Writing the perfect personal statement -Part I

Now that you have decided on the universities you are going to apply to, it is time to concentrate on the most time-consuming and perhaps the most important part of your application- your personal statement/statement of purpose. I suggest that you write a generic statement of purpose and then tailor-make it according to requirements of each law school. Most law schools require you to answer similar questions like what is your future plan/ where do you see yourself five or ten years later or why do you want to pursue LLM from that particular law school. I suggest that look into the personal statement prompts given by each of the universities you are interested in applying and write a big personal statement that answers all these questions. You can now ask your parents, uncle, aunts, cousins and friends to go over this personal statement and give their inputs. Incorporate these viewpoints, revise your personal statement as many times as required and make it perfect. The benefit of writing one generic personal statement is that you can give one 2-3 page document to family and friends going over the it. If you give them 10 personal statements stating more or less same facts, they may lose interest in reading them. That said, if you are applying for only 2-3 universities only, perhaps you should straightaway start writing school-specific personal statements. Please do not forget to write short sentences. Also, use words which portray your passion and interest in pursuing the LLM programme.

Choosing the right university

(Any information given here is purely the personal opinion of the author)

For someone aspiring to pursue Masters in Law from reputed universities  abroad, the first and most important task is to shortlist the prospective universities. Though one may be tempted to apply in all the good universities, this isn't the most advisable thing to do. It is necessary to shortlist due to various reasons. Firstly, almost every reputed university has an application fee  (Kings College, London and Queen Mary, London being notable exceptions) of around $80-100. Secondly, every University has its own application form which is generally detailed. Thirdly, even if you have a generic  personal statement already written, you have to tailor-make it for every University as the word limits and questions to be answered for personal statement vary from University to University. Also, it is definitely not advisable to apply to only one University, however confident you have into getting into it, as it will be putting too many eggs into one basket. Ideally, the universities applied to should range from 3 to 10.

Choosing the universities to apply is not an easy task but it is something that has to be done. I recommend a method for doing this. Give yourself a day or two and think why you want to do LLM, which branch of law you want to specialise in and what you seek the most from the university you want to apply in. The criteria which are generally important to prospective students are : reputation of a university, its research facilities, reputation of its faculty members, geographical location of an university, specialization of an university in a particular branch of law you are interested in, mode of teaching in a university, scholarship opportunities in a university, etc. List the reasons which are important to you in order of priority in a piece of paper. For example, Oxford University is more well-known than McGill University but McGill has the best research facility and faculty for Air and Space Law. Hence, for someone passionate about Air and Space Law, perhaps it is more advisable to pursue LLM from McGill University. Research according to your priorities. The ranking websites can serve as a good starting point.

However, if your priorities are not clear-cut or if you are unaware of the good universities, which is quite understandable for a fresh graduate, here is the solution. List out the 20 most coveted universities in the world or if you want to do LLM from a particular country, the top 20 universities providing legal education of that country. Go to the ranking websites to find this out. Now, Times higher education and the complete university guide are some ranking websites I referred to. Other ranking websites you can easily find out by simple google search. Most ranking websites I found were country specific. Some websites rank universities according to subject (eg: law) whereas others rank universities on their overall research, reputation etc.

First, check whether these universities have any basic requirements like CGPA etc and whether you meet such requirements. Then, read extensively about these universities from their own websites and from other websites commenting on them. This research will help you to identify what sets a particular university apart and whether the university has well-known faculty members in the branch of law you are interested to study. (Note this down in a separate as it will later be helpful to you while you write personal statement for that university). The research on the universities will also tell you about the scholarships offered by the university or its law department, the accommodation facilities the university offers (in case you are planning to stay in university residence) and other factors important to you. Now, you can easily have  a list of 10 universities whose basic requirements you fulfil and which meets your expectations. If possible, find out from the websites of these shortlisted universities, names and email addresses of graduate law students currently studying in these universities. Contact them through facebook or by sending email and get their feedback.