience volunteering with X University’s specialty legal aid clinic. What this afforded me most of all was an expansion of my perspective on disability’s ubiquitous intertwinement with poverty. What had been heavily conditioned by my personal experience was now complemented by the lives and cases of dozens of others who had experienced similar—and in one case nearly identical—difficulties, and this galvanized my drive to pursue a career in law to an even greater degree.

This aspect of my life is, I believe, an incredible gift to my ability to perform as a student and to add a unique perspective to those around me. There are still some hurdles that come along with it, but I’ve gotten pretty good at remembering my glasses and avoiding bone breaks. I hope to be a source not only of both anecdotal and professional insight into disability and poverty law issues, but also an encouraging and (if I may say so) pretty well-humored presence in my cohort. I can’t imagine getting to where I am without my sense of humor, but I also can’t imagine not trying to share that in the trenches with my fellow law students throughout the arduous experience of JD work. (487 words)

Law School Diversity Statement Example 3 – Georgetown University

“Georgetown Law is proud of its strong community of students from diverse backgrounds. We encourage you to attach a brief statement to help the Admissions Committee understand the contribution your personal background would make to our community”

Entering law school at 42 is frankly terrifying. Or, it would be, had I not spent so much of the last 15 years navigating an equally volatile environment: Bornean rainforests. The basics of my time with the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation are covered in my other application materials, but what isn't clear through those details is just how tense and dangerous our rescue operations often were. The longstanding tension between agricultural concerns and animal welfare groups is something most people surmise, but the specifics of this tension are often poorly reported outside of Indonesia.

During my second year with BOSF I assisted in an operation near Kalimantan to rescue three orangutans who had hunkered down in the rubble amidst an illegal logging operation. They wouldn't move from the node of the forest they had lived in for years prior, and were under direct threat of being injured or even killed in a clearcut. Navigating the difficult and patience-testing process of extracting animals from their shattered home was one thing, but the sheer volume of armed timber company employees and their initial unwillingness to let us attempt to rescue the animals made it one of the most overwhelming days of my life. Many, even most, of the rescue operations we undertook didn't have that level of immediate, palpable tension, but this experience was sadly not totally unique, and despite my decade of work in the field I still found subsequent situations like this absolutely draining for days afterward.

I think the hard-earned ability and stamina to deal with that kind of situational complexity is a key part of what makes me a unique candidate for law school. Commercial arbitration and corporate mediation pale entirely in comparison to negotiating a pause between a moving excavator and a terrified huddle of great apes, all while a dozen rifles were pointed at me. (309 words)

It may be initially difficult to decide whether a supplemental law school diversity statement is the right choice for you, and that’s okay! Uncertainty is a natural part of the application process, and especially when it comes to your personal statement and other essays. Start early and give yourself enough time to really contemplate the factors that have shaped you and your understanding of yourself. Mostly importantly, understand the need to stay focused and on topic throughout your diversity essay—by submitting one, you’re asking for additional time and consideration, so make sure you communicate something unique and meaningful when you write it. And remember, every application component matters when it comes to getting that coveted law school interview invite! So, before you even start prepping with law school interview questions , make sure that every single aspect of your application is perfect before you submit!

This is a hard question to answer devoid of context, and to really decide you’ll need to take some notes and even write a first draft. However, the main things to consider are: what particularities of your identity have made your path to law school especially challenging or unique; and, will these contribute something notable or positive to your performance in the program? It’s important to remember that relevant identity characteristics aren’t necessary just ethnic or racial identity but can include nearly anything that’s made your path especially unique and challenging. Some schools want to a diversity statement if you’ve experienced significant adversity, but many schools encourage a broader discussion that doesn’t need to hinge on the problematic aspects of your identity.

As always, check your specific schools’ websites for a word count, as this does vary by institution quite a bit. However, a general range is 350-500 words.

Generally no. You’ll want to explain how this has impacted you, and ideally how you’ve overcome it to some extent. Law schools are incredibly competitive and the JD is a difficult program regardless of institution—law schools want to know you can adapt to difficult circumstances and make the best of them.

Difficulty is an inherently subjective thing. What seems like a minor inconvenience to you, even compared to the experienced of your friends or acquaintances, may still very well be fertile ground for a supplemental diversity essay. The key is to not rush mapping out your essay, and to give yourself time to examine the many ways—often subtle—in which your unique identity or class has impacted you.

Possibly! If you feel strongly that your application would benefit from an additional diversity essay, and that this information somehow can’t be adequately discussed in your personal statement, then reach our to the school’s administrative body to ask if they accept supplemental essays. While not every law school explicitly invites the diversity essay, they all profess a commitment to diversity in admissions and may be open to a diversity statement if you have a really clear reason for the request.

Although it’s quite a bit shorter than the personal statement and many other types of supplemental essays, the diversity essay should follow roughly the same structure as these other elements. The most important point is to get to the point quickly—within a sentence or two max, you need to make it clear why you’ve written a diversity essay and exactly what qualities/characteristics/experiences make you unique. From here, you’ll want to “show don’t tell” why this is aspect of you makes you a unique candidate. Don’t just list that you grew up on Neptune and move on, but describe the icy surface and supersonic winds that shaped your childhood. Develop these details into a discussion of how they shaped your personality and approach to life and/or law, and close with at least one or two sentences that clearly indicate why this difference is relevant to law school in particular. Keep in mind, though, that responding to the prompt’s specific wording is key. Some prompts will simply ask you to explain why you’re a unique candidate, others will ask you to more thoroughly relate this to law. You’ll want to do both to some extent, but it’s crucial to balance these two dimensions of your statement based on the specific instructions of your school.

One of the best aspects of the diversity essay is its flexibility—the potential topics are vast and numerous. Common foci include ethnic, gender, national, and cultural identity uniqueness, but these kinds of permanent or intrinsic qualities aren’t the only options. You should also feel encouraged to explore the experiences and commitments that you feel have made you a unique person and candidate for law school. These may include long-term and short-term experiences, jobs, trips, even uncommon relationships. The only real boundary is that this discussion needs to be at least somewhat relevant to law school, but as long as you’re able to relate your narrative or essay to this even somewhat, go for it!

Personal statements are on average quite a bit longer and somewhat general, whereas a diversity statement is asking you to answer a much more specific question in less space. Moreover, personal statements are meant to be comprehensive narratives that delve into your big-picture motivations for attending law school and what you hope to do in the future, at least to some extent. Conversely, a diversity statement is much more focused on the past, and specifically those factors that have brought you to the present moment. In a way, we can summarize the difference like this: a personal statement deals heavily in what you’ve done and what you want to do, and a diversity statement is about who you are.

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How to Write a Diversity Statement for Law School

8 tips for writing a better diversity statement for your law school application..

Your law school application likely requires several written documents in addition to the usual suspects, like transcripts and test scores. This entire package gives admissions officers a comprehensive, yet personalized picture of your aptitude for advanced study and fit for their specific program. And, more and more often, admissions offices are asking that a diversity statement be included in that picture.

What is a Diversity Statement?

Generally speaking, a diversity statement details [1] your experience with diversity, personally and professionally, and [2] your approach to advancing equity and inclusion within the community and your workplace. At Stetson Law, for example, our school’s statement includes our definition of what diversity means to us: “an acknowledgment of differences between groups of people and perhaps an invitation for such groups to join a community, inclusion involves embracing those differences by valuing and supporting the backgrounds and experiences of every individual and group in a way that will help create a sense of belonging and unity.” Because we value the perspectives from the communities represented by our student body, faculty and staff, we also include their voices in our statement. Similarly, the American Bar Association places great emphasis on diversity and inclusion , and has created its own mission statement outlining what diversity means within the justice system and for practicing lawyer: “promoting collaboration, coordination, and communication to … eliminate bias and enhance diversity and inclusion throughout the Association, legal profession, and justice system.” Of course, these are statements written by a group to represent institutions. They can be helpful in getting you closer to your own definition of what diversity means to you, but their aims are ultimately a bit different from a diversity statement you write for law school. That’s why we’ve developed this comprehensive guide to help you get started with yours.

Should I Write a Diversity Statement for Law School?

Some schools require a diversity statement as part of their application process, but others keep it optional. If you do get a choice in the matter, you’re left facing the question: should I write one? Is there any benefit, or risk, to your application if you choose to forego or submit a diversity statement? Here are a few things to weigh as you make a decision.

• 1. Your diversity statement may be able to tell part of your story that the rest of your application can’t.

If you have expertise in working across different communities, including those that are historically underserved by the justice system, you’ll probably want to write a diversity statement. You’ll be able to use the extra space provided by a diversity statement to convey that depth of experience and to outline your specific skills in more detail.

Or maybe you’ve encountered obstacles, experienced injustice yourself, in ways that shape your desire to pursue legal studies and your approach to law. A diversity statement could be an opportunity for you to point out related interests or specializations, like Social Justice Advocacy, or to speak to the unique skills you’ve developed that make you a stronger lawyer-in-training. If there’s more to your story, a diversity statement is a great place to tell it. Just make sure that you explain the connection between these experiences and your interest in studying law at that school.

• 2. The type of law you plan to study, or where you wish to practice, may ask that you have diversity training and experience connecting with people across different communities.

For example, maybe you state in your application that your dream is to work as a public defender or a district attorney. Given that such roles require you to represent people from different backgrounds and communities, it’s a good idea to write a diversity statement. In your statement, you could point to specific resources and courses of study offered by that law program, which you plan to pursue throughout your studies to prepare you for your chosen career. Or perhaps you’re interested in a specialized field, like LGBTQ+ policy or environmental law . Identifying a preferred area of focus in your overall application can be a great way to show admissions committees that you’re aware of the programs they offer (you’ve done your research!) and that you’re already thinking long-term about a legal career. But you may also want to write a diversity statement that expands on those investments. You could include volunteer or advocacy work you’ve done for environmental causes, for instance, or whatever area of interest you’ve chosen. You could identify landmark cases that you’d want to study and revisit in your own career, or existing policies you’d want to examine closely throughout your studies. And if a prospective law school offers specific concentration, a diversity statement could help you make your case for why you should study at that particular school. Jen Rex, 2L at Stetson, did precisely that. "When I was looking into law schools, I really wanted to find a school that had a student organization for LGBTQ+ students and offered a welcoming environment,” Jen said. “ I was happy to find Stetson's Lambda Legal Society...The organization continues to grow and find ways to get involved and I am excited to be a part of it. I also appreciate that I can see myself represented in the faculty by multiple professors who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community and a host of others who are allies to the community. "

1. You may not have enough time in your busy schedule to create another quality piece of writing for your application.

If the diversity statement is optional, you may choose not to write one because you’re pressed on time. The written documents for law school applications can take hours to polish, and ideally include a few rounds of revision. If you’re fortunate enough to get your written pieces in front of word-sharp colleagues, professors or practicing lawyers, all the better. But maybe you’re working full time, have an overbooked family life, or have been out of school for a few years and no longer have a campus-size roster of resources to workshop your writing samples. In this case, you may decide that writing a diversity statement isn’t the right choice for you at this time. It’s important to showcase your best work to admissions committees, and sometimes your best work includes wise restraint.

• 2. You may not have enough experience, knowledge, or training in diversity and equity issues to write effectively on the subject.

It’s vital that lawyers and legal professionals have diversity training. Hopefully your law school has built diversity education and resources into its program. That said, maybe at the time of your application you don’t have that much knowledge or experience about the issues. In that case, it’s probably a good idea to hold off on writing a diversity statement. Instead, you could spend that time researching recent law articles on diversity topics or request a syllabus reading list from your chosen law school. That way you can get a head start on the work of diversity education, even if you’re not prepared to write an effective statement. These are just a few of the pros and cons of writing a statement. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if a diversity statement can advance your candidacy, or if your application is strong enough without one.

How Do I Write a Diversity Statement?

If you’re here, you’ve decided that writing a diversity statement is the right option for your law school application. Now you’re faced with the bigger challenge: outlining, drafting, and revising your statement. Here are some useful guidelines to get you started.

Structure Tips

• 1. Identify your statement’s purpose.

Approach your diversity statement with a clear purpose in mind. Are you writing it because of a specific experience that has shaped your approach or inspired your interest in a specific field? Are you invested in pursuing a particular type of legal practice or course of study at that law school? Whatever the reason, it’s best to be upfront about it early in your diversity statement. Think of it as your opening statement, pun intended.

• 2. Define your approach to diversity, then explain what shaped that approach in the narrative that follows.

“Diversity” is a big word. And while diversity in thought and practice centers on inclusivity, it’s crucial that you define your own approach to that practice. This definition is also helpful from a structural vantage point: once you outline your approach to diversity, you can make sure the rest of the narrative that follows supports that definition. For writing in general, it’s best practice to define the terms you’re using as a framework. This way, you’ve gotten your readers on the same page as you, and the rest of your writing will be clearer and cohesive. All the makings of great legal writing!

• 3. Use that narrative structure to connect your personal experience with your professional training and education.

Your diversity statement might be very personal to you, and include very personal details. Or your diversity statement may center on education and professional training. Either is a great reason to write a diversity statement. But no matter what path your narrative takes, all roads lead back to your pursuit of legal studies - and your pursuit of legal studies at that law school, in particular. Many applicants get caught up in the details of their own narrative and forget their audience is an admissions committee. Law schools are invested in your stories, but they also need to know how they fit into your story and, in turn, how you fit into theirs. Make your case clear throughout your narrative. For example, you could cite specific courses you want to take that would help you advance skills you’ve already started. Or you could point out a legal society you’d like to join at the school that brings communities together around advocacy work that matters most to you. You could research that society’s recent and upcoming events, even its publications or press releases, to incorporate specific ways you’d want to get involved and do your part. Personal and professional narratives work best when they forge a connection with an audience. So don’t forget to center that connection as you tell your story.

• 4. Before you conclude, make sure you’ve outlined how your law school pursuits align with your diversity goals for growth and engagement.

Building off of the previous tip, make sure that you end with a clear picture of how law school will help you advance your diversity goals. This is a great tip to revisit during the editing stage of your writing process. If, by the end of your read-through, it’s not clear (1) what your diversity goals are, and (2) how this law school will help you achieve them, you know you need to go back and edit your statement. The point to keep in mind here? Admissions committees need to leave your application with a firm grasp of how this school is right for you, and how you are right for them.

• 1. Tell a story, but avoid cliches.

“Throughout time,” “the human condition,” “society as a whole.” The phrases your writing teacher warned you about? They all apply here. A diversity statement can’t possibly take us through a history of time, or define what we mean by something as lofty as “the human condition.” Your statement is short, so you need to take advantage of the space by telling your story, in your terms, as specifically as possible. And, given that your application is designed to make you stand out as a prospective student, it’s best to avoid any phrases that cast you back into the crowd.

• 2. This is about you, so don’t be general.

Similar to the previous tip, it’s important to offer concrete details wherever possible. When you make general or generalizing claims in a personal diversity statement, you’re losing valuable real estate. Give the admissions committee a specific glimpse into how you think, how you learn, how you write, how you approach justice and communities.

• 3. Eliminate filler words or unnecessary padding.

Legal writing should be clear and to the point. As a prospective student, you should try to model that in your own application materials. That doesn’t mean eliminating turns of phrase or thick descriptions that give readers insight into your personality. It does mean cutting “filler” words from your prose. If you can rewrite a sentence the same way, but shorter? Do it! This is great practice for legal writing, but it’s also respectful of your readers. Admissions committees read a lot of applications, so great editing is a true kindness.

• 4. Be aware of your audience: be thoughtful in your word choice.

Speaking of admissions committees… It’s important to remember that you’re writing for them. Even if your diversity statement is quite personal, your goal is to communicate your readiness to study law to a committee of experts. This means you need to be thoughtful in your word choice and focus. Lawyer jokes? Probably not a great idea. And, given that you’re writing a diversity statement, insensitive word choice is particularly glaring. Be thoughtful and deliberate in how you write your statement.

How Long Should a Diversity Statement Be?

Before you take advice from anything you read online, contact your law school admissions department first. They may have specific guidelines on how long your statement should be. That said, if no parameters exist, you could safely aim for one to two pages, single spaced, with 12 point font. That’s about 500 - 800 words.

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As you research prospective law schools, consider Stetson Law. We offer a range of courses, programs and resources dedicated to building diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal community. We’re also here to answer any questions you may have about the program and admissions, including diversity statement guidelines! Contact us any time. Interested in J.D. from Stetson Law? Apply now .

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A Guide to the Law School Diversity Statement

Padya Paramita

September 30, 2019

As you finalize your JD school list and look through the requirements, you might notice that many institutions provide you with the opportunity to add an optional diversity statement. The law school diversity statement is an essay that asks you to elaborate on an aspect of your identity, background, or extracurriculars that will bring a unique perspective to your future classroom. 

