What is the Law School Application Diversity Statement and Should You Write One?
Aside from the personal statement, law schools will often allow you to submit additional essays. These essays may take the form of “Why Us?” essays, essays on a particular prompt/topic, or they can take the form of a diversity statement.
You may be wondering to yourself what a diversity statement is and whether you should consider writing this optional essay. Before I go into whether you should write one, I want to talk to you a little bit about the differences between a personal statement and a diversity statement. This is important because oftentimes my biggest critique when I am reviewing students’ personal statements, is that what they really wrote was closer to a diversity statement.
Personal Statement vs Diversity Statement – What’s the Difference?
The personal statement is your chance to show the law schools why you want to go to law school, what you’re passionate about, and why you would make a great addition to their campus. While there are many different strategies and opinions about what goes into a personal statement (and several different types that can be successful), I believe a strong personal statement needs to address why going to law school is the logical next step on your journey, and what you plan to do with your law degree. After reading your personal statement, the admissions officer should be convinced that you absolutely want to go to law school. Check back for more blog posts that will go more in-depth on different aspects of your personal statement.
Logistically, diversity statements are shorter than personal statements. They are roughly 1-1.25 pages double spaced, in 11-12pt standard font.
The Power of the Diversity Statement
A diversity statement is your chance to show the admissions reader how your experiences, identity, and/or culture has shaped your perspective on the world such that you would bring with you a diverse perspective to the law school classroom.
The word diversity here is being used to signal: different/unique. Many students will complete discount the need to write a diversity statement because they feel like the term diversity here is only talking about race or gender. On the contrary, the diversity statement is not just talking about socioeconomic status, race, gender, religion, or culture. It can also be any unique experiences you have had, work, personal life, extracurricular activities, that have set you apart or contributed to a diverse way of thinking. You should focus your statement on your diversity of thought.
This is where this essay can be really powerful. Here you can talk about something that isn’t tied to or related to the law, but something that has shaped you as a person, nonetheless. There is an opportunity here for some truly fantastic writing that can set you apart from other applicants.
What Might You Talk About?
There are a number of things you could talk about. You could talk about a learning difference, how your upbringing has shaped your view and/or perspective of the law, or race/socioeconomic/gender in a nuanced way that is personal to you. Your diversity statement should be so unique to you that nobody else could have something similar. Really focus on those experiences that have shaped your way of thinking. Even a diversity statement about race or gender will fall flat if you don’t connect it to how it has contributed to your diverse way of thinking.
If there is something that isn’t integral to your personality or integral to how you see the world but may have still affected your education or your academic performance (like a learning difference) then you might want to put that in an addendum and not a diversity statement. But if there is something that shows who you are as a person and another side of you – then that is perfect fodder for a diversity statement.
The diversity statement is not a place for you to try to get a second chance to talk about why you want to go to law school or add on to the two-page limit in your personal statement. It shouldn’t repeat anything that you have already said in a personal statement.
A Note on Optional Essays
Most law schools aren’t interviewing, so really the personal statement and these optional essays are the place for you to bring out your personality and for them to get to know you beyond your numbers (LSAT/GPA). You want to check with the schools you are applying to make sure that they allow a diversity statement as some schools make you choose between a diversity statement and other optional statements or disallow optional statements at all. Overall though, law schools are interested in bringing in people that are going to contribute to the classroom and be great mentors, students, and researchers.
I include unlimited review of both personal statement and diversity statement drafts as part of all of my law school application packages. I also explain my thoughts on diversity statements on my YouTube channel. If you want personal guidance on navigating the application process, don’t hesitate to contact me and book an information session to see how I can help you achieve your law school goals.
Have more questions? Tweet me @sydamontgomery or follow me @smontgomeryconsulting on Instagram I’d love to hear from you!