DS vs. PS Forum

(Personal Statement Examples, Advice, Critique, . . . )
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kiklavan

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DS vs. PS

Post by kiklavan » Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:09 pm

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Last edited by kiklavan on Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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UVA2B

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Re: DS vs. PS

Post by UVA2B » Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:20 pm

Nothing you've said is worthy of being scared of quoting, but still, I'll entertain it.

Stop thinking about these statements as distinct and/or absolutely necessary in a vacuum. The reason for submitting a PS (beyond it being a requirement pretty much everywhere) has nothing to do with whether you should submit a DS. For instance, if your PS is entirely centered around the exact same subject matter that you would write your DS about, then it's superfluous. But that doesn't mean a DS would be superfluous if you re-imagined it in a way that would show another angle on your personality/application/strengths.

Here is a good rule for your third dimension parts of your application (i.e. not your LSAT/GPA): if it says something new, interesting, or different about you, then you should include it. If it doesn't make a new point, or it makes a similar point in a less effective way than you've shown elsewhere in your application and it's an optional submission, then you're better off leaving it out.

Too often applicants treat these documents like they aren't interconnected. When admissions reads your file, they'll literally read everything you submit in short order. If everything is coherent and presents different strengths, then you've maximized your application. But if you continue to hammer home the same point about your strengths, it'll lose effect.

Without knowing more, these are the grounds you're playing with from what I can tell.

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