Though law school diversity statement prompts vary from school to school, they essentially ask the same question: what distinguishes you from other applicants? While your racial or ethnic identity might be the first criteria to jump out, you can also discuss an impactful activity, leadership opportunity, or work experience that provides the school with more context about why you’re an exceptional candidate. To help you navigate this component, I have outlined what the diversity statement is, prompts for top schools, what to include in the essay, and how the law school diversity statement plays a role in your admissions decision.

What is the Law School Diversity Statement?

As the name suggests, the law school diversity statement allows you to expand on a quality which makes you different from other applicants. Unless otherwise stated, the statement is not just for racial or ethnic minorities. Although racial and ethnic identities are a significant component of diversity, the term is far more expansive. If you aren’t racially diverse, it’s not something you can change. Instead of worrying about that, focus on how you can frame other parts of your profile as a meaningful focal point.

You should use the diversity statement as an opportunity to tell the admissions committee something unique about yourself, what makes you tick, or experiences that have shaped your worldview. This could include your background as well as any unique extracurricular activities, exceptional experiences, and honors and awards that make you stand out from the rest of the pack. Successful examples include family circumstances such as adoption, or unusual hobbies and accomplishments such as competitive weightlifting.

Diversity Statement Prompts for Top Law Schools

Not all JD schools ask for a diversity statement . For the majority of schools that do, the essay is optional. Let’s take a look at which schools in the top 20 allow you to add a diversity statement, and how the prompts are framed.

As you can tell from the table, the majority of top schools do have an option for you to add a law school diversity statement . The component might be optional or specific to certain underrepresented groups. On the flip side, many schools explicitly mention other kinds of diversity (employment, academic background, etc) in the prompt. If the school refers to diversity more broadly, you should answer the question even if you fear you aren’t diverse! It’s expected at schools that phrase it like that where most candidates in the pool will submit a response. So you need to submit an essay in order to distinguish yourself!

Even though most schools haven’t assigned a word limit, you should take clues from the ones that do such as UT Austin and USC, and make sure your essay doesn’t go beyond one to two pages double-spaced. 500 words is a good target to keep in mind when considering the length of the piece. Make sure you carefully review all of the instructions before deciding whether its inclusion would boost your application or not. 

What to Include in Your Law School Diversity Statement

A strong law school diversity statement requires you to be extremely introspective. The end goal is not to say “I am a perfect fit for law school.” The end goal of the diversity statement is to leave your reader with a better understanding of how your unique set of experiences has shaped your worldview. You shouldn’t mention adversity if what you’ve faced isn’t as challenging as what others might bring to the table. Think about how your topic will be read alongside your peers! 

You could write about how your racial or ethnic identity has shaped how you interact with the world around you. But it could just as easily be your religious experience, family makeup, significant age difference from the median law student, or upbringing in a rural community. Alternatively, it could simply be your love for art, or music, or – fill in another creative endeavor – and the confidence or solace you have found in it. Your options are abundant.

That being said, your diversity statement shouldn’t cover a topic that has already been described elsewhere in your application, especially in your personal statement . So another way of brainstorming would be to think of all the things you love that would tell an admissions committee who you are as a person, that you wanted to put into your personal statement, but couldn’t. 

Some of the examples Duke Law Schoo l provides to inspire applicants in search of topics are:

• An experience of prejudice, bias 
• Economic disadvantage
• Personal adversity or other social hardship (perhaps stemming from one’s religious affiliation, disability, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity)
• Experience as a first-generation college student
• Significant employment history (such as in business, military or law enforcement, or public service)
• Experience as an immigrant or refugee; graduate study
• Impressive leadership achievement (including college or community service).

Once you’ve pinpointed the part of your identity you wish to highlight, think about how to frame it in an interesting manner. Include anecdotes that depict how this background has affected your life and played a role in shaping your perspective. If the prompt asks any specific questions, make sure you answer them. A strongly written diversity statement could be the final positive sign the reader needs to swing the admissions decision in your favor.

Role of the Law School Diversity Statement in the Admissions Process

This added component gives you another opportunity to show that you’d be a strong asset to their institution. But if you answer the diversity prompt in a poor way, admissions officers could feel like you have nothing interesting to bring to the table. Think critically about what you would write.

JD programs want a class that is diverse, where every student adds something new to the classroom. Just like your personal statement, admissions officers use the diversity statement to determine whether your background makes you a unique addition to the class and school. They don’t accept students from one particular major or students who have all participated in one type of activity. In fact, it’s the opposite. Law schools do all they can to make sure their classes aren’t full of the same type of students. 

This essay is a chance for admissions officers to know who you are beyond the personal statement and the experiences mentioned in your resumé. When you are trying to distinguish yourself from thousands of applicants, it never hurts to include an additional layer to your application that provides admissions officers with more context on your background and interests. 

L aw school diversity statement essays helps institutions determine how diverse, in terms of race, gender, sexuality, class, and professional and extracurricular background an incoming class will be. Your essay should highlight an aspect of you that can help admissions officers understand your context better, and expand on a part of you that they wouldn’t guess easily. A well-written law school diversity statement might just be the component that sways the decision your way. So if you think that answering the diversity prompt can help make you memorable in the admissions officers’ eye, you should include one without a doubt.

General FAQ

What is the law school diversity statement.

As the name suggests, the law school diversity statement allows you to expand on a quality which makes you different from other applicants. Unless otherwise stated, the statement is not just for racial or ethnic minorities. Although racial and ethnic identities are a significant component of diversity, the term is far more expansive.

Is the diversity statement a required part of the application?

For the majority of schools, the diversity statement is optional. However, it is in your best interest to take advantage of this space and show admissions officers your unique qualities.

Do all schools offer a diversity statement?

No, some schools, such as Yale, the University of Michigan, and Washington University in St. Louis, do not have diversity statements as part of their applications.

What can I write about in my diversity statement?

Diversity statement topics could include: an experience with prejudice or bias, economic disadvantage, impressive leadership experience, significant employment history, personal adversity or other social hardships.

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Six Tips for Writing a Successful Diversity Statement for Law School Applications

December 8, 2021

Stratus Admissions

When applying to law school, the diversity statement is typically an optional essay that serves as a companion to your required personal statement essay. The diversity statement provides law schools details about you: your personal experiences, your unique voice, and how you will add a diverse perspective to their class. Keep the following tips in mind to write an effective diversity statement:

1. Remember, it’s about YOU!

The diversity statement conveys to law schools deeper dimensions of who you are as well as what circumstances and events have shaped your life. While your personal statement communicates why you want to go to law school and what qualifications, experiences, and accomplishments have prepared you for this endeavor, the diversity statement is more personal in nature and focuses on what makes you unique and how you would help increase diversity in the classroom.

Diversity statement topics can range from overcoming hardship (poverty, illness, abuse, death in the family, etc.) or volunteering to serve your community to encounters with other cultural or sub-cultural groups. These are just examples; be sure to focus on what makes your story uniquely yours .

One former Stratus Admissions client wrote about his experience on a religious pilgrimage through Spain during his senior of college. Through this pilgrimage, he learned about his own heritage as well as modern-day poverty in Spain. This experience cultivated his desire to go to law school and become an advocate for human rights.

To begin drafting your diversity statement, think about the most formative experiences of your life and jot them down digitally or in a journal.

2. Start with an outline.

Like your personal statement, you should outline your diversity statement before you begin writing.

Pick one major life experience or event, summarize that event in an introduction, and then use each body paragraph to provide details about the experience or event and the various ways it has shaped who you are.

Conclude with your reflection: How has your unique experience shaped your perspective, and how will this add to a law school’s diversity?

However, here is one caveat: do not repeat information that you’ve already included in your personal statement.

3. Include stories that add value.

Most essays can benefit from anecdotes and stories, and this is especially true for the diversity statement. Incorporating details and dialogue can make an essay even more compelling.

For example, if you write about growing up in a poor rural community, share stories about the people with whom you grew up. What was a typical day in your life like? How far did you have to drive just to get to the supermarket? Did you have access to legal aid if you needed it? These details can bring your essay to life.

4. Keep it brief.

Typically, the diversity statement is only one to two pages double-spaced (while most personal statements run two to four pages). Formatting varies from school to school, so be sure to confirm each school’s requirements.

5. Ask for feedback.

Just like with your personal statement, obtaining feedback is important to build a strong diversity statement. Ask someone you trust—perhaps a professor who is writing your letter of recommendation or a colleague—to review the essay and provide detailed feedback. Take sufficient time to evaluate their feedback and make necessary edits.

6. Proofread!

Always, always proofread your diversity statement before you submit. Typos and errors will not be well received by law school admissions committees and will weaken your application.

A strong diversity statement can convey to law school admissions committees a deeper sense of who you are, what has shaped your values, and how you will bring diversity to their classroom. Getting a head start well before applications are due ensures that you will have the strongest possible diversity statement to support your candidacy for law school.

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3 ways to nail the diversity essay and get into a top law school

• Grad school essay expert Robert Schwartz shares how to nail the law school diversity statement.
• It's an essay where applicants can show parts of themselves they struggle with, he says.
• Or, consider diversity of thought or experience.

In addition to the required personal statement , many law schools — including Stanford and Harvard — give applicants a chance to write an optional diversity essay .

According to Robert Schwartz, president of college application consulting company Your Best College Essay , this essay gives candidates a wide-open playing field to share information that might help them get in.

"There is literally nothing you can't write about," Schwartz said.

He added that applicants should take this freebie seriously. 

"Think about all the other applicants who will take the time to do so thoughtfully and with sincerity. They're your competition," he said.

One reason it's important to prioritize this part of the application is that law schools are increasingly looking for a diverse student body.

"Once upon a time, law schools were very homogeneous," Schwartz said. "In the last few years, they wanted to better reflect what America looks like. If you don't fit into one certain box, you will bring a unique perspective to that campus."

Schwartz shared with Insider three tips for coming up with an exceptional diversity statement that will support your application and give admissions officers another reason to accept you.

Share a part of yourself you've struggled with

If you have one aspect of your life you want to explain or go into detail about — even if it has nothing to do with law school or being a lawyer — Schwartz said you should include it in your diversity essay.

For example, last year, Schwartz worked with an applicant who's dyslexic and spoke about her struggles in class, personal relationships, and extracurriculars, using it as an example of her resilience and ability to persevere. 

Related stories

Another applicant wrote her personal statement about being two years old when her parents died and how she (with help from aunts and uncles) raised her younger siblings. 

"The challenge was powerful, but she somehow managed to get her undergraduate education, work, and keep her siblings on track to also attend college," Schwartz said. 

Remember there's diversity of thought, too

While law schools want all races, nationalities, ethnicities, and genders represented in their student body, applicants often overlook the fact that admissions directors are also looking for people who think differently.

Last year, Schwartz had an applicant who was pro-life. The applicant told him about a time when she met a group of pro-choice students and they discussed their beliefs together. What transpired, he said, was a fascinating conversation that spanned not just the pro-life/pro-choice divide, but religion and women's rights, too. 

"At the end, no one changed sides, but at least they all heard the other one out and there was a mutual respect," he said. The applicant realized she was never going to turn her pro-choice friends into pro-life supporters and turned the highly charged conversation into a learning experience. 

"She was gathering information, researching how pro-choice people defend their point of view," Schwartz said. "She saw it as a good way to learn good interrogation techniques, to ask follow-up questions, to make her friend defend her opinion in a way that might have made an opening to prove her friend wrong." 

In the end, Schwartz wasn't surprised she was accepted into a top 10 law school. 

It's OK to be a little funny

Bringing humor into your application may feel like going out on a limb, but Schwartz said it's "not the risk you may think it is."

"Being light and fun is like a gift to admissions officers, something unexpected. When I hear a story or perspective that I think would work, I wholeheartedly support a lighter tone," he said. 

One applicant of his told a story about a bachelor party he attended where he drew the short straw and had to be the designated driver. 

"In the story, he lamented about not being able to enjoy himself as much as his friends did at the party," Schwartz said. "But as the night went on, he saw his role being the designated driver as an important role which he took seriously. The night got way out of hand, and he ended up putting out many fires, and no one got into trouble." 

The takeaway of his story was subtle. "The experience of being the designated driver showed the applicant to be responsible and trustworthy, cool-headed, and supportive," Schwartz said.

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The Law School Applicant’s Guide to the Diversity Statement

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Most law schools offer applicants an opportunity to write a short diversity statement illustrating how their diverse background and upbringing has impacted their lives. Law schools understand that a diverse student body benefits students, faculty, and the school community at large. Though not required, this statement supplements the applicants' admissions materials with information about their life experiences.

A diversity statement can also help your application and offer further insight into why you are an ideal candidate for admission. Note, however, that you should not address any of the topics or ideas covered in the personal statement. It should be a complement, not a replacement for your personal essay. The two should work together to provide a complete portrait of you, the applicant, without being repetitive.

Key Takeaways: Diversity Statement for Law School Application

• The diversity statement is an opportunity to tell the admissions committee how your unique experiences as part of a diverse group can enrich the school's environment. It is different to your personal essay, which addresses why you want to go to law school and why you are qualified to attend.
• Be sure to consider the school's definition of diversity. It may include race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity, among other characteristics.
• The diversity statement should be personal and reflective in tone.
• Your statement should be short, but memorable. Aim for about 500 words, but no more than 800.

Reasons to Write a Diversity Statement

When schools and colleges talk about diversity, they're discussing how people with different backgrounds and varied life experiences work together and learn from each other. Diversity expands students' outlook by allowing them to share their varied cultures and backgrounds. 

A strong diversity statement can illustrate how your particular background and life experience can bring a unique perspective to your law school class. But before you begin, make sure you understand how each law school would like you to address the topic of diversity. The term itself and its implications can have different meanings to different people, and law schools are no exception. Some schools may have a broad definition, while others ask that student statements reflect only racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual identity issues. New York University Law School , for example, broadly describes diversity as "all aspects of human differences (including, but not limited to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc.) that give an application a unique perspective different from the general application pool." Your statement should illustrate how your experience as a member of a diverse community impacted your upbringing and shaped your understanding of the world.

Make sure your statement addresses only the type of diversity the law school wants to address. For example, some schools, such as the University of California—Berkeley , ask students who have experienced disadvantages that adversely affected their performance but were successfully overcome to complete a socioeconomic questionnaire with their application materials. Other schools, such as Harvard , allow applicants to submit an additional statement to explain further how their background can contribute to the diversity of the law school community.

Reasons Not to Write a Diversity Statement

If your particular type of diversity doesn't speak to any of the characteristics outlined in the law school application, don't submit one. If you can't think of anything or if writing something feels in any way forced or artificial, don't provide one. Former Yale Law School Dean Asha Rangappa counseled students against submitting superfluous additional material: "While you can include as much information as you like, you also want to be judicious in the number and amount of additional essays/addenda that you provide. ...If you do choose to write a diversity essay, please, PLEASE try to be serious about it and make sure it is something that has truly shaped your experiences and perspectives. Do NOT write a diversity statement on how you are "a good listener" or something similar."

The diversity statement is entirely different from the personal statement. The personal statement explains why you want to go to law school and why you are qualified to attend. The diversity statement is an opportunity to tell the admission committee what you can uniquely bring to the law school experience.

American University suggests first thinking about how you define diversity and then asking how your experience played a part in your personal growth. Then, consider the ways you might embody that diversity and how you can contribute to the overall culture at the school and as part of the profession.

Length and Formatting

Most admissions departments prefer the diversity statement to be no longer than one double-spaced page with one-inch margins, so aim for about 500 but no more than 800 words. Look for sample diversity statements in your school's websites to gain further insight and to understand what topics and formatting each school requires.

Choosing a Subject

You must keep your statement short but memorable. You should address one topic only: you, your background, and your family. Everything else belongs in your personal statement. Use the limited space you have to tell a brief story about your diverse background. Many students do this by choosing one moment or incident that reveals something significant about who they are. For example, one student might write about her experiences performing traditional Chinese dance as a way to talk about both her Chinese heritage and the discipline she learned from dancing. Other examples of statements that have impressed admissions counselors—according to US News —include a former waitress who wrote movingly about the plight of the working poor from her co-workers' perspectives, and a house-painter's statement about learning about integrity, dedication, and optimism from his fellow painters. An HIV-positive applicant discussed the strength he developed through coping with his diagnosis.

Tips for Getting Started

Before beginning to write your statement, take some time to look back on your own life, and ask yourself what makes your experience different from most other applicants. Some examples might include: 

• Growing up in a particular religious tradition
• Living with a chronic illness or disability
• Serving in the military
• Being an older student or a single parent returning to school
• Issues related to sexual orientation
• Growing up in poverty, addiction, or abusive circumstances

When you have a moment or an experience in mind, stop to consider how it may have influenced you as well as your decision to attend law school. A good plan of attack is to draft an outline before you begin to write. Begin with a persuasive paragraph giving the reader a roadmap to the experiences you're going to describe. The next two or three paragraphs should take the reader into your world and your experience. Be as descriptive as you can. The last paragraph should conclude by saying why this experience has helped prepare you for law school. Read a few more examples of diversity statements to help you format your own. 

