55 Successful Harvard Law School Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get Into the Law School of Your Choice

by Harvard Crimson

Separate yourself from the pack

Competition has never been more intense for admittance into the nation's top law schools. The application essay represents your only chance to plea your case to admissions officers. Why select you over so many other qualified applicants?

Your essay needs to do more than simply list your background and accomplishments. It must reveal the depth of your passion for law, the discipline you bring to this demanding profession, and the strength of character you possess for the ethical and moral challenges that lie ahead.

Learn by example

Harvard Law School is one of the premier law schools in America. Every year, thousands of elite applicants try for a few hundred slots. Of the dedicated few accepted, fifty-five have shared the application essays that helped them make the cut.

* Learn what works.

* Structure your essay for maximum impact.

* Avoid common pitalls.

Each essay is analyzed by the staff of the Harvard Crimson , Harvard's daily newspaper, and accompanied by no-nonsense advice on crafting your own. 55 Successful Harvard Law School Application Essays will give you all the help you need to write the essay that will get you in.

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2007

Reviews

[Mallika · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Page Garbee · Rating 1 out of 5]

A relatively useless book for those seeking help with their own personal statements. It is clear that the only criteria used for selection was whether or not the applicant was admitted, with no consideration to the actual skill of the writer. Many essays contain grammatical errors and violate basic personal statement rules such as "don't summarize your resume" and "don't write someone else's story." To make matters worse, a critique of each essay is offered by staff of the Harvard Crimson rather than an admissions officer. These individuals can only speculate as to what merits an admissions officer saw or if the essay even contributed to the applicant's admittance.

[Haghia lubis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't say whether this book is marvellous or not; but for what I know, this book works. I got in, so I guess my essay, which I made with the help of this book plays a lot in getting me in.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to gather ideas and helped me formulate my own personal statement. I had already drafted my PS prior to reading this and it was great to see I was on the right track in terms of format.

[Unica Godina Le · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Very insightful. I love reading personal statements that feels like a short story novel. Some of them were very powerful too. I've highlighted many pages (individual essays) that stood out to me. Some of them were deeply personal and emotional, yet captivating. It really feels like I'm reading a short chapter of a fictional novel. But the fact that this is real life … is saying something.

I also liked that this book contains the analysis by the Staff of The Harvard Crimson for each essay (what could've been better, what made this statement strong and unique, etc.). I also liked that the book is divided into different themes of the essays (i.e., evolution, telling a story, identity, inspiration, when the going gets tough, etc.).

I'm glad I picked up this book. It's helping me give some clarity about what I want to write about.

[Ryan Roe]

This is extremely helpful for prospective law school students. It shows you the wide range of things you can write about and illustrates the utter importance of showing the reader who YOU are more than anything. They don't just want to accept the students that are gonna be the next supreme court justices, or have the craziest movie-like childhood story. They want to see that you know yourself, and can explain it. I read each one of these, and took notes after each of them relating my story to the style of their essay. I feel like I didn't really know why I wanted to be a lawyer until I read these essays and then wrote my own personal statement. Now I couldn't be more confident in my "why"

[Lillian]

I really like how this book gave analysis of the essays and said what could have been improved instead of just listing a bunch of great personal statements with no nuance. I would love to see a more up to date version as this book nears turning 20 and lots have changed regarding law school admissions since then.

[Rosie Ezgur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not applicable to applications today. Some of them literally said their parents went to Harvard Law and so should they... Not very good advice on how to write a personal statement.

[Yuniknows · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you aim to go to Harvard Law School and want to make an outstanding essay, you should read this book.
What makes this interesting is that each essay is reviewed and responded by the Harvard Crimson Staff. Not only that this book provided the successful essays, it also gives you the essays that didn’t work so you get the idea of what the Harvard Law School admission officers are looking for.

The Harvard Crimson Staff also provide the suggestions and tips to make your essays engaging without losing your points.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was somewhat helpful as I tried to come up with a theme for my personal statement. It groups essays into popular themes that admissions offices like to see. Unfortunately, very few of the themes resonated with me and so it ended up being a little frustrating.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, but made me feel like I really haven't accomplished much in my lifetime... Some of these essays are by individuals who have traveled the entire world/started their own company/know seven languages/invented some genius contraption. I feel a little inadequate.

[SallyStenger]

This book consists of several short essays by students who applied to Harvard Law School. Each essay is about two pages long and is followed by a short critique by someone from the school newspaper. The essays are sorted by category. I found the book interesting and easy to read.

[Kyaw Khant]

For study Law school.

[Gordon Kwok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting books with successful essays.

[Isma Yanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Istvan Zoltan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful book to provide inspiration for admission essays, motivation letters, statements of purpose, diversity statements, and any extra documentaion one can submit in support of one's application to the elite and good law schools.
Content wise trends change about what counts as a good topic, narrative, structure and punchline, but some of the writerly solutions and the big topics whithin which one situates the essay remains the same.
It is practical, the commentary made by Harvard Crimson staff is useful, and the range of essays can provide inspiration to applicants with a wide range of personality types.