preLaw - Back to School 2007 - (Page 38) “The personal statement is going to give them a way of understanding who this person really is.” — Richard Montauk, author of “How to Get into the Top Law Schools” Richard: Applicants who are still in college are likely to have two professors, maybe more, writing on their behalves. That would be standard and thoroughly appropriate. Those professors should ordinarily include someone in the student’s major. It’s a bit odd if no professor in the major has been impressed enough to write on a student’s behalf. With luck, the students will be tapping people who have seen them in advanced courses and seminars, or doing a thesis, for example, preferably in their major. If somebody has been heavily involved in some sort of extracurricular pursuit, or community project, then having the person in charge of that – provided that he or she has seen the applicant over an extended period of time – write on his or her behalf, would be a very good thing. Susan: A lot of people make a very fundamental mistake. They think that the best recommendation comes from the most famous professor, or the most famous person, so that if their parents know somebody, who knows somebody, that that’s the way to get in. You’re much better off getting a recommendation from somebody who may be, in all due respect, a nobody in the larger world, but who knows you. Think very consciously about cultivating at least one or two faculty members who will really know you. Don’t worry about their status. Worry about whether they know you, and can say something that can actually help your recommendation. preLaw: At a lot of colleges, students are in classes with hundreds of other students. How do they make a connection with the professor, so the person actually knows them? Susan: Find a nice professor like me. I teach very big classes, and I teach undergrads. But what I say to my students is, “Look, I’m happy to write a recommendation for anyone who will put in the time to work with me on it. Because I’m probably not going to know you very well from taking one or two classes with me.” So you’ve got to find somebody who will come and sit down with you and talk about the recommendation. And what I say to people is, “Look, you know yourself best. If you come in and tell me things about yourself that you can’t really say in your personal statement, but that I can use, I’ll use them.” We’ll take all the help we can get, so you should really think through what you want that recommendation to say, and in the nicest possible way, help the person write it. At Penn State Dickinson, you can study with renowned scholars, pursue joint degrees with top Penn State graduate departments, enjoy new and enhanced programs of study and much more. UNITING PENNSYLVANIA’S OLDEST LAW SCHOOL WITH ONE OF AMERICA’S GREAT RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES Learn more about the joint degree and other specialty programs at www.dsl.psu.edu. The University is currently engaged in a $110 million building project for new law school facilities in Carlisle and University Park. View building progress on our Web site. PERSONAL STATEMENTS preLaw: How important is the personal statement in the admissions process? Richard: When the admissions committee is reading admissions materials – they’ll start by looking at the resume to get a picture as to who the person is, and then turn Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. DSL 07-71 38 preLaw http://www.famu.edu/law http://www.famu.edu/law http://www.dsl.psu.edu http://www.dsl.psu.edu
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