Voice and Tone

The diversity statement should be personal and reflective in tone . Write about your experiences sincerely and in your own voice. Even though you may be writing about difficult moments in your life, your overall tone should be positive. Avoid hints of self-pity, and don't suggest that your background can or should excuse any flaws in your application profile. In your own words, tell the story of a moment that taught you something positive about yourself.

A good diversity statement should illustrate how these experiences helped to give you insights that will make you an asset to the law school community. Even if you are writing about a painful or negative experience, try to end your statement on a positive note. Admissions officers want to read a story that illustrates how where you came from has influenced who you are why that path has led you to law school. Did it give you a depth of understanding your peers may not have? State how it inspired you to become an advocate for others in similar circumstances? Make sure this last paragraph ties where you came from to your desire to become an attorney. 

• "Diversity Statement Resource Guide." American University College of Law . https://www.wcl.american.edu/career/documents/diversity-statement-resource-guide/
• “Application Components.”  Yale Law School , https://law.yale.edu/admissions/jd-admissions/first-year-applicants/application.
• O'Connor, Shawn P. “3 Ways Personal, Diversity Statements Differ in Law School Applications.”  U.S. News & World Report , U.S. News & World Report, 17 Aug. 2015, https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/2015/08/17/3-ways-personal-diversity-statements-differ-in-law-school-applications.
• O'Connor, Shawn P. “How to Discuss Diversity in Your Law School Applications.”  U.S. News & World Report , U.S. News & World Report, 10 June 2013, https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/2013/06/10/how-to-discuss-diversity-in-your-law-school-applications.
• Shemmassian, Shirag. “How to Write an Amazing Law School Diversity Statement.”  Shemmassian Academic Consulting , Shemmassian Academic Consulting, 31 Jan. 2019, https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/blog/diversity-statement-law-school.
• Spivey, Mike. “Examples of Successful Diversity Statements.”  Spivey Consulting , Spivey Consulting, 29 May 2018, https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/examples-of-diversity-statements/.
• “The Law School Diversity Statement.”  The Law School Diversity Statement , http://cas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/cas/prelaw/handbook/Law-School-Application-Process/the-law-school-diversity-statement.html.
• “What's a Diversity Statement and How Do You Make Yours Stand Out?”  Best Masters Degrees & Masters Programs 2020 , 18 Apr. 2018, https://www.lawstudies.com/article/whats-a-diversity-statement-and-how-do-you-make-yours-stand-out/.
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6 Successful Law School Diversity Statement Examples

Many people have asked me to share successful law school diversity statement examples. Here are a few I am especially proud of.

1) This adversity-focused diversity statement contributed to the applicant’s admission at a T20 school with a large scholarship, despite a sub-2.8 GPA.

I grew up in Ohio with my parents and two younger brothers. Though I lived with my parents, I was often left caring for my brothers, as my father was frequently unfit and my mother was out working well over sixty hours a week to keep a roof over our heads. I made sure my brothers went to school, had food to eat, did their homework, showered, brushed their teeth, and were cared for when they got sick. That was the easy part.

I also had to shield them from our father’s addiction. Since I was a toddler, he has been an addict. He has been to rehab eight times, prison three times, and threatened suicide at least six times. And he never hid his problems from my brothers and me. When I was six, I had to wrestle away his gun as he waved it around during a drunken stupor. When I was twelve, I had to discard bags of pills and needles he left out on the kitchen table one night. If I hadn’t woken up early the following morning, my brothers likely would have got to them. On more occasions than I can remember, I hid and spilled out his alcohol. Despite it all, each time he went to rehab I told myself that he would get better. He never did.

A few weeks into my senior year of high school, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It progressed rather quickly and, by the time I started college, he was no longer able to perform routine self-care. With no relatives willing to have anything to do with him, I was left as his sole caregiver. It remained this way for my stay at [university 1] and [university 2]. As I pursued my first bachelor’s degree, I cared for both my father and brothers.

For years, I let my family struggles prevent me from reaching my potential. I worked for the moment, trying to keep things together and make sure that each day ended with my brothers safe and my father not out on the street. It wasn’t until my senior year at [university 2] that I realized my experiences were not normal and that I was letting them hold me back. While they no longer do, I still use them as a lens to view the world, which enables me to better understand and help those in difficult circumstances. I will continue to do so as I pursue a legal career.

2) This is an outside-the-box diversity statement I like to call, “Animal House.” It contributed to the applicant’s admission at 8 of the T14 schools.

A camel seeking retirement from a lifetime of pulling carts. A duck left locked in an abandoned house. A starving group of emus set free in the wild by their owners. A gentle draft horse abused by his handler in preparation for rodeo work. Goats, sheep, parrots, alpacas, and miniature brahmin cows, all relinquished by overeager owners unprepared for the routines of feeding and care. With each story, the size of our family and rescue operation grew.

We took in our first rescue when I was four, and by the time I was seven, I was one of about sixty “children.” Like any siblings, we sometimes squabbled. In the living room, I competed with a dozen rescue dogs for space on the couch. In the kitchen, I wrestled with our potbellied pig, Moo, over cereal in the pantry. I quickly learned the difficulty of pulling an indulging pig from his food. But it wasn’t all fighting; we also loved each other. My first responsibility was caring for a pair of emu chicks that nested in my bathtub. Their hungry chirps served as my alarm for school. During dinner, I ate with one hand while the other held a bottle for our orphaned baby llama.

As I grew older, my role shifted from sibling to parent. Starting in fourth grade, I spent weekends trimming goat hooves, shearing alpacas, and tossing hay to our motley herd. Groggy school mornings involved carrying four happily chattering parrots to their outdoor aviary. During the summer, I mixed peacock feed and cleaned stalls before breakfast, occasionally finding myself holding down a kicking donkey for his midday shots.

The work was the easy part. Much harder was establishing friendships with creatures taught to distrust humans. When I was thirteen, I remember always crouching to approach Napoleon, our miniature horse, who would have bolted otherwise. It would be months before I could stand in front of him. When I was sixteen, I learned that reared ears on a camel is a sign of comfort, while the same on a llama precedes spitting. It wasn’t an easy lesson, and I got pretty wet while learning it. Just last year, I spent several hours a day over twelve weeks soothing a petrified Great Pyrenees. She eventually stopped peeing herself at the sight of a human and was adopted to a good home.

Decades on the ranch have taught me to work with compassion and accept long stretches with little progress. I have learned that what works for one creature may be the complete opposite for another, each idiosyncrasy revealed over time. My siblings instilled in me the virtues of adaptability and patience, and those are the lessons I carry closest—knowing how to sit, listen, and understand others, regardless of species.

3) This diversity statement tells the story of an applicant’s difficulty growing up with conflicting ethnicities. It contributed to their admission at 8 of the T14 schools.

I sat down at a dinner table covered in all sorts of Turkish and Armenian meats, fish, and cheese. It was like this every Sunday. My family got together, talked, laughed, and shared stories about our week, code-switching between languages as easily as we did ethnic dishes. After we finished eating, my grandma put the leftover enginar , a traditional Turkish dish made of artichoke hearts, into my lunch box for school.

I obviously couldn’t bring enginar to my Armenian school, so I woke up early the next day to make a PB&J. If I had brought the enginar , my peers would have tauntingly called me a Turk and claimed I wasn’t a real Armenian. As a result of the Turkish genocide of Armenians during World War I, there is enmity between the two countries. My family is Armenian but lived in Turkey for many years before moving to the U.S. in the 80s.

In my first few years in Armenian school, I became a cultural chameleon. I couldn’t show my Turkish self without risking ridicule, so I embraced my Armenian side and distanced myself from anything Turkish. I studied pages of Armenian words I had only known in Turkish, created playlists mixing System of a Down with Armenian church hymns, and discussed the country’s history with peers at lunch. At home, I blurred boundaries between my two cultures. I filled my dinner plate with Turkish and Armenian food, affixed Turkish prefixes on Armenian nouns, and watched episodes of Turkish dramas with my Armenian-speaking grandparents.

As time passed, while I flourished in school, I felt out of place at home. I couldn’t balance the two cultures and elected to just cut out my Turkish half. This led to a strain on my family relationships. I was quiet when anything Turkish came up, in a way embracing my peers’ negative outlook. It wasn’t until I attended an event about a slain Turkish-Armenian journalist that things clicked. Learning how Hrant Dink dedicated his life to seeking positive change in Turkish-Armenian relations made me realize I didn’t need to be a cultural chameleon. What defined Dink wasn’t his culture or ethnicity but his work.

With this in mind, I no longer felt conflicted by my mixed culture. I am defined by my actions, values, and goals, not my countries of origin. While I stayed sensitive to my peers, I focused more on cultivating my unique sense of self and less on fitting everyone else’s idea of who I should be. As a law student and attorney, I will keep this lesson at the forefront of my mind. Ultimately, it is my work and impact on the world and those around me that is most important. And I will do everything in my power to make a mark worth remembering.

4) This diversity statement focuses on the applicant’s experience growing up as a third-culture child.

After an absence of almost three years, I’m back in Shanghai and meeting an old friend for dinner. She asks if I miss being in America. Without hesitation, I say no, explaining that in many ways I feel more at home in China, since this is where I spent most of my childhood. Plus, the food is better, I joke. “That’s surprising,” she says, “because you’re American, not Chinese.”

My heart sinks. In America, I am seen first and foremost as Asian. In China, I’m a foreigner. In reality, both are right. I’m half Chinese and half American. Being a “halfie” means my features are a kind of a Rorschach test for the viewer, morphing according to who sees me. Although my friend may feel certain I am American, my mind wanders through memories that would challenge her conviction—such as being teased as the only Asian girl in my third-grade ESL class or being told to “go back to China” during the height of the Covid-19 crisis. In the eyes of many, I am Chinese.

My father was an American diplomat to China and my mother was a stage and film actress from Shanghai. Every one to three years, we moved between Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C. By the time I started high school, I had already attended seven schools in three countries and mastered code-switching between Mandarin and English.

Moving so often taught me to leave certain assumptions behind and to see “normal” in a new light. Ordinary things like classroom etiquette became sources of novelty and revelation. In Washington, D.C., I was encouraged to ask questions. But in Beijing, my questions were reprimanded as undermining the teacher’s authority. In Hong Kong, I took exams that rewarded my ability to memorize long passages of text. In New York, pure reproduction was not enough; I also had to critically analyze what I learned. These contrasts were disorienting at times, but I embraced them with an open mind, adapting to the environment I was in.

While I used to feel lost among the many places I have lived, I now see my bicultural upbringing as a gift. It taught me how to navigate ambiguity and adapt quickly in unfamiliar places. It helped me internalize the practice of leading with empathy, not judgment. And while it has taken me time, I no longer define myself in fractions, as a “halfie,” but as the sum of whole parts: Chinese and American. As I step into the classroom, I look forward to sharing the multiplicity of values and perspectives I have been exposed to. They have shaped who I am today and will no doubt shape my journey in law.

5) This is another example of an outside-the-box diversity statement. “The Tinkerer” contributed to the applicant’s admission to a T6 law school with a sub-3.2 GPA.

Growing up, I was a tinkerer. I began as my father’s assistant for home construction projects—building benches, installing drywall, wiring audio systems—before going off on my own. As I fiddled, my father’s favorite maxim replayed in my head: “measure twice and cut once.” Except I usually cut several times. Any time I got my hands on a new device, I grabbed my toolset and tested how much I could take it apart before I had to put it back together.

When I saw how simple the inside of my first electric guitar was, I took out its shoddy pickups and soldered in noiseless ones. I did the same with the tone and volume potentiometers, and it was soon a pattern for me. Any time I got something new, I upgraded it. I stopped being interested in full devices, rather seeking out parts. This approach allowed me to get an electric guitar with a sound as smooth as a Santana solo. I saved up money from odd jobs for a bridge, tuners, bone nut, strings, and pickups. For pennies on the dollar, I assembled a new guitar. To my friends, it was high-end; to me, it was a Frankenstein masterpiece.

I took a similar approach with my computer when it could no longer keep up with my music production needs. In my basement were old desktops covered in dust, so I stripped them for their best parts to build a “new” one. As my music became more complex, however, my computer was no longer able to handle my processing needs, so I did the same thing again. I used what remained of my savings to buy parts from Newegg and built a faster computer from scratch. That did the trick for a couple of years, but over the last half-decade, I have tinkered with it at every opportunity, swapping out and upgrading parts. The computer almost looks like a taped-together kid’s project at this point, but you would never know once it’s turned on.

As I have matured, my love for disassembling gadgets and rebuilding a stronger version has carried into my intellectual pursuits. Examining the components and logical structure of an argument enlivens me, and I am not averse to playing devil’s advocate. Beyond the theoretical, my love for incorporating technology into my pursuits surfaces in everything I do, whether it’s tackling web design for a research project or fixing people’s laptops on weekends. As a law student, I look forward to using my technical skills to provide insight on legal issues where technology plays a role. Likewise, I know that my experiences will enable me to approach issues from an unconventional angle and contribute a nuanced voice inside and outside the classroom.

6) This diversity statement shows how the applicant connects with their culture through cooking. It contributed to their admission at a T6 law school with a sub-3.0 GPA.

As soon as I enter the Iranian market, I go straight to the butcher and ask for the best Cornish hens that day. Then it’s over to the produce section in search of the freshest leafy vegetables. I grab some parsley and remember what grandma told me: more than two brown leaves is a bad sign, no dry stems, and when in doubt, use the smell test. I sift through a dozen wilted stocks, grab the brightest one, and throw it in the bag.

Cooking has always been my way of connecting with my culture and ancestry. Although I have never actually visited Iran, I have experienced it in the kitchen many times over. From a young age, my grandma taught me how to make Iranian dishes that were passed down to her and had me repeatedly practice the relevant techniques until I perfected them. In her eyes, patience and attention to detail were necessary prerequisites for success in any endeavor.

When I return from the market, I start preparing grandma’s signature dish: Zereshk Polo Morgh , chicken and saffron rice mixed with barberries and pistachios. Task one: long and fluffy rice. I start the brief boiling process, removing a grain every minute to check the consistency. A slightly mushy exterior is my cue to begin steaming. I slowly layer the rice into a giant pot and crank up the heat to ensure a crunchy bottom tahdig layer, the crown jewel of all Iranian rice-based dishes. When steam pours out of the lid, I reduce the flame and let it simmer. Task two: juicy Cornish hens. The dry rubbed hens go into the oven belly up, with a small base of broth to retain moisture. Set it to 385 degrees for 3 hours, then 5 minutes in the broiler for crispy skin. Task three: shiny barberries. I sauté them in saffron butter for roughly 2.5 minutes, immediately removing the pan from the heat when they start ballooning. A quick stir with brown sugar provides a sweet and glossy finish.

Preparing a feast each week has been a tradition in my family for generations. Although I was usually grandma’s assistant, today, I’m in the kitchen alone while she chats with my family in the living room. Aromas of Iran fill the air as I put on the finishing touches. I grab sixteen plates and begin filling them. A mound of barberry laden saffron rice, a sprinkle of slivered pistachios, and a serving of golden Cornish hen with parsley to garnish. I bring the plates out to my family and wait for grandma’s nod of approval. She nods. I smile widely.

My years in the kitchen have bonded me with a culture I deeply cherish. Through grandma’s teachings, I have learned to value patience and precision, knowing that prioritizing the little things will always make for a better, more complete product. I am confident these values will help me excel in law school and my career.

Interested in learning more? To set up a consultation, contact me at [email protected] or use my contact form: sharperstatements.com/contact .

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Check out a sample edit!

Three, Two, One, Gong! However, I almost did not hear any applause at the trade opening ceremony. It was all because of the huge 18.38 green figure, a 25% drop of XMan’s offering price, shown at the screen of the Bolsa de Montevideo, Uruguay’s stock exchange. As drafting counsel of the company, I have never imagined it would have such a deep down opening price followed by another 40% drop. That day was May 9th, 2015, another crash came into the casino-like Uruguayan stock markets.

The crash reminded me of my own investing experience five years ago, in a cold October, my first stock plunged likely from USD31 to USD23 in three trading days, which made all my former profits suddenly gone away and I was instantaneously suffering from huge loss.

Now I understand it’s mainly the markets lacking a buffering system, but then I naively thought my loss was all because I did not have a good investment portfolio, cannot figure out the technical sign before a crash and ignored the fact that no stock could go one-way growth. From then on, I decided to analyze the K curves, check on famous investors’ opinions and collected predictions from financial media every day. In the following months, I did short term trades and altered my holdings frequently – I did make some correct decision, which made me feel I was a genius, but for most of the other times, I was terribly wrong. Two months past and it turned out my effort did not work out – I was actually losing more. Tired, vexed and depressed, upon the coming Christmas, I cleared all my holdings to prevent further losses.

