The following are the instructions for the Personal Statement length and Optional Essay instructions that are contained within each application.
Yale
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Required 250 word statement on any topic
Harvard
PS: Maximum 2 pages with 11pt font, 1” margins, double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
Stanford
PS: About two pages
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
Columbia
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Optional diversity statement (“brief”)
U Chicago
PS: 2-4 pages suggested
Other essays: N/A; include diversity information in PS
NYU
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
UPenn
PS: 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, optional “Penn Core Values,” optional essay about experience on a team — all 1 page maximum double spaced
UVA
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Optional addenda (open-ended, multiple addenda accepted)
UC Berkeley
PS: Maximum 4 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
Duke
PS: No page limit
Other essays: Optional “Why Duke,” optional diversity statement
Michigan
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Supplemental essays — 8 options, choose 1 or 2 (or none). Should be about one page, 11pt font, double spaced, but no more than 2 pages. Topics: (1) Say more about your interest in the University of Michigan Law School. What do you believe Michigan has to offer to you and you to Michigan? (2) Describe your current hopes for your career after completing law school. How will your education, experience, and development so far support those plans? (3) If you do not think that your academic record or standardized test scores accurately reflect your ability to succeed in law school, please tell us why. (4) Describe a failure or setback in your life. How did you overcome it? What, if anything, would you do differently if confronted with this situation again? (5) Describe an experience that speaks to the problems and possibilities of diversity in an educational or work setting. (6) What do you think are the skills and values of a good lawyer? Which do you already possess? Which do you hope to develop? (7) How might your perspectives and experiences enrich the quality and breadth of the intellectual life of our community or enhance the legal profession? (8) Describe your educational experiences so far. What kinds of learning environments, teaching methods, student cultures, and/or evaluation processes lead you to thrive, or contrariwise, thwart your success?
Northwestern
PS: Recommended 1-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional “Why Northwestern,” optional diversity statement — choose neither, one, or both. Length should be one or two paragraphs.
Cornell
PS: Maximum 2 pages 11pt font double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement. Short answer (2-3 sentences) “Why Cornell” in app
Georgetown
PS: No page limit
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, optional 250 word response from four prompts: (1) One of the core values of Georgetown Law is that students and faculty learn from each other. As you imagine yourself as a member of the Georgetown Law community, what is one lesson that you have learned in your life that you will want to share with others? (2) What do you regret not doing? (3) What is the biggest ethical challenge you have ever faced and how did you handle it? (4) Fill a 5 1/2″ long by 2 1/2″ wide box in any way you’d like. (See online paper form for an example.) (5) Prepare a one-minute video that says something about you. Upload it to an easily accessible website and provide us the URL. (If you are using YouTube, we strongly suggest that you make your video unlisted so it will not appear in any of YouTube’s public spaces.) What you do or say is entirely up to you. Please note that we are unable to watch videos that come in any form other than a URL link.
UT Austin
PS: Maximum 2 pages 11pt font double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, maximum 3 pages 11pt font double spaced
UCLA
PS: Maximum 2 pages 12pt font
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, optional “programmatic contribution” essay about specializations/joint degrees, optional public interest essay
Vanderbilt
PS: Maximum 2 pages
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
WUSTL
PS: Approximately 1-3 pages
Other essays: N/A
Emory
PS: Maximum 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
GWU
PS: 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement (maximum 300 words)
U Minn
PS: 2-5 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
USC
PS: 2-4 pages 12pt font double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
Alabama
PS: Approximately 2 pages
Other essays: N/A
William & Mary
PS: No stated page limit (“brief”)
Other essays: Optional essays for applicants that have a special interest in the Institute of Bill of Rights Law, Center for Legal and Court Technology, Election Law Program, Law Library, Public Service Admission Ambassador, Special Education Advocacy, Veterans Benefits, and Virginia Coastal Policy Fellowships
U Washington
PS: 700 word maximum
Other essays: 500 words maximum on one of three prompts: (1) If you were asked to create a non-profit organization, what would be the organization, its mission, and its purpose; (2) How would you define “global common good”? Provide an example of how you have contributed to the “global common good”; or (3) What life events or experiences have had the greatest influence in shaping your character and why?
Notre Dame
PS: Maximum 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional “Why Notre Dame” essay, optional diversity essay
Boston U
PS: Approximately 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
U Iowa
PS: 2-3 pages
Other essays: N/A
Indiana U Bloomington
PS: Suggested length of 500 words
Other essays: N/A
UGA
PS: Maximum 4 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
Arizona State
PS: Maximum 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
Ohio State
PS: Generally 2-3 pages
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, optional essay on leadership, optional essay on public interest dedication
UNC
PS: Maximum 4 pages 10pt font double spaced. MUST include why you want to enter the legal profession and why you want to attend UNC specifically
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
U Wisconsin Madison
PS: 2-3 pages 12pt font double spaced 1” margins
Other essays: N/A
Wake Forest
PS: No stated page limit
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
Boston College
PS: 2-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
BYU
PS: Maximum 2 pages 12pt font double spaced
Other essays: N/A
Fordham
PS: Maximum 2 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement
UC Davis
PS: Maximum 4 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
U Arizona
PS: 2-4 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
U Illinois
PS: 2-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: N/A
SMU
PS: Approximately 2-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: Required “Why SMU” (1 page double spaced), diversity statement (2-3 pages double spaced) optional but required for scholarship consideration
U Colorado Boulder
PS: Maximum 1,000 words
Other essays: Optional diversity statement (maximum 500 words)
Washington & Lee
PS: Maximum 3 pages 12pt font double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, optional ethical dilemma essay (500 words maximum)
FSU
PS: Maximum 500 words
Other essays: Optional diversity statement (maximum two pages 12pt font double spaced)
George Mason
PS: Maximum 500 words
Other essays: Required “Why George Mason” (maximum 250 words), optional diversity statement
Tulane
PS: Suggested 2-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: Required “Why Tulane,” optional diversity statement
U Maryland
PS: Maximum 750 words
Other essays: Optional diversity statement – approximately 250 words
U Florida
PS: NO personal statement — “Academic Admissions Statement” that focuses on academic interests and experiences. Maximum 4 pages 12pt font double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement, maximum 2 pages 12pt font double spaced
U Utah
PS: 2-3 pages double spaced
Other essays: Optional diversity statement