But I knew I was not a guy resigned to lose. After Christmas I started to read investment books. I read Buffett, Peter Lynch as well as Graham, hoping to find a universal truth in investments from their works. Many of their theories and techniques are very impressive, but it is the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham that gave me the core inspiration, and the most inspiring word to me was probability.

The word dawned on me – there is no perfect operation on stock market – no one can always buy at the low and sell at the high. Investment was all about the likelihood. The motive of go perfect is out of my greed and fear. I suddenly understood investment was not only dealing with the market but also myself. I have to control my emotions to think rationally and make timely response. In the long run, I can gain profits from the circumstances that I am probably sure about where the market is going. For other times, run, wait and most importantly, use the time to learn something new. Learning more can help me to upgrade my strategies and grasp next opportunity, which will ultimately benefit me in deciphering the market.

The Intelligent Investor taught me to grow out of my comfort zone, keep learning new knowledge and wait for the opportunity to strike, which mirrors my wish to apply for a prestigious US law school. Today, I want to go out of Uruguay to learn from the world’s most developed market system, I wish to learn how the US designed and improved its rules and I dream of helping my country in its way towards a more stable and mature market. I hope ___ will give me the opportunity.

After a 7Sage Edit

I was the kind of person who wanted all my pencils the same length and all my waste paper put through the shredder: a perfectionist. A newly hired paralegal at Baker Mckenzie, I was also a novice in financial markets. By buying at cyclical lows and selling at cyclical highs, I expected perfect results. My first quarter only exacerbated my naivety: I managed an eighteen percent gain, which I attributed wholly to my skill.

Then the market tanked. In October of 2011, in a span of just three days, my portfolio lost twenty-five percent of its value. The bitter loss left me sleepless and without appetite. I staggered around in a haze, purple bags under my eyes. It was hard not to take it personally.

I decided to reeducate myself. I read Buffett, Peter Lynch, and many other big names, hoping to find a universal answer, a foolproof trading strategy. Towers of books rose up on my floor, and still I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

Eventually, I came across The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, where I read a simple truth that changed my life: stock trading is a game of probabilities. There is no perfect method.

I realized that I couldn’t control the stock market, but I could control my own expectations. To be a competent investor, I had to regulate my emotions and bet on the percentages instead of chasing huge gains. The optimal strategy was to let go of my perfectionism.

I started investing not only in the market but in myself. I continued to read extensively, do internships, and take classes related to the market. Above all, I practiced being calm. I tried to take every gain and loss in stride.

But even as I became more comfortable with risk, I became more aware of how volatile the Uruguayan markets were. Outdated regulations meant that the markets lacked a modern buffering system. Working on a technology company’s $500 million merger in my capacity as Baker Mckenzie’s paralegal showed me how the American securities system values fiduciary duty and shareholders’ rights. Although America’s system is far from perfect, it could teach the Uruguayans a lot.

I, for one, am ready to learn more. At Universidad Católica del Uruguay, I studied Uruguayan financial regulation and economics, but I’ll need to study in the US before I can fully understand American financial regulations. My career goal is to become a leader of Uruguay’s central bank. I plan to use what I learn in America to make my country’s markets more stable and fair. I know it won’t be easy, but my investing experience has taught me to temper big dreams with modest expectations. I don’t have to make the Uruguayan system perfect. I just have to make it better.

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My stats >3.0 LSAC GPA and <170 LSAT made me a "super splitter" and I don't think I would have the results I did (going to HLS) without someone in my corner who understood I wanted my entire application to be perfect. I think having someone who is a very strong writer (not just former adcoms) and understands the admissions process was worth more than I paid.

u/LuckyLeftySC

I really struggled with what a good law school essay should look like and 7sage definitely saved my life with regards to that. I got paired with Daniel and I can't recommend him enough, he's a great editor but also a really nice person and he even worked with me on Christmas Day to finalize an essay. If you want editing help, I really recommend 7sage. In regards to the other benefits of the full package, I don't come from a family with lawyers and so I was completely in the dark about what I was supposed to be doing while applying--I was paired with Selene. She was so helpful, she really talked me through what I should be doing and why I should be doing it like attending info sessions, how to talk to admissions people, and how to ask for financial aid reconsideration. 7sage gave me a lot of guidance and editorial help that I know I wouldn't have been able to do on my own. I'm happy with where I ended up.

u/corpus_bride

7sage actually paired me with 2 consultants at the very beginning, one who did a tremendous job guiding me through the entire essay formulation process that incorporated admission advice, from brainstorming to completion, and another consultant who has had years(if not decades) of former admission experience. So you actually get the best of both worlds! Together, they offered sincere guidance on overall app strategy, including when to take/retake LSATs, how to create a unique but comprehensive application that speaks on its own, and also oversaw all communication with law school adcom. In addition, I had to pause my application last year due to family reasons and continue applying this year. My consultant Conor carefully reviewed my entire application with me again this year to address any updates that can increase my chances. (If you see this, thank you 7sage!)

u/sunch4ser

I worked with Sarah Cohen from 7Sage, and it was 100% worth the money. My LSAT score was 156, and my GPA was 3.65, and I received big scholarship offers from reputable schools. Sarah knew what admissions would be looking for and helped me make my application unique, so I would stand out amongst the other applicants. If I had to do it on my own, I’m not sure I would have received the same offers. Spending a few thousand dollars now can potentially save you over 100,000 in student loans. That's a pretty good deal!

u/appalachian8351

7Sage Admissions Reviews

About 7sage consultants.

Aaron Thier

Director of admissions services.

Aaron received a BA in Literature from Yale University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where he taught both creative and expository writing. He is the author of three novels: The Ghost Apple (a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize), Mr. Eternity (a finalist for the same award), and The World is a Narrow Bridge . His essays and criticism have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic , The Los Angeles Review of Books, Lucky Peach , and other magazines, and in 2016 he received a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment from the Arts.

Dan Grossman

Admissions sales manager.

Dan Grossman holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida and a BA from Williams College, where he graduated summa cum laude and won the Arthur Kaufmann Prize in English. He has published short stories, book reviews, travel pieces, and cultural essays in a variety of publications such as Jewish Currents , Marginalia, and The Millions . His hobbies include baseball, chess, and old films.

Susan Cersovsky

Admissions officer.

Susan has worked in admissions at Columbia Law School for the last five years, where she served on the Admissions Committee, conducted candidate interviews, reviewed and rendered decisions on thousands of applications each year, oversaw merit-based scholarships, and designed recruiting strategies. She began her law career in New York at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in the reorganization and restructuring department, and worked in-house at New York Life Insurance Company. She also has litigated on a pro bono basis for Sanctuary for Families in Bronx Family Court.

Susan holds a JD from Columbia Law School, where she edited the  Human Rights Law Review  and the  Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual , and participated in the Harlem Tutorial Program. She received a BA with distinction and MA in English from Emory University. Currently, Susan resides with her family in Harlem and New York’s Hudson Valley. When she is not helping law school applicants gain acceptance to their dream schools, she can be found developing her mediation skills, serving on the New York City Bar Association’s Sex & Law Committee, co-chairing the Columbia Law School Reunion Committee, painting and doing ceramics, or spending time with her family’s dogs.

Tajira McCoy

Tajira worked in law school admissions for ten years, most recently as the Director of Admissions and Scholarship Programs at Berkeley Law. At Berkeley Law, her primary responsibilities included recruiting and advising prospective law school applicants about the application process, evaluating applicants for admission and for incoming scholarship opportunities, managing the scholarship reconsideration process, and supporting diversity recruitment efforts.

During her tenure in law admissions, her recruitment efforts spanned JD and LLM programs at four law schools, including public and private institutions, a Jesuit institution, and an HBCU. Tajira built and cultivated relationships within the law school and pre-law communities, often speaking on panels about the admissions process, diversity in law schools, personal and diversity statement workshops, and financial aid talks. For the Law School Admissions Council, she served on the Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admissions Process Subcommittee, the Subcommittee on DiscoverLaw Plus Programs, the International Outreach and Recruitment Work Group, the Annual Meeting Planning Work Group, and the Diversity Committee. She also evaluated submissions to the LSAC Diversity Writing Competition, and she presented at several Annual Meeting Conferences and numerous LSAC Forum events.

Tajira received her bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge and her JD from Southwestern Law School. She currently serves as the Director of Career Services at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she cultivates employer relationships and advises students and alumni on career planning and job search strategy. Tajira is also the debut author of a rom-com forthcoming from MIRA Books of HarperCollins in early 2022. When she’s not advising students or writing, you might find her testing out new recipes and hosting Supper Club meals for close friends.

Josh Brooks

Josh served on the admissions committee for Cornell Law School, where he read applications, conducted interviews, and advised the committee on candidates. Josh holds a JD from Cornell Law School, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees from other institutions. In law school, Josh served as general editor of the  Cornell Law Review  and was one of the few students to be published in an elite law journal. Josh started his legal career at a Vault number-one labor and employment law firm, but quickly transitioned to an academic focus when he was awarded the e-Government Fellowship of Cornell Law School. As the e-Government Fellow, Josh taught law students, managed research projects, published multiple articles, and represented Cornell University’s interests in legislative initiatives in New York City. Josh has been featured on NBC New York and in  Ezra Magazine  and  Politico  for his work in NYC. Josh then accepted a position as head of the Office of Distinguished Graduate Fellowships at Arizona State University, where he built what started as a small unit into one of the largest and most successful graduate student advising programs in academia, significantly increasing prestigious fellowship grants university-wide. Josh also served as the development chair for the Chicano/Latino Faculty & Staff Association and advised undergraduates in the honors college on law school admissions. Today, Josh owns two successful businesses and is presently writing a book about the wonderful, surreal, and disturbing history of the southwest United States.

Brigitte Suhr

Brigitte holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. For two years, she worked in admissions at the University of Virginia School of Law. As she assessed prospective JD files, she often thought about how the applicants could have done a better job of conveying their strengths and contextualizing their weaknesses.

Prior to her work as a consultant, Brigitte traversed the globe as an international human rights lawyer, advocating for truth, justice, and reparations in post-conflict societies. Working for organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, she carried out fact-finding, training, and advocacy missions to more than two dozen countries, meeting with stakeholders from presidents to survivor collectives. She feels honored to have had a hand in the legal reforms of over fifty countries ranging from Costa Rica to South Africa. Brigitte also spent several years working in Guatemala, first as counsel to a human rights NGO and then as an investigator of the atrocities committed during the country’s thirty-six-year armed conflict.

Brigitte continues to consult with foundations and non-profits on human rights programs and research covering issues such as justice reform, LGBTQ advocacy, and anti-slavery initiatives. When she’s not working, you can find Brigitte hiking the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains with her ball-crazy Labrador named Milo.

RL Goldberg

RL Goldberg is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Dartmouth College. They earned an AB from Harvard College, an MFA in fiction from the University of Florida, and a PhD from Princeton. RL's first book,  I Changed My Sex! Pedagogy and Trans Narrative , is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. RL has taught in prisons in Massachusetts and New Jersey for the last decade.

Lei has at various times been a science journalist in Hong Kong, a happiness researcher in Florida, a private investigator in San Francisco, and a life coach and translator in Shanghai, where she was born (though she grew up in a tiny immigrant town in New Jersey). She holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Yale and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa, where she designed and taught classes to undergraduates that combined creative writing, literature, philosophy, and life lessons.

Her work has been recognized by the Vermont Studio Center, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Iowa Arts Fellowship, and the Marcus Bach Graduate Fellowship for writing that “fosters intercultural communication and the understanding of diverse philosophies and religious perspectives.” She is currently writing a book about consciousness hacking, a work of creative nonfiction/literary self-help that explores the possibility of a reality in which everything is perfectly okay, right now.

Selene Steelman

Selene holds a BA with Distinction in English from Swarthmore College and a Juris Doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law where she was Senior Managing Editor of the Cardozo Women’s Law Journal.

For the last 14 years, she evaluated LL.M. and JD applications as a member of the Admissions Committee for Cardozo School of Law. As Director of LL.M. Admissions, she admitted and welcomed 27 new classes of LL.M. students from over 25 countries. Prior to joining Cardozo, she was a structured finance associate at a top-tier Manhattan law firm. Before she decided to pursue a legal education, she worked at a New York City literary agency, editing book proposals, negotiating subsidiary rights in the pre-digital era, and searching for the Great American Novel in the slush pile.

She resides in northern New Jersey. When she is not helping law school candidates achieve their dreams, she spends her time playing the violin and ballroom dancing.

Jacob Baska

Jacob has worked in undergraduate and law admissions for over a decade and has reviewed tens of thousands of applications. He most recently served as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Notre Dame Law School. In that role, he was responsible for all matters related to recruitment strategy, file reading and decision making, yield programming, scholarship modeling, and connecting admitted students with faculty, alumni, and current students. Additionally, Jacob has been active in the law admissions community, serving on panels and subcommittees for the Law School Admissions Council. Despite a great deal of experience working on macro strategy for law schools, his most rewarding moments have always been connecting directly with students to help them achieve their goals, especially those from non-traditional backgrounds and marginalized communities.

When not working, Jacob spends a great deal of time with his family, coaching one daughter's Girls on the Run team and serving as the cookie manager of another's Girl Scout troop. He is an avid BBQ aficionado and never shies from sharing his strong opinions about the St. Louis Cardinals.

Elizabeth Cavallari

Elizabeth Cavallari spent nearly six years as a senior and assistant dean of admissions at William & Mary Law School and three years in undergraduate admissions at Bucknell University. She has evaluated thousands of law school admissions files, interviewed hundreds of applicants, coordinated the waitlist, and advised both domestic and international candidates on the law school admissions process. She has also presented at the LSAC annual conference and at multiple prelaw advisor conferences on subjects ranging from waitlist strategies to resources for LGBTQIA students. Elizabeth is passionate about building relationships with her students as she guides them through the application process. When she’s not thinking about law school admissions, she advises a sorority at William & Mary, supporting collegiate leaders, and coordinates a 40+ Career Club to assist older job seekers. You can often find Elizabeth running through Colonial Williamsburg, pushing a double jogging stroller.

Patrick Liu

Patrick (he/him) is a recent JD graduate of Yale Law School and received his BA in Economics from the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa). He was accepted to the top law schools in the country and was offered several full-ride awards, including the Root-Tilden-Kern and Hamilton scholarships. While at Yale Law, Patrick worked in the Admissions Office as an Admissions Representative, where he counseled prospective and admitted applicants, served on admissions panels, and worked extensively with the team to welcome incoming classes. He also served as Political Action Chair for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and as a coordinator with the National Lawyers Guild. Patrick was designated a 2020–21 Connecticut Bar Foundation Fellow for his commitment to public interest work. 

Patrick started his legal career as a trial attorney at the Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia, representing juvenile clients facing felony charges. Before law school, Patrick worked with expert scholars at the Brookings Institution, researching issues related to employment, poverty, and education. His interests center around harm reduction, restorative justice, and abolition.

Jennifer Kott

During a law admissions career that has spanned over twenty-five years, Jennifer Kott has worked at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Tulane University School of Law, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, where she served as Director of Admissions.

Jennifer enjoyed counseling, coaching, and advising alumni and students about law schools, the admissions and application process, scholarships, and the overall strategic approach to getting into the law school of their choice. She holds a BA in Sociology from Elon University and is a founding sister of the Theta Nu Chapter, Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity. She has been active in national admissions organizations, including the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), serving as a panelist at multiple annual meetings and conferences and as a member of the LSAC’s Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admissions Process Subcommittee and the National Recruitment Calendar Workgroup.

Kott is an advocate of animal-assisted therapy and participated at law school student service functions with her service dog, Sara. When not enthusiastically helping others to reach their goals, Kott is wickedly cheering on all Boston (pronounced “Bahstin”) sports teams and fruitfully enjoys spending time with her family in North Carolina and floating on the James River.

Samuel Riley

Dr. Riley worked in law school admissions for seventeen years at the University of Texas School of Law. For most of that time, he served as the Senior Director of Admissions Programs. In that position, his duties included recruiting, advising prospective JD applicants about the application process, organizing prospective and admitted student programs, and reviewing and making decisions on JD and transfer applications.

In his last few years at Texas Law, he helped create the Pipeline Program and its Cohort Program, which is for prospective law school applicants. As the Director of Pipeline Programs, he assisted Cohort Program students with every aspect of the admissions process, including school selection, interviews, and scholarships, and he reviewed their résumés and personal and optional statements. He also continued to review an average of 2,500 JD applications per year.

Dr. Riley served in several different positions within the law school community including, in 2015 and 2018, as the Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Texas Law. Outside the law school, Dr. Riley served on the following committees for the Law School Admissions Council: the National Recruitment Work Group (two terms); the New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members Workshop (faculty member); the DiscoverLaw.org PLUS Subcommittee; and the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee.

Dr. Riley is considered a triple Longhorn. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the School of Education. In his spare time, he loves following Longhorn sports and trying to improve his golf game whenever he can.

Christie Belknap

Christie holds a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Emory Law School, where she served as an editor on the Emory Law Review . She worked at two top-tier law firms in New York City, but after getting her fill of late nights, fancy lunches, and (perhaps most importantly) paying off her student loans, she shifted gears and landed a job in the admissions office at Cardozo Law School. There, she reviewed applications, met and counseled prospective students, spoke on admissions panels, and travelled to such exotic locales as Pittsburgh and Columbus. She returned to practicing law as the real estate counsel for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she helped move the Fulton Fish Market from South Street Seaport to a refrigerated, state of the art facility, and got to use the term “fishmonger” on a regular basis. In her latest role as an admissions consultant at 7Sage, she’s happy to draw upon her past experiences as an admissions officer and lawyer to help advise prospective students in the law school application process.

Jenifer Godfrey

Jenifer worked in law school admissions for nearly ten years, most recently as Assistant Dean for Admissions & Scholarships at the William H. Bowen School of Law, University of Arkansas | Little Rock, where she served as first reader and had sole discretion on recruitment scholarship awards. Prior to that, she worked at the University of Idaho College of Law and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University.

Jenifer has demonstrated expertise in diversity pipeline programs and has served on LSAC’s Diversity Committee. She is skilled at helping future law students of all backgrounds understand how to best frame their values, experiences, and other attributes to showcase their unique contributions to diversity and the celebration of differences. She also served on LSAC’s Services & Programs Division Working Group, LSAC’s Information Services Division Working Group, and various LSAC Forum panels in addition to presenting twice at the LSAC Annual Meeting and Educational Conference.

Jenifer earned both her bachelor’s and JD from West Virginia University and her PhD in Educational Research & Leadership at Louisiana State University. Jenifer is published in The Review of Higher Education and the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership , and she teaches graduate- and professional-level courses at a large research university. When she is not working, you can find her enjoying her family’s zoo membership and sharing her love of animals with her children.

Amy Bonnaffons

Amy holds a BA in literature ( magna cum laude ) from Yale University and an MFA in fiction writing from New York University, where she won the Goldwater Teaching Fellowship and an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. She taught in the Expository Writing Program at New York University for four years before deciding to pursue a PhD in English at the University of Georgia. Her story collection THE WRONG HEAVEN was published in 2018 by Lee Boudreaux Books at Little, Brown, and will be followed by THE REGRETS, a novel about the afterlife. Her writing has appeared in publications ranging from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to Kenyon Review and The Sun , and has won awards and fellowships from Yale University, Open City magazine, Bread Loaf, and The MacDowell Colony, among others.

Amy is a founding editor of 7x7 , a literary journal promoting collaboration between writers and visual artists, and has served as international editor of Washington Square Review. She has also helped many students hone their personal statements to gain admission to college, law school and business school.

Brian Booker

Brian received a PhD in English and American Literature from NYU, and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow and, in his third year, a Schulze Fellow. He has been the Grace Paley Fiction Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing.

Brian’s fiction has been published in Conjunctions, One Story, New England Review, Tin House, Vice , and other magazines; his stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the National Magazine Award. His debut short story collection, ARE YOU HERE FOR WHAT I’M HERE FOR?, was published in 2016 by Bellevue Literary Press.

Brian has ten years of experience teaching expository writing and literature courses at NYU; he has also taught creative writing workshops at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most recently, he has been a Lecturer in the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Chicago, designing and teaching workshops for both undergraduate and graduate students on topics such as Literary Horror.

Daniel Castro

Daniel has worked as a writing consultant for over a decade. He holds a BA in English from Indiana University-Bloomington, where he worked as a tutor at the campus writing center, and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received a Dean’s Graduate Fellowship and taught undergraduate writing. He is a former Fulbright scholar in Spain, and his work has appeared in Tampa Review , Miami Herald , Gambit Weekly , and Salon . He was awarded the Cintas Fellowship in Literature in 2014 and the Faulkner Society’s novel prize in 2015. He was a resident at the MacDowell Colony in 2016. He teaches classes and does manuscript consulting for Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in Brooklyn, and is a co-founder of the Berlin Writers’ Workshop.

Kristen Gleason

Kristen holds a BA in English with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s scholar, and an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from the University of Montana. She studied linguistics in Tromsø, Norway on a High North Fellowship. She is currently a doctoral student in English at the University of Georgia.

Her fiction has appeared in Boston Review , Fence , Prairie Schooner , and elsewhere. She was selected as an A Public Space Emerging Writers Fellow and was the winner of BOMB ’s Biannual Fiction Contest and the North American White Review Short Story Prize in 2017. Recently, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to Norway for the 2018-2019 academic year.

She has taught creative writing and composition at the University of Montana, Montana Tech, and the University of Georgia, where she received an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. She was the managing editor of the University of Montana’s literary journal, CutBank. She has also worked in the Oakland, California public school system, edited for an academic publisher, instructed students in GRE and SAT test prep, and tutored in the University of Georgia’s Writing Center.

Conor Ahern

Based out of Washington, D.C., Conor is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia. Conor has been a law school admissions consultant for six years and has worked with dozens of prospective law students to achieve and exceed their admissions goals. In addition to his law school consulting work, Conor tutors the LSAT and works as a civil rights litigator in the employment space, with a focus on race, gender, and disability discrimination. He enjoys reading fiction, cooking, and making bad puns.

Jocelyn Glantz

Jocelyn Glantz is a graduate of George Washington University and Brooklyn Law School. After practicing law, she returned to BLS to serve as the Assistant Director of Admissions. 

To give herself more flexibility while raising her three girls, Jocelyn began consulting for a test prep company. She provided guidance to prospective undergraduate and law students, conducted essay and admissions workshops, and moderated law forums with panels of career and admissions professionals. Twenty years and hundreds of clients later, her individualized approach ensures that her clients present an application that highlights their achievements along with their personal and professional goals.

To balance her life, Jocelyn works as the Associate Director and Staffing Director of an all-girls sleepaway camp, which enables her to enjoy the outdoors during the summer while mentoring campers and staff. As the fall application season begins and she switches from an iced tea to a chai latte, you can find her immersed in law school admissions, working diligently for her clients.

Meghann Banacki

Meghann spent nearly a decade as an admissions officer at Cardozo School of Law. As the Associate Director of Admissions, she was involved in every aspect of the admissions process, including oversight of transfer admission. She has reviewed thousands of JD applications, interviewed hundreds of applicants, and counseled countless prospective students on the law school application process and the law school experience. Meghann also served two terms on the Law School Admission Council’s Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admission Process Subcommittee.

Before transitioning to a career in admissions, Meghann was a litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York City.

She received a BA, with honors, from Lehigh University, and a JD from Boston University. At BU, Meghann wrote on to the  Law Review  and later served on the editorial board as a Note Development Editor, guiding 2L students through the lengthy note-writing process.

Meghann is a life-long reader and a mother of three young children. She loves exploring the beautiful parks and beaches of Monmouth County, New Jersey with them.

Jeremy Klemin

Jeremy Klemin is a writer and editor based in New York. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, he has also lived in Portugal, Scotland, and Brazil, where he taught at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná as a Fulbright Fellow. He received grants from Phi Beta Kappa, Santander Bank, and the University of Edinburgh itself to pursue an MSc in Comparative Literature, and also received a scholarship from the Disquiet International Literary Program to support his creative nonfiction writing. He is a Contributing Editor at Help4Refugees, a Jordan-based humanitarian nonprofit.

His nonfiction is published or forthcoming in publications like The New York Times Book Review , Literary Hub , Redivider , Highsnobiety , Joyland , Post Road , and The Common about countries as diverse as Palestine, Ukraine, Serbia, and Brazil. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese, occasionally writing in the latter, and is currently working on an essay collection about skateboarding and cerebral palsy.

Lulu holds a BS in Society and Environment from the University of California, Berkeley and an MFA in writing from the University of Iowa, where she received fellowships in Rhetoric and Nonfiction as well as the Karl Claus Teaching Award.

She has designed and taught creative writing and composition courses at the Buckley School and the University of Iowa on subjects ranging from the rhetoric of food to humor writing, environmental writing, and writing about fashion. She has also worked as a technical writer in Silicon Valley and was an archivist at the Berkeley Folklore Archive.

Her essays, stories, and journalism have appeared in or are forthcoming from The Los Angeles Review of Books , DIAGRAM, Iowa Public Radio, and others. Her essay “Dams in Distress” was a 2020 finalist for the Pinch Page Prize. She is currently at work on a collection of humorous essays.

Ethan Madore

Ethan Madore received a BA in History from Vassar College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, where he was the 2017–2018 Provost’s Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. He has taught literature and personal writing courses for over five years, including classes on environmental, political, and travel writing, as well as graduate classes in journalism and cultural studies at the University of Dortmund in Germany. At Iowa, he designed a new series of courses for the Iowa Publishing Track and won an Outstanding Teaching Award. In Germany, he was a guest of honor at the national celebration of Walt Whitman’s 200th birthday.

A former editor of The Essay Review , his writing appears online in The Iowa Review and Guesthouse . He is at work on his first two books of nonfiction, a collection of essays about prehistory and a love song to the year 2011.

Susannah Davies

Susannah attended Barnard College, where she studied English and visual arts, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she received a teaching fellowship to study fiction. At Iowa, she taught literature and creative writing courses. In 2016, Susannah was a finalist for the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship. She is currently based in New Orleans and is at work on a collection of short stories.

Lee Cole holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Louisville. He’s a 2020 Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow. His work has appeared in the  Cimarron Review , where it was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he’s earned an honorable mention in Oxford American’s debut fiction contest. For the last two years, he’s taught creative writing at the University of Iowa.

Ariel Katz holds a BA in English from Yale and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she won the Richard Yates short story contest. As a student there, she taught undergraduate English and creative writing courses, and upon graduation was awarded a Meta & George Rosenberg screenwriting fellowship. She’s published essays and interviews on the Ploughshares blog and at Bookforum , and is at work on a novel.

Catherine Meeks

Catherine holds an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College—where she was the Rona Jaffe Fellow—an MS in environmental studies from the University of Montana, and a BA in English ( summa cum laude, Phi Kappa Phi, Presidential Scholar) from Berry College. She has taught expository writing, creative writing, environmental writing, scientific writing, and literature at the college level for fifteen years, as well as for Duke University’s Talent Identification Program field study at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and has twice been recognized as the lecturer of the year.

Catherine has received an Artist’s Grant from the Vermont Studio Center and the Emerging Writers Award from the Southern Women Writers Conference, and was invited in 2016 to be writer-in-residence at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Ecotone , Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, and other publications. In addition, Catherine is the co-founder of the Fall Line South Field Institute—an outdoor education school based in the Southeastern US—and a certified yoga instructor, most recently teaching at state and federal women’s prisons.

Dawn Corrigan

Dawn holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where she served as President of the English Graduate Organization and as a writing tutor for the Athletic Department. She taught academic and creative writing at UF and at the University of Utah, where she was on the masthead at Western Humanities Review . She’s done copy editing for an array of clients including the University of Utah’s Tanner Trust and Free World Associates, a human rights organization. She was a researcher and strategist at IMS Consulting, a legal services provider for Am Law 100 firms. Currently she works in the affordable housing industry, with expertise in Fair Housing, VAWA, and the HUD-VASH program for homeless veterans. Her debut novel, Mitigating Circumstances , an environmental mystery about Florida wetlands, was published by Five Star/Cengage, and her shorter prose and poetry have appeared widely in print and online journals including The Good Men Project , Hobart , New England Review , New World Writing , The Paris Review , Poetry , and storySouth.

Jonathan Gharraie

Jonathan Gharraie holds degrees in English Literature from the University of Leeds and St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. In 2014, he graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and stayed on as a Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow. He has written for The Atlantic , n+1 , The Paris Review Daily , The New Statesman , Review 31 , and Vogue , and is currently at work on his first novel. He lives in South Derbyshire, England.

Django Ellenhorn

Django Ellenhorn holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida and a BA in English from the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts. At UF, he taught a course on the intersection of politics and literature in the twentieth century as well as multiple workshops in fiction. He also worked as an assistant editor at the literary magazine Subtropics . He is currently at work on his first novel.

Nica Franklin

Nica Franklin received an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he taught literature and creative writing, and a BA in Philosophy from Harvard University, where he was awarded the Edward Eager Memorial Prize in English and an Artist Development Fellowship. His writing and poetry have appeared in places like Colorado Review , Religious Studies Review , and Leavings .

Gina Cecchetti

Gina worked in law school admissions for eight years, most recently as the Director of Admissions at Duquesne University School of Law. At Duquesne, her responsibilities included evaluating applicants for admission and managing the scholarship process—including the reconsideration process.

During her time in law school admissions, Gina served on admission panels with the Law School Admissions Council when they hosted law school forums. Gina also built relationships with pre-law advisors by hosting workshops, speaking on panels, and planning pre-law advisor conferences at both Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Duquesne Law.

Currently, Gina is an Associate Director of Admissions at a nationally ranked top MBA program. Gina holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Westminster College and a master of arts degree in higher education management from the University of Pittsburgh. Gina was a competitive figure skater at the Senior Ladies level, the highest competitive level, and you can find her at the ice rink coaching her figure skaters and hockey players.

Will Smiley

Will developed his editorial skills as a university writing center tutor. He has worked one-on-one with hundreds of faculty and student clients to improve their writing. He received his BA with Honors from the University of Chicago, studied medieval English literature at University College London, and completed an MFA in poetry at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was a postgraduate Provost Writing Fellow, and a Ph.D. in English at the University of Utah, where he was a Vice Presidential Fellow. Along the way, he has been a supervisor at Boston University’s Pappas Law Library and a cultural resource intern with the National Park Service in Anchorage, Alaska. He enjoys helping people become better writers. (His cat, Cathy, occasionally makes a cameo on Zoom calls.)

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is the Assistant Dean, Admissions, Diversity Initiatives and Financial Aid at University of San Diego School of Law. She received her JD from Golden Gate University School of Law and her MA in Education with an emphasis in Multi-Cultural Counseling from San Diego State University.

Tracy has worked in law school admissions, financial aid, and diversity initiatives for more than 22 years. She has reviewed thousands of applications, counseled hundreds of prospective law students, awarded millions of dollars in scholarships, and served on panels with admissions professionals from a significant number of ABA law schools. Prior to attending law school and working in law school administration, Tracy worked as a social worker for FamiliesFirst, Inc. in Northern California.

Tracy has been active with the Law School Admission Council on a variety of committees. She is currently the Chair for the Annual Meeting of Law School Professionals. She has served on the Board of Trustees. Past committee work includes serving on the Services and Programs Committee twice, the Forum Review Work Group, the Chief Diversity Officer Search Committee, the Diversity Initiatives Committee, the Finance and Legal Affairs Committee twice, and the Annual Planning Work Group, and serving as Chair of the New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members Workshop Planning Group.

Previously, she served as the Law Chair for the Access Group Advisory Board and the Access Group Advisory Committee. She recently served on the ACCESS LEX LexCon ’21 Planning Committee.

Additionally, Tracy has served as a consultant for the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Achieving Success in the Application Process program for over 12 years. She is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), serving as the Chair of the Pre-Legal Education and Admissions to Law School Section twice, and as the Chair for the Part-Time Section. Tracy has also served on the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Consumer Information and Law Student Information Task Force. Tracy has served on an ABA site inspection team and will serve on another site team next spring.

Tracy has served on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) since March 2014, is immediate past Board President, and is current Chair of the Program Committee. Most recently, Tracy has joined the Sacramento State University Division of Criminal Justice Community Advisory Committee and the California System Involved Bar Association Advisory Board.

Jenny Davis

Jenny holds a BA in English from Wesleyan and is an MFA candidate in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Her essays have been published in  Los Angeles Review of Books, Washington Square Review,  and  Speculative Nonfiction.  She is the author of the novel  Everything Must Go  and has two more novels forthcoming from Henry Holt. 

Tony Andrews

Tony holds a BA in Philosophy and Film Studies from Amherst College, where he graduated with honors and won the Film Studies Award, and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, where he designed and taught courses in literature and creative writing and won the Carl Klaus Teaching Award. His approach to admissions consulting is student-centered, focused on helping each student package and articulate their unique perspective across their essays. He has worked with clients from a broad range of demographic backgrounds, from Zen Buddhists to first-gen graduates to trauma survivors, listening carefully to their stories and helping them craft the most sincere and authentic version possible. He has served as an editorial assistant for  The Iowa Review  and an assistant editor for the  London Review of Books , and has consulted for both law and business school applicants, with past law school clients accepted to T-14 programs with significant aid, including Harvard Law, Yale Law, UChicago Law, Penn Carey Law, Columbia Law, and UC Berkeley, among others. His business school clients have been admitted to MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, and the London Business School, among others. Tony is a contributor to  The Surfer's Journal , a literary magazine about the art and culture of surfing.

Will Carpenter

Will holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Florida (Alpha Epsilon Lambda), as well as BAs in Philosophy and Political Science from Penn State (Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude), where he received awards in philosophy, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. At UF, Will taught classes in expository and argumentative writing, rhetoric and academic research, creative writing, and other areas, and designed a “Special Topics” course in American literature. Will won an English Department Teaching Award for the 2021–2022 academic year, during which time he also served as an Editorial Assistant for  Subtropics , a Style Editor for  ImageTexT , and a panelist at several conferences. He currently serves as a Staff Contributor for  New Square , the literary magazine of the Sancho Panza Literary Society. Will has received a scholarship from the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and his criticism has appeared in the  Denver Quarterly Review . You can find his poetry if you look hard enough, or gain access to the “Notes” app on his phone.

Ren Arcamone

Ren Arcamone holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Sydney and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was awarded the College of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Fellowship and a postgraduate teaching fellowship. She's taught introductory courses in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and upper-level undergraduate courses on sci-fi and fantasy, as well as online and in-person writing courses for the Iowa Young Writers' Studio. She's served as an admissions reader for the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, and she's currently an editorial assistant for the Iowa Review. Before moving to the US, Ren lived in Sydney, Australia, where she worked at Writing NSW, an educational arts organization for emerging and established writers. Her fiction is published or forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Heat, and Electric Lit. She lives in Iowa City, where she's at work on a short story collection and a novel.

Sarina Redzinski

Sarina Redzinski holds a BA in English and Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA from the University of Florida. In undergrad, she was on the inaugural board of the Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Law Review , led a number of writing workshops, and received the Jacob H. Hollander prize upon graduation. She also interned with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey program. While in Florida, she taught classes in expository writing, argumentative writing, fiction, and poetry. This past summer, she received a scholarship to the New York State Summer Writers Institute. Her writing credits include criticism for Full Stop magazine and poems forthcoming in Salmagundi magazine.

Drew Dickerson

Drew Dickerson holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Florida as well as a BA from Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude . He is a former Writing Fellow and current Features Writer for The Onion . He was the recipient of a 2017-2018 Fulbright fellowship to Germany, and his work has appeared or is forthcoming at n+1 , ClickHole , and The Point .

Janice Whang

Janice earned her AB from Harvard College and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida, where she won a teaching award and served as an associate editor for  Subtropics . She enjoys running, cooking, and translating Korean literature. Her translation of a Korean short story, published in  The Denver Quarterly,  was nominated for the  Best Literary Translations Anthology.  Her own short stories can be found in  The /tƐmz/ Review, Oxford Magazine , and the forthcoming  Reunion: The Dallas Review .

Alicia C. Miles

Alicia has been working in law school admissions since 2016, most recently as Assistant Dean of Admissions at the University of Oregon School of Law. She has had leadership and responsibility for all aspects of the process including annual enrollment forecasting, implementing scholarship and pricing strategies, creating and implementing enrollment marketing material and strategies, national and international recruiting, and the evaluation of all applications to the J.D. program. During her time in law admissions, she served as the Minority Network Facilitator for the Law School Admissions Council.

Prior to law school admissions work, Alicia received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Guilford College, and then her Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University Law School. She also served for six years in the United States Navy Reserve as an Electronics Technician. She received the AALS 2023 Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School Up-and-Comer Award. 

Alicia is currently living in Louisiana where she can typically be found zydeco dancing, spending time with her family and dog Beauxmont, listening to true crime podcasts, or reading a book from her ever-increasing TBR pile.

Ara Hagopian

Ara Hagopian is a writer. He holds a BA from Cornell University as well as an MFA from the University of Florida. As a grad student he taught Beginning Fiction Writing, Intermediate Fiction Writing, Expository and Argumentative Writing, Rhetoric and Academic Research, and Writing for Engineers. He’s done editing work for several journals including  Subtropics ,  New Square , and  Let’s Stab Caesar . He enjoys meditation and Irish folk music. He’s working on a novel.   

Savannah Horton

Savannah Horton is a fiction writer with an MFA from the University of Florida and a BA in English from Bowdoin College. She has five years of teaching experience at the undergraduate, high school, and elementary school levels. She was the 2021-2022 Writer in Residence at St. Albans School and a graduate of the University of Florida’s fiction MFA program, where she received the Porter Fellowship. She has published in The Drift, Subtopics, Raleigh Review , and The Cincinnati Review , where her story was selected as a Distinguished Story for the Best American Short Stories 2020 collection, and she was longlisted for both the 2021 CRAFT First Chapters Contest and the First Pages Prize.

Chris Schlegel

Chris Schlegel is the author of two books of poetry:  ryman  (2022) and  Honest James  (2015). He holds a PhD in English from Harvard, where he wrote on 20th-century American poetry; an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop; and a BA from Princeton. He studied in Berlin on a Fulbright grant, taught a summer ESL course in rural China, and served as a dorm counselor for young writers in Iowa City. He now teaches English and Creative Writing at Pierrepont School, a K-12 institution in Westport, CT, and lives in New Haven.

Liz K Emerson

Adria Kimbrough

Adria Kimbrough has advised law school applicants for more than 10 years. In 2013, she pioneered the Dillard University Pre-Law Program, which received the 2018 American Bar Association Diversity Leadership Award for its success in helping diverse law school applicants develop winning strategies. In 2018, she founded LEAD, a diversity pipeline program that helps students from three of Louisiana’s historically Black universities gain admission to law school. She is also committed to helping students pursue careers as civil rights attorneys through her work at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, where she has reviewed almost 1,000 applications.

Adria began her professional career at Cornell University as an Assistant Dean of Students. She later practiced employment law throughout the South for 15 years, having successfully passed the bar examinations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Louisiana     .

When she’s not working, you might find Adria walking her two French bulldogs, cooking a HelloFresh meal, on the AAU basketball circuit with her son, or debating world events and pop culture with her daughter and husband.

Allison Nash

Ali has worked in law school admissions since 2009, where, as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Arizona College of Law, she evaluated applications, assisted in making merit-based scholarship decisions, and counseled prospective law students. She’s spent the past several years working as a law school admissions consultant, using everything she learned in the admissions office to help students discover then strategically articulate their strengths in law school applications. Prior to her admissions work, Ali obtained her JD, with distinction , from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she was selected as a Journal of Corporation Law writer and a Van Oosterhout-Baskerville Appellate Advocacy competitor. She practiced real estate law at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP(Am Law 200) for several years, where she also helped make hiring decisions and mentored new attorneys. She writes every chance she gets and has authored numerous legal and law school admissions publications. In Ali’s spare time, she volunteers as a CASA, runs a little cookie shop, teaches the occasional yoga class, and tinkers around on her ukulele.

Micky Hill graduated with honors from Wesleyan University and holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. While in Iowa, Micky taught several undergraduate creative writing courses and facilitated independent adult poetry workshops. They were awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship in 2018 and served as the postgraduate Provost Writing Fellow during the 2019–2020 school year. Their work has been published by  The Rumpus  and the Academy of American Poets.

Currently, Micky teaches African American and Latinx Literature, as well as other courses, at an honors high school in Springfield, MA. 

Writing Consultant

Joy Wang is a graduate of Harvard Law School (JD). She also holds an MFA from Hunter College in Fiction, and a DPhil in Postcolonial Literature from Oxford University where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She is currently a senior attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, where she represents defendants from arraignments to jury trials. Prior to becoming a practicing lawyer, Joy published in a wide range of academic journals including  Race & Class ,  South Asian Review , and  Journal of Postcolonial Writing . She taught English Literature as an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, NYU in London, and the University of Stellenbosch. Most recently, she helped to train Indonesian lawyers in criminal and civil matters as a Fellow for the International Legal Foundation. Joy has a decade of experience helping students write essays for applications to law school and other graduate programs. She especially enjoys pondering the connections between literature, humanities, and public interest law. In her spare time, she plays tennis and cooks. 

Ziva has been the Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Admissions Communications at Cardozo School of Law for almost two decades. She was an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at the law school, holding grammar workshops and providing individual academic support, among other roles. In her Admissions role, Ziva read thousands of JD and transfer applications, conducted almost as many interviews with prospective students, and counseled and recruited prospective applicants across the country. Ziva is regularly invited to participate on admissions panels in local universities and national forums. She also served two terms on the Law School Admission Council’s Subcommittee on Misconduct and Irregularities in the Admission Process.  

Prior to entering law school admissions, Ziva practiced commercial litigation in a midtown Manhattan law firm for three years. Before pursuing law, she enjoyed a career in journalism for ten years, holding positions in print, television, and radio, as a news writer, field producer, and reporter. She worked for major news organizations including CNN, ABC, and NBC, while based in Jerusalem, Moscow, and New York City.

Ziva received a JD from Cardozo School of Law and a BA from New York University in English Literature and Creative Writing. She enjoys exploring New York City cultural sites with her daughter, and they both love to attend theatre and dance performances.  

Daniel Hwa-Sung Ryu

Daniel was admitted to the law schools of Yale, Harvard, Stanford, UChicago, and more. He has direct experience with every step of the process, including interviewing and writing personal/diversity statements, school-specific prompts, and addenda. 

He is a first-generation immigrant from Korea and a first-generation professional. Daniel holds a BA in Philosophy from Richmond College where he received a music scholarship and an MSt in Ancient Philosophy from Oxford. He then worked in national public service as an AmeriCorps member and cohort leader. In his spare time, he is fascinated by journalism, fiction, and nature documentaries. Daniel is finishing a novel provisionally titled  Shell Game  (thankfully, unrelated to the LSAT). He is also trying to pick up the violin again to awaken dormant brain parts, and at any given time, he and his family care for over a dozen cats. 

Lauren Pena

Lauren earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Political Science from Indiana Wesleyan in 2010 and completed her J.D. at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2013. She spent over 7 years in law school admissions as the Associate Director of Student Recruitment for Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. In her position, she recruited and advised prospective law candidates on how to create the best application and made admissions and scholarship decisions as a member of the review committee. Lauren has a strong passion for helping law students achieve their goals and spent her spare time advising current law students as well. Her passion for advising and mentoring students led her to present at recruitment conferences and serve on panels.

She has returned to practice and is now serving as an estate planning attorney for Stevens and Associates, PC. Still motivated by her love for law students, Lauren is excited to share her knowledge, insight, and encouragement. In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with family and friends, and getting involved in her continued work with disability advocacy.

Sam Allingham

Sam Allingham's writing has appeared in  The New Yorker  and  n+1,  along with many other magazines, and he is the author of the short story collection  The Great American Songbook.  He has professional experience as a speechwriter for C-suite clients and as a copywriter for educational and non-profit institutions. He has more than ten years' experience teaching writing at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Deciding on the diversity statement for law school admissions

The diversity statement is intended to tell law schools about an experience you’ve had, typically based on some aspect of one’s identity (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, family education background) that will make you a unique contributor to an incoming class. These essays are meant to be meaningful – what is something about your identity that actually distinguishes you from others. It will be very, very bad for your application if it comes off that you “wrote it just to write it.” To give some context, in my five years of law school admissions coaching, I have only encouraged four students to write it.

If you are thinking about the diversity statement, I suggest you ask yourself three questions:

Do you have a topic in mind that you feel moved to write about.

This is not the time to work through writer’s block and get something on the page, as might have to be the case with the personal statement. If you don’t have something in mind, based on just a bit of brainstorming and reflection, just don’t do it. It is truly optional – there is no value add to writing anything but a stellar, profound essay.

What types of adversity have you gone through?

Relatedly, while the essay is called the “diversity statement,” students often, and appropriately, write about adversity they have experienced related to some aspect of their identity. This gives law schools the opportunity to assess their experience more comprehensively – instead of just seeing demographic background, they get to learn a little bit more about what types of hardships the student has gone through, and how these experiences will contribute to a diverse class.

Often, students want to write about a unique skill (unicycling, Olympic swimming), a unique academic interest (local history, airplane design). While I won’t say that you should never write about these topics, you absolutely must think about how it will be read alongside the greater diversity statement pool. People will be writing about real trauma – racial violence, gender-affirmation surgery, sexism in the workplace. Is your essay about pogo-stick racing going to sound as serious as these deep, life-altering experiences? Above all, be very, very careful. This is perhaps especially true when writing about diversity of political views, or moments of ideological isolation.

How connected is the diversity statement with your legal interests?

Relatedly, the more aligned your diversity statement is with your legal interests, the better. A disconnected statement about your time growing up abroad isn’t the assignment. Instead, try and channel your background into your legal interests. For example, did growing up all over the world cement your interest in combating human rights abuses? Did an experience with the police motivate you to pursue a career in criminal legal reform? Do you want to practice movement lawyering after experiencing workplace discrimination? These are the types of connections that can really make these essays stand out.

Any statement that is not topically connected to your legal interests, and at least tangentially connected to experiencing diversity, should almost never be written. Work with your CC admissions coach – they will have a good sense of appropriate topics!

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May 8, 2024

The Diversity Essay: How to Write an Excellent Diversity Essay

What is a diversity essay in a school application? And why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Most importantly, how should you go about writing such an essay?

Diversity is of supreme value in higher education, and schools want to know how every student will contribute to the diversity on their campus. A diversity essay gives applicants with disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, an unusual education, a distinctive experience, or a unique family history an opportunity to write about how these elements of their background have prepared them to play a useful role in increasing and encouraging diversity among their target program’s student body and broader community.

The purpose of all application essays is to help the adcom better understand who an applicant is and what they care about. Your essays are your chance to share your voice and humanize your application. This is especially true for the diversity essay, which aims to reveal your unique perspectives and experiences, as well as the ways in which you might contribute to a college community.

In this post, we’ll discuss what exactly a diversity essay is, look at examples of actual prompts and a sample essay, and offer tips for writing a standout essay. 

In this post, you’ll find the following: 

What a diversity essay covers

How to show you can add to a school’s diversity, why diversity matters to schools.

• Seven examples that reveal diversity

Sample diversity essay prompts

How to write about your diversity.

• A diversity essay example

Upon hearing the word “diversity” in relation to an application essay, many people assume that they will have to write about gender, sexuality, class, or race. To many, this can feel overly personal or irrelevant, and some students might worry that their identity isn’t unique or interesting enough. In reality, the diversity essay is much broader than many people realize.

Identity means different things to different people. The important thing is that you demonstrate your uniqueness and what matters to you. In addition to writing about one of the traditional identity features we just mentioned (gender, sexuality, class, race), you could consider writing about a more unusual feature of yourself or your life – or even the intersection of two or more identities.

Consider these questions as you think about what to include in your diversity essay:

• Do you have a unique or unusual talent or skill?
• Do you have beliefs or values that are markedly different from those of the people around you? 
• Do you have a hobby or interest that sets you apart from your peers? 
• Have you done or experienced something that few people have? Note that if you choose to write about a single event as a diverse identity feature, that event needs to have had a pretty substantial impact on you and your life. For example, perhaps you’re part of the 0.2% of the world’s population that has run a marathon, or you’ve had the chance to watch wolves hunt in the wild.
• Do you have a role in life that gives you a special outlook on the world? For example, maybe one of your siblings has a rare disability, or you grew up in a town with fewer than 500 inhabitants.

If you are an immigrant to the United States, the child of immigrants, or someone whose ethnicity is underrepresented in the States, your response to “How will you add to the diversity of our class/community?” and similar questions might help your application efforts. Why? Because you have the opportunity to show the adcom how your background will contribute a distinctive perspective to the program you are applying to.

Of course, if you’re not underrepresented in your field or part of a disadvantaged group, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have anything to write about in a diversity essay.

For example, you might have an unusual or special experience to share, such as serving in the military, being a member of a dance troupe, or caring for a disabled relative. These and other distinctive experiences can convey how you will contribute to the diversity of the school’s campus.

Maybe you are the first member of your family to apply to college or the first person in your household to learn English. Perhaps you have worked your way through college or helped raise your siblings. You might also have been an ally to those who are underrepresented, disadvantaged, or marginalized in your community, at your school, or in a work setting. 

As you can see, diversity is not limited to one’s religion, ethnicity, culture, language, or sexual orientation. It refers to whatever element of your identity distinguishes you from others and shows that you, too, value diversity.

The diversity essay provides colleges the chance to build a student body that includes different ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, backgrounds, interests, and so on. Applicants are asked to illuminate what sets them apart so that the adcoms can see what kind of diverse views and opinions they can bring to the campus.

Admissions officers believe that diversity in the classroom improves the educational experience of all the students involved. They also believe that having a diverse workforce better serves society as a whole.

The more diverse perspectives found in the classroom, throughout the dorms, in the dining halls, and mixed into study groups, the richer people’s discussions will be.

Plus, learning and growing in this kind of multicultural environment will prepare students for working in our increasingly multicultural and global world.

In medicine, for example, a heterogeneous workforce benefits people from previously underrepresented cultures. Businesses realize that they will market more effectively if they can speak to different audiences, which is possible when members of their workforce come from various backgrounds and cultures. Schools simply want to prepare graduates for the 21st century job market.

Seven examples that reveal diversity

Adcoms want to know about the diverse elements of your character and how these have helped you develop particular  personality traits , as well as about any unusual experiences that have shaped you.

Here are seven examples an applicant could write about:

1. They grew up in an environment with a strong emphasis on respecting their elders, attending family events, and/or learning their parents’ native language and culture.

2. They are close to their grandparents and extended family members who have taught them how teamwork can help everyone thrive.

3. They have had to face difficulties that stem from their parents’ values being in conflict with theirs or those of their peers.

4. Teachers have not always understood the elements of their culture or lifestyle and how those elements influence their performance.

5. They have suffered discrimination and succeeded despite it because of their grit, values, and character.

6. They learned skills from a lifestyle that is outside the norm (e.g., living in foreign countries as the child of a diplomat or contractor; performing professionally in theater, dance, music, or sports; having a deaf sibling).

7. They’ve encountered racism or other prejudice (either toward themselves or others) and responded by actively promoting diverse, tolerant values.

And remember, diversity is not about who your parents are.  It’s about who you are  – at the core.

Your background, influences, religious observances, native language, ideas, work environment, community experiences – all these factors come together to create a unique individual, one who will contribute to a varied class of distinct individuals taking their place in a diverse world.

The best-known diversity essay prompt is from the  Common App . It states:

“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

Some schools have individual diversity essay prompts. For example, this one is from  Duke University :

“We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.” 

And the  Rice University application includes the following prompt:

“Rice is strengthened by its diverse community of learning and discovery that produces leaders and change agents across the spectrum of human endeavor. What perspectives shaped by your background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity inspire you to join our community of change agents at Rice?”

In all instances, colleges want you to demonstrate how and what you’ll contribute to their communities.

Your answer to a school’s diversity essay question should focus on how your experiences have built your empathy for others, your embrace of differences, your resilience, your character, and your perspective.

The school might ask how you think of diversity or how you will bring or add to the diversity of the school, your chosen profession, or your community. Make sure you answer the specific question posed by highlighting distinctive elements of your profile that will add to the class mosaic every adcom is trying to create. You don’t want to blend in; you want to stand out in a positive way while also complementing the school’s canvas.

Here’s a simple, three-part framework that will help you think of diversity more broadly:

Who are you? What has contributed to your identity? How do you distinguish yourself? Your identity can include any of the following: gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, religion, nontraditional work experience, nontraditional educational background, multicultural background, and family’s educational level.

What have you done? What have you accomplished? This could include any of the following: achievements inside and/or outside your field of study, leadership opportunities, community service, internship or professional experience, research opportunities, hobbies, and travel. Any or all of these could be unique. Also, what life-derailing, throw-you-for-a-loop challenges have you faced and overcome?

How do you think? How do you approach things? What drives you? What influences you? Are you the person who can break up a tense meeting with some well-timed humor? Are you the one who intuitively sees how to bring people together? 

Read more about this three-part framework in Episode 193 of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast or listen wherever you get your favorite podcast s.

Think about each question within this framework and how you could apply your diversity elements to your target school’s classroom or community. Any of these elements can serve as the framework for your essay.

Don’t worry if you can’t think of something totally “out there.” You don’t need to be a tightrope walker living in the Andes or a Buddhist monk from Japan to be able to contribute to a school’s diversity!

And please remember, the examples we have offered here are not exhaustive. There are many other ways to show diversity!

All you need to do to be able to write successfully about how you will contribute to the diversity of your target school’s community is examine your identity, deeds, and ideas, with an eye toward your personal distinctiveness and individuality. There is only one  you .

Take a look at the sample diversity essay in the next section of this post, and pay attention to how the writer underscores their appreciation for, and experience with, diversity. 

A diversity essay sample

When I was starting 11th grade, my dad, an agricultural scientist, was assigned to a 3-month research project in a farm village in Niigata (northwest Honshu in Japan). Rather than stay behind with my mom and siblings, I begged to go with him. As a straight-A student, I convinced my parents and the principal that I could handle my schoolwork remotely (pre-COVID) for that stretch. It was time to leap beyond my comfortable suburban Wisconsin life—and my Western orientation, reinforced by travel to Europe the year before. 

We roomed in a sprawling farmhouse with a family participating in my dad’s study. I thought I’d experience an “English-free zone,” but the high school students all studied and wanted to practice English, so I did meet peers even though I didn’t attend their school. Of the many eye-opening, influential, cultural experiences, the one that resonates most powerfully to me is experiencing their community. It was a living, organic whole. Elementary school kids spent time helping with the rice harvest. People who foraged for seasonal wild edibles gave them to acquaintances throughout the town. In fact, there was a constant sharing of food among residents—garden veggies carried in straw baskets, fish or meat in coolers. The pharmacist would drive prescriptions to people who couldn’t easily get out—new mothers, the elderly—not as a business service but as a good neighbor. If rain suddenly threatened, neighbors would bring in each other’s drying laundry. When an empty-nest 50-year-old woman had to be hospitalized suddenly for a near-fatal snakebite, neighbors maintained her veggie patch until she returned. The community embodied constant awareness of others’ needs and circumstances. The community flowed!

Yet, people there lamented that this lifestyle was vanishing; more young people left than stayed or came. And it wasn’t idyllic: I heard about ubiquitous gossip, long-standing personal enmities, busybody-ness. But these very human foibles didn’t dam the flow. This dynamic community organism couldn’t have been more different from my suburban life back home, with its insular nuclear families. We nod hello to neighbors in passing. 

This wonderful experience contained a personal challenge. Blond and blue-eyed, I became “the other” for the first time. Except for my dad, I saw no Westerner there. Curious eyes followed me. Stepping into a market or walking down the street, I drew gazes. People swiftly looked away if they accidentally caught my eye. It was not at all hostile, I knew, but I felt like an object. I began making extra sure to appear “presentable” before going outside. The sense of being watched sometimes generated mild stress or resentment. Returning to my lovely tatami room, I would decompress, grateful to be alone. I realized this challenge was a minute fraction of what others experience in my own country. The toll that feeling—and being— “other” takes on non-white and visibly different people in the US can be extremely painful. Experiencing it firsthand, albeit briefly, benignly, and in relative comfort, I got it.

Unlike the organic Niigata community, work teams, and the workplace itself, have externally driven purposes. Within this different environment, I will strive to exemplify the ongoing mutual awareness that fueled the community life in Niigata. Does it benefit the bottom line, improve the results? I don’t know. But it helps me be the mature, engaged person I want to be, and to appreciate the individuals who are my colleagues and who comprise my professional community. I am now far more conscious of people feeling their “otherness”—even when it’s not in response to negative treatment, it can arise simply from awareness of being in some way different.

What did you think of this essay? Does this middle class Midwesterner have the unique experience of being different from the surrounding majority, something she had not experienced in the United States? Did she encounter diversity from the perspective of “the other”? 

Here a few things to note about why this diversity essay works so well:

1. The writer comes from “a comfortable, suburban, Wisconsin life,” suggesting that her background might not be ethnically, racially, or in any other way diverse.

2. The diversity “points” scored all come from her fascinating experience of having lived in a Japanese farm village, where she immersed herself in a totally different culture.

3. The lessons learned about the meaning of community are what broaden and deepen the writer’s perspective about life, about a purpose-driven life, and about the concept of “otherness.” 

By writing about a time when you experienced diversity in one of its many forms, you can write a memorable and meaningful diversity essay.

Working on your diversity essay?

Want to ensure that your application demonstrates the diversity that your dream school is seeking?  Work with one of our admissions experts . This checklist includes more than 30 different ways to think about diversity to jump-start your creative engine.

Dr. Sundas Ali has more than 15 years of experience teaching and advising students, providing career and admissions advice, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews for the University of Oxford’s undergraduate and graduate programs. In addition, Sundas has worked with students from a wide range of countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, and the Middle East. Want Sundas to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! 

Related Resources:

• Different Dimensions of Diversity , podcast Episode 193
• What Should You Do If You Belong to an Overrepresented MBA Applicant Group?
• Fitting In & Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions , a free guide

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Should You Write a Diversity Statement for Law School?

• by M Hope Echales
• Sep 23, 2015
• Admissions, Personal Statements
• Reviewed by: Matt Riley

Everyone knows you need to write a personal statement when applying to law school, but did you know you might need to write a diversity statement too?

Before I share tips on how to write one, let’s first talk about the purpose of the diversity statement.

Good law schools want a rich learning environment for their students. A rich learning environment involves the inclusion of different perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and philosophies contributing to the dialogue, debate, and discussion in each class. Good law schools recognize that having a diverse student body is a benefit to all law students (and to law professors as well). The diversity statement is one way to see if an applicant would contribute to a diverse 1L class, because the application form may not give the law school admissions committee enough information about the applicant’s background and diversity factors.

If you’re applying to law school, I highly recommend that you think hard about whether you have any diversity factors.

Diversity factors include, but are not limited to, the following: • Ethnic minority • Low-income childhood • Low-income now • First generation in your family to graduate from college • GLBTQ community • Non-traditional student (i.e., older student) • Single parent while attending college • Disabilities (learning, physical, mental) • Underrepresented religious affiliation • Immigrant • Foster child • Grew up in an unusual neighborhood, town/city, or country • Grew up with unique circumstances that are underrepresented in the law school’s student body

If you have any of these factors in your background, you should consider writing a diversity statement.

Most law schools’ application instructions state that the diversity statement should be submitted as an addendum and/or optional essay. If the school does not specifically ask for a diversity statement, contact the admissions office to see if they will accept one. Some schools would rather you incorporate your diversity factors into your personal statement, while others are open to it being a separate essay.

So, how do you go about writing a diversity statement?

First, I recommend reading some great diversity statements. Download my FREE Personal Statement Packet and read the four diversity statement samples included in it. You can get a good idea of how to approach and structure a diversity statement by carefully reading and analyzing these samples. Similar to the personal statement, the diversity statement is essentially a structured short story about YOU. Keep in mind, though, that your diversity statement is much shorter than your personal statement–it should generally be one page, double-spaced, with a 11- to 12-point font.

Second, read each of the diversity statements again and read the adjoining personal statements that go with them. Notice how the applicant’s diversity factor(s) might be mentioned in his or her personal statement, but they are covered in more detail in the diversity statement. I recommend that you do this. As law school officials always tell me, “Applicants need to self-identify!” And I would add, applicants need to self-identify in more than one place in their law school application.

Third, please remember as you’re writing your draft that the diversity statement should be focused generally on your family background and upbringing. If you start veering towards other stories about your life or career, or why you want to go to law school, know that you’re veering towards personal statement territory. Steer yourself back to focusing on your family background and upbringing.

Lastly, when you have a draft of your diversity statement that is ready for human consumption (usually your second or third draft), have several trusted and objective people review it. Look for patterns in the feedback given to you. If two people say the same thing, pay attention. Then revise, revise, revise until your diversity statement is the best that it can be.

PEG CHENG is the author of The No B.S. Guides for applying to law school and the founder of Prelaw Guru , where you can find law school admissions tips, videos, books, and more.

Diversity statements may not apply to everyone. Your LSAT score will still reign supreme over your law school application. Make sure you can do your best by using the best LSAT prep. Schedule a call with us to find what LSAT prep course works best for you!

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Diversity in Law School

Access to justice is essential for a democratic society, and diversity in the legal profession increases the likelihood of access for all people. Lawyers have the training and expertise to positively impact the lives of others through representation and advocacy. Law school diversity enables individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and identities to add their perspectives and talents to the greater legal community.

The profession needs lawyers like you, and who share your life experiences. A diverse learning environment that represents communities across social and personal identities — such as racial and ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ statuses, disabilities, age, geographic regions, socioeconomic status, and nationality — strengthens our justice system and expands legal access.

What Law Schools Are Doing

Aals law deans antiracist clearinghouse project.

This resource is one of the ways that the law school community is responding to racism in the United States, a scourge that threatens both our democracy and the rule of law. This project provides links to Solidarity and Antiracism statements from over 160 ABA-approved law schools.

ABA Law School Disability Programs Directory

People with disabilities are part of the rich diversity in law schools and the legal profession. State and federal laws ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to educational and employment opportunities. This directory, compiled by the American Bar Association, provides information on the disability-related programs at law schools throughout the United States.

LSAC LGBTQ+ Guide to Law Schools

This guide is designed to help law school candidates gauge the LGBTQ+ climates at law schools throughout the United States and Canada. The guide includes information provided by over 120 law schools, in response to a 2021 survey administered by LSAC.

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Resources for Diverse Candidates

LSAC provides resources to encourage candidates with diverse identities and backgrounds to pursue a legal education. Your voice and perspective is needed — in the law school classroom, the legal profession, and the world.

We recognize that a n intersection of multiple identities is likely to reside within individual candidates. While the resources below have been grouped to address single aspects of identity and background, we encourage you to explore all the categories that apply to you.

Racially and Ethnically Diverse Candidates

LGBTQ+ Candidates

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Financial Support and Advice

The cost of law school can be daunting, but resources are available to make higher education affordable.

• Scholarships : Many organizations offer scholarships for law school and undergraduate education. Explore scholarship opportunities that may be available to you.
• PLUS Programs : LSAC’s summer Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) programs are designed for prospective law students facing structural or systemic barriers to a legal education. The programs’ focus on the admission process, community building, understanding the financial aid process, and building the skills required to succeed in law school will help you prepare for the next step in your career journey. The PLUS program is free to admitted students.
• LSAC Fee Waivers : Fee waivers are available to help cover the costs of applying to law school. LSAC’s fee waiver program is designed for prospective law students who are financially under-resourced, with the goal of increasing equity and access to legal education.
• Paying for Law School : Learn about financial aid options and the steps you’ll need to take to apply for aid.

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The University of Chicago The Law School

In their own words: admissions essays that worked.

Throughout this issue, countless examples show why we are so proud of the students at the law school. One might think that we get lucky that the students the admissions office chose for their academic accomplishments also turn out to be incredible members of our community, but it’s really all by design. Our students show us a great deal more in their applications than just academics—and we care about a lot more than their numbers. In these pages, meet five of our students in the way we first met them: through the personal statements they wrote for their law school applications. And through their photos, meet a sixth: Andreas Baum, ’12, the talented student photographer who took these pictures for us.

Tammy Wang, ’12

EDUCATION: Johns Hopkins University, BA in International Relations, concentration East Asian Studies, with honors (2007) WORK EXPERIENCE: AsianFanatics.net LAW SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: University of Chicago Law Review, Immigrant Child Advocacy Project Clinic, APALSA, Admissions Committee, Law School Film Festival I fell in love for the first time when I was four. That was the year my mother signed me up for piano lessons. I can still remember touching those bright, ivory keys with reverence, feeling happy and excited that soon I would be playing those tinkling, familiar melodies (which my mother played every day on our boombox) myself. To my rather naïve surprise, however, instead of setting the score for Für Elise on the piano stand before me, my piano teacher handed me a set of Beginner’s Books. I was to read through the Book of Theory, learn to read the basic notes of the treble and bass clefs, and practice, my palm arched as though an imaginary apple were cupped between my fingers, playing one note at a time. After I had mastered the note of “C,” she promised, I could move on to “D.” It took a few years of theory and repetition before I was presented with my very first full-length classical piece: a sonatina by Muzio Clementi. I practiced the new piece daily, diligently following the written directives of the composer. I hit each staccato note crisply and played each crescendo and every decrescendo dutifully. I performed the piece triumphantly for my teacher and lifted my hands with a flourish as I finished. Instead of clapping, however, my teacher gave me a serious look and took both my hands in hers. “Music,” she said sincerely, “is not just technique. It’s not just fingers or memorization. It comes from the heart.” That was how I discovered passion. Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn: the arcs and passages of intricate notes are lines of genius printed on paper, but ultimately, it is the musician who coaxes them to life. They are open to artistic and emotional interpretation, and even eight simple bars can inspire well over a dozen different variations. I poured my happiness and my angst into the keys, loving every minute of it. I pictured things, events, and people (some real, some entirely imagined— but all intensely personal) in my mind as I played, and the feelings and melodies flowed easily: frustration into Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique, wistfulness into Chopin’s nocturnes and waltzes, and sheer joy into Schubert. Practice was no longer a chore; it was a privilege and a delight. In high school, I began playing the piano for church services. The music director gave me a binder full of 1-2-3 sheet music, in which melodies are written as numbers instead of as notes on a music staff. To make things a bit more interesting for myself—and for the congregation—I took to experimenting, pairing the written melodies with chords and harmonies of my own creation. I rarely played a song the same way twice; the beauty of improvisation, of songwriting, is that it is as much “feeling” as it is logic and theory. Different occasions and different moods yielded different results: sometimes, “Listen Quietly” was clean and beautiful in its simplicity; other times, it became elaborate and nearly classical in its passages. The basic melody and musical key, however, remained the same, even as the embellishments changed. The foundation of good improvisation and songwriting is simple: understanding the musical key in which a song is played—knowing the scale, the chords, the harmonies, and how well (or unwell) they work together—is essential. Songs can be rewritten and reinterpreted as situation permits, but missteps are obvious because the fundamental laws of music and harmony do not change. Although my formal music education ended when I entered college, the lessons I have learned over the years have remained close and relevant to my life. I have acquired a lifestyle of discipline and internalized the drive for self-improvement. I have gained an appreciation for the complexities and the subtleties of interpretation. I understand the importance of having both a sound foundation and a dedication to constant study. I understand that to possess a passion and personal interest in something, to think for myself, is just as important.

Josh Mahoney, ’13

EDUCATION: University of Northern Iowa, BA in Economics and English, magna cum laude (2009) LAW SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Student Admissions Committee, flag football, Tony Patiño Fellow The turning point of my college football career came early in my third year. At the end of the second practice of the season, in ninety-five-degree heat, our head coach decided to condition the entire team. Sharp, excruciating pain shot down my legs as he summoned us repeatedly to the line to run wind sprints. I collapsed as I turned the corner on the final sprint. Muscle spasms spread throughout my body, and I briefly passed out. Severely dehydrated, I was rushed to the hospital and quickly given more than three liters of fluids intravenously. As I rested in a hospital recovery room, I realized my collapse on the field symbolized broader frustrations I felt playing college football. I was mentally and physically defeated. In South Dakota I was a dominant football player in high school, but at the Division I level my talent was less conspicuous. In my first three years, I was convinced that obsessively training my body to run faster and be stronger would earn me a starting position. The conditioning drill that afternoon revealed the futility of my approach. I had thrust my energies into becoming a player I could never be. As a result, I lost confidence in my identity. I considered other aspects of my life where my intellect, work ethic, and determination had produced positive results. I chose to study economics and English because processing abstract concepts and ideas in diverse disciplines was intuitively rewarding. Despite the exhaustion of studying late into the night after grueling football practices, I developed an affinity for academia that culminated in two undergraduate research projects in economics. Gathering data, reviewing previous literature, and ultimately offering my own contribution to economic knowledge was exhilarating. Indeed, undergraduate research affirmed my desire to attend law school, where I could more thoroughly satisfy my intellectual curiosity. In English classes, I enjoyed writing critically about literary works while adding my own voice to academic discussions. My efforts generated high marks and praise from professors, but this success made my disappointment with football more pronounced. The challenge of collegiate athletics felt insurmountable. However, I reminded myself that at the Division I level I was able to compete with and against some of the best players in the country.While I might never start a game, the opportunity to discover and test my abilities had initially compelled me to choose a Division I football program. After the hospital visit, my football position coach—sensing my mounting frustrations—offered some advice. Instead of devoting my energies almost exclusively to physical preparation, he said, I should approach college football with the same mental focus I brought to my academic studies. I began to devour scouting reports and to analyze the complex reasoning behind defensive philosophies and schemes. I studied film and discovered ways to anticipate plays from the offense and become a more effective player. Armed with renewed confidence, I finally earned a starting position in the beginning of my fourth year. My team opened the season against Brigham Young University (BYU). I performed well despite the pressures of starting my first game in front of a hostile crowd of 65,000 people. The next day, my head coach announced the grade of every starting player’s efforts in the BYU game at a team meeting: “Mahoney—94 percent.” I had received the highest grade on the team. After three years of A’s in the classroom, I finally earned my first ‘A’ in football. I used mental preparation to maintain my competitive edge for the rest of the season. Through a combination of film study and will power, I led my team and conference in tackles. I became one of the best players in the conference and a leader on a team that reached the semi-finals of the Division I football playoffs. The most rewarding part of the season, though, was what I learned about myself in the process. When I finally stopped struggling to become the player I thought I needed to be, I developed self-awareness and confidence in the person I was. The image of me writhing in pain on the practice field sometimes slips back into my thoughts as I decide where to apply to law school. College football taught me to recognize my weaknesses and look for ways to overcome them. I will enter law school a much stronger person and student because of my experiences on the football field and in the classroom. My decision where to attend law school mirrors my decision where to play college football. I want to study law at the University of Chicago Law School because it provides the best combination of professors, students, and resources in the country. In Division I college football, I succeeded when I took advantage of my opportunities. I hope the University of Chicago will give me an opportunity to succeed again.

Osama Hamdy, '13

EDUCATION: University of California, Berkeley, BA in Legal Studies, AB in Media Studies (2010) LAW SCHOOL ACTIVITES: BLSA, Intramural Basketball I was a shy thirteen-year-old who had already lived in six locations and attended five schools. Having recently moved, I was relieved when I finally began to develop a new group of friends. However, the days following September 11, 2001, were marked with change. People began to stare at me. Many conversations came to a nervous stop when I walked by. However, it wasn’t until one of my peers asked if I was a terrorist that it really hit me. Osama, my name is Osama. I went from having a unique name that served as a conversation starter to having the same name as the most wanted man in America. The stares and the comments were just the beginning. Eventually I received a death threat at school. I remember crying alone in my room, afraid to tell my parents in fear that they might not let me go to school anymore. My experience opened my eyes up to racial and religious dynamics in the United States. I started to see how these dynamics drove people’s actions, even if some were not aware of the reasons. The more I looked at my surroundings with a critical eye, the more I realized that my classmates had not threatened me because of hate, but because of fear and ignorance. This realization was extremely empowering. I knew that mirroring their hostility would only reinforce the fear and prejudice they held. Instead, I reached out to my peers with an open mind and respect. My acceptance of others served as a powerful counter example to many negative stereotypes I had to face.With this approach, I was often able to transform fear into acceptance, and acceptance into appreciation. I chose not to hide my heritage or myself, despite the fear of judgment or violence. As a result, I developed a new sense of self-reliance and self-confidence. However, I wasn’t satisfied with the change that I had brought about in my own life. I wanted to empower others as well. My passion for equality and social justice grew because I was determined to use my skills and viewpoint to unite multiple marginalized communities and help foster understanding and appreciation for our differences and similarities alike. The years following September 11th were a true test of character for me. I learned how to feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations. This allowed me to become a dynamic and outgoing individual. This newfound confidence fueled a passion to become a leader and help uplift multiple minority communities. During the last two summers I made this passion a reality when I took the opportunity to work with underprivileged minority students. All of the students I worked with came from difficult backgrounds and many didn’t feel as though college was an option for them. I learned these students’ goals and aspirations, as well as their obstacles and hardships. I believed in them, and I constantly told them that they would make it. I worked relentlessly to make sure my actions matched my words of encouragement. I went well above the expectations of my job and took the initiative to plan several additional workshops on topics such as public speaking, time management, and confidence building. My extra efforts helped give these students the tools they needed to succeed. One hundred percent of the twenty-one high school juniors I worked with my first summer are now freshmen at four-year universities. I feel great pride in having helped these students achieve this important goal. I know that they will be able to use these tools to continue to succeed. Inspired by my summer experience, I jumped at the opportunity to take on the position of Diversity Outreach Ambassador for the San Francisco Bar Association Diversity Pipeline Program. In this position, I was responsible for helping organize a campus event that brought educational material and a panel of lawyers to UC Berkeley in order to empower and inform minority students about their opportunities in law school. In this position I was able to unite a diverse group of organizations, including the Black Pre-Law Association, the Latino Pre-Law Society, and the Haas Undergraduate Black Business Association. Working in this position was instrumental in solidifying my desire to attend law school. The lawyers who volunteered their time had a significant impact on me. I learned that they used their legal education to assist causes and organizations they felt passionate about. One of the lawyers told me that she volunteered her legal services to a Latino advocacy association. Another lawyer explained to me how he donated his legal expertise to advise minority youth on how to overcome legal difficulties. Collaborating with these lawyers gave me a better understanding of how my passion for law could interact with my interest in social justice issues. My experiences leading minority groups taught me that I need to stand out to lead others and myself to success. I need to be proud of my culture and myself. My experiences after September 11th have taught me to defeat the difficulties in life instead of allowing them to defeat me. Now, whether I am hit with a racial slur or I encounter any obstacles in life, I no longer retreat, but I confront it fearlessly and directly. I expect law school will help give me the tools to continue to unite and work with a diverse group of people. I hope to continue to empower and lead minority communities as we strive towards legal and social equality.

Eliza Riffe, '13

EDUCATION: University of Chicago, AB in Anthropology, with honors (2006) WORK EXPERIENCE: Sarbanes-Oxley coordinator and financial analyst, ABM Industries Harper Library, situated at the center of the main quadrangle at the University of Chicago, resembles a converted abbey, with its vaulted ceilings and arched windows. The library was completed in 1912, before Enrico Fermi built the world’s first nuclear reactor, before Milton Friedman devised the permanent income hypothesis, and well before Barack Obama taught Constitutional Law. Generations of scholars have pored over Adam Smith and Karl Marx in the main reading room, penned world-class treatises at the long wooden tables, and worn their coats indoors against the drafts in the spacious Gothic hall. Abiding over all of these scholars, and over me when I was among them, is an inscription under the library’s west window that has served as my guiding intellectual principle: “Read not to believe or contradict, but to weigh and consider.” Per this inscription, which is an abridgement of a passage by Sir Francis Bacon, we readers ought to approach knowledge as a means of enhancing our judgment and not as fodder for proclamations or discord. The generations of scholars poring over Marx, for example, should seek to observe his theories of economic determinism in the world, not immediately begin to foment a riot in the drafty reading room at Harper. The reader may contend, though, that too much weighing and considering could lead to inertia, or worse, to a total lack of conviction. The Harper inscription, however, does not tell its readers to believe in nothing, nor does it instruct them never to contradict a false claim. Instead it prescribes a way to read. The inscription warns us to use knowledge not as a rhetorical weapon, but as a tool for making balanced and informed decisions. On the cruelest days in February during my undergraduate years, when I asked myself why I had not chosen to pursue my studies someplace warmer, I would head to Harper, find a seat from which I would have a clear view of the inscription, and say to myself: “That is why.” On such a day in February, seated at a long Harper table with my coat still buttoned all the way up, I discovered how much I appreciated Carl Schmitt’s clarity and argumentation. I marveled at the way his Concept of the Political progressed incrementally, beginning at the most fundamental, linguistic level. As an anthropology student, I wrongfully assumed that, because Schmitt was often positioned in a neo-conservative tradition, I could not acknowledge him. That day in February, I took the Bacon inscription to heart, modeled its discipline, and was able to transcend that academic tribalism. I added the kernel of The Concept of the Political , Schmitt’s “friend-enemy” dichotomy, to an ever-growing array of images and ideas that I had accumulated, among them Marx’s alienation, C. S. Peirce’s indexicality, and Pierre Bourdieu’s graphical depiction of social space. This patchwork of theories and descriptive models, when weighed and considered, informs my understanding of new ideas I encounter. The academic dons who decided to place the Bacon quote under the western window intended that the idea would transcend the scholastic realm of its readers. Indeed, in my work as a financial analyst for a publicly traded company, it is often a professional touchstone. Though each day in the world of corporate finance is punctuated with deadlines and requests for instantaneous information, I am at my best as an analyst when I consider all of the data thoroughly and weigh the competing agendas. Like emulsified oil and vinegar that separate over time when left undisturbed, the right answer will emerge from among all of the wrong answers when I take the time to consider all of the possibilities. An extra hour spent analyzing an income statement can reveal even more trends than could a cursory glance. Moreover, the more I weigh and consider when I have the opportunity, the more I enhance the judgment I will need to make quick decisions and pronouncements when I do not have time.With inner vision sharpened by years of consideration, I am able to “see into the life of things,” as Wordsworth described in writing of “Tintern Abbey.” Wordsworth’s memory of the abbey provided him much-needed transcendence in moments of loneliness or boredom. The memory of the inscription under the west window at Harper—“Read not to believe or contradict, but to weigh and consider”—has a similar function. For Wordsworth, Tintern alleviated emotional anguish; for me, the Bacon inscription reaffirms a sense of intellectual purpose. The words under the window, their meaning, and the very curvature of the letters in the stone are fixed in my mind and will continue to be as I enter the life of the law. What intrigues me most about legal education is the opportunity to engage simultaneously in the two complementary processes the Harper inscription inspires in me—building a foundation of theories and descriptive models while enhancing my judgment with practice and patience.

Evan Rose, '13

EDUCATION: University of Otago (New Zealand), BA in Philosophy (1999) WORK EXPERIENCE: Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen/Snowmass, Eurospecs Limited (NZ) LAW SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: LSA 1L Representative, BLSA, Student Admissions Committee As I tumble through the air, time seems to slow. I have fallen hard many times before, but even before I hit the ground I can tell this fall is different. I complete one and a half back flips and slam shoulders-first into the slope. As I lie on the hill, the snow jammed into the hood of my jacket begins to melt, and icy water runs down my back. I do not yet know that the impact has broken my neck. I grew up only a short drive from some of New Zealand’s best ski resorts, but my family could never afford ski vacations. My first opportunity to try snowboarding came on a trip with my university flatmate.With expectations shaped purely by the media, I left for the trip assuming snowboarding was a sport for adrenaline junkies, troublemakers, and delinquents. Much to my surprise, I instead found that it provided me with a sense of peace that defied these preconceptions. Anxiety had been a constant companion throughout much of my childhood. I had not always been this way, but years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of my stepfather had taken their toll. My once carefree demeanor had changed, leaving me fearful, panicky, and timid. On a snowboard these feelings faded into the background for the first time in years, and the difference was profound. I never truly realized the pain I had endured until riding gave me the opportunity to escape it. I sought out every possible opportunity to go riding, and through the sport I pushed the limits of both my physical and mental courage. Snowboarding became a vehicle for regaining the confidence and self-worth that had been taken from me through the injustice of abuse. Even as I began to ride competitively in boardercross racing and halfpipe, launching myself into the air over sixty-foot jumps, the sense of peace I gained during my first day on a snowboard stayed with me. It did, at least, until that April afternoon. As I lay in a hospital bed a few hours after my accident, an overwhelming sense of fear replaced any confidence that snowboarding had instilled in me. I faced the prospect of a lengthy and complicated surgery, with no certainty about the outcome. I knew my shattered vertebrae could easily leave me paralyzed. I was lucky to be alive, but any sense of luck eluded me as pain sent me in and out of consciousness. Two days later, surgeons worked for seven hours to rebuild my neck. I awoke to learn that I had escaped any serious nerve damage. However, I would need to be immobilized by a brace twenty-four hours a day, and for over three months, before I could even contemplate rehabilitation. Those months passed slowly. When I was finally able to start the process of rehabilitation, I made recovery my full-time job. I quickly learned that pain was to become the central reality of that year. The first day I could walk to my mailbox marked a significant achievement. Determined to return to full health, and even hoping to eventually return to riding, I gritted my teeth through the daily therapy sessions. At each subsequent visit, my doctor expressed his surprise at the progress of my recovery. Only twelve months after my injury, he cleared me to make a few careful runs on an easy, groomed slope. While I made it through those first few runs safely, they left me shaking with fear. Since then, I have again found joy in riding, but no amount of determination will allow me to ride the way I had before. I won’t be attempting double back flips again any time soon. Rather than focusing on my own riding, I now direct my energy into coaching. My experiences showed me the transformative power of courage and self-confidence, and taught me to build these qualities in others. At the Aspen Skiing Company, I develop and implement teaching curricula for more than two hundred snowboard instructors. My goal is for my fellow coaches to recognize that snowboarding can offer much more than just a diversion. It has the potential to have a profound and inspiring impact on their students’ lives. In the ample time my recovery allowed for reflection, I found solace in the fact that the abuse in my childhood fostered in me not bitterness, but an enduring dedication to fairness and justice. As a college student, this dedication led me to seek out classes in ethics and morality. As a manager and leader, I strive to display both courage and enduring fairness. My interest in the legal profession stems from my belief that laws represent the concrete expressions of justice and fairness in our society. After discovering the salvation it held for me, I believed that I was reliant on snowboarding. Yet, being forced to face the grueling process of rehabilitation without it allowed me to take the final step to recovery from the trauma of my childhood. I realized I am much stronger and more resilient than I had previously believed. I realized that courage is not something that snowboarding gave me but something that has always been within me. These realizations have prepared me to broaden the scope of my dedication to justice. Secure in the knowledge that the courage and determination I have shown will help shape my future success, I am now ready to take on this new challenge: the study and practice of law.  

Biggest law school scholarships disproportionately go to white students, ABA finds

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