I will just roughly summarize my life experiences, let me know if is interesting enough to turn into into a diversity statement (I read that you can write these even if you are not URM, which I hope is just not the samething as people saying softs matter), but anyways:

. Born in China, stayed there till I was 10. Lived in a factory based city, the whole city or village rather back in the day revolved on oil. Went to school for about 10hrs a day since kindergarten. Personally experienced strong communist propaganda. Became really good at math and table tennis (aha typical stereotype). School/academic capabilities determined your social status
. Arrived at Canada when I was 10 (knew 0 English). Lived in low economic status households (Had to share 1bed/2bed room apartments in the first few years in Toronto to get by), was pretty poor due to the currency transfer from Yen to Canadian. Parents didnt speak much English, especially dad. We were pretty broke. Got in fights all the time (mostly beaten up actually), there were plenty of gangs and stuff. I think at this point I learnt to be tough and importance not to piss anyone off (Looking back now, I can really see the difficulty of getting out of a low SES neighbourhood). You got made fun of being good at school. (a somewhat clear division between the races)
. Parents got a job in different city, much nicer neighbourhood, no fights. Start making some real friends, went HS, went to university. Looking back I feel like I learnt alot (the 3 different cultures, China/Ghetto ass part of Toronto/and nice a nice N, where everyone is friendly and stuff). Can see things in hugely different perspectives, and empathize with people's difficulties.

Thats the rough idea, I am sure I have more emotional stories in there, but just cannot up with it at the moment. Let me know what you guys think, or if certain areas should be focused (if this is even worth pursuing).

I think this stuff is great fodder for a diversity statement.

Just showing your awareness of your own situation, and seeing the big picture is quite impressive.

Thanks! Anyone else .>.>?

Definitely something you can write a diversity statement about. Also a strong PS, if you don't have something else you want to write.

awesome thanks.

I was thinking of writing my PS on my intellectual curiosity (very interested in doing math in early ages because it was "puzzles" to solve, then I was interested in the human condition, became a psych major; however I wasnt really satisfied with math and psych because even though I grasped some fundamental concepts of the human condition and fulfilled my curosity, it didnt fulfill my want to leave an impact in the world, so I thought of taking law courses in UG; I enjoyed my law courses at UG, loved the complexity of cases and chances of making a real difference in the world)-> perhaps a bit idealistic.

This would not make a strong PS, in my opinion. It's very vague, and it's imparting a characteristic to you that everyone who is going to law school is just assumed to have.

It's also scattershot - you're all over the place. There's no possible way you can write anything in-depth or compelling about all of those facets of your life in two pages, double-spaced. The PS should be a laser, not a shotgun.

Pick one thing in your life that had a lasting impact on you, and write on that. It will be a much stronger statement.

Hmm. You are right I suppose, I would be just emphasizing a trait that all the applicants is assumed to have. I guess is back to the drawing board with this one. Or I might take your suggestion and write this "diversity" statement as a PS instead.

I am not sure if you have looked at TLS' own PS resources here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/personal ... mples.html. It gives some good examples and critiques for different types of PS.

I personally think this type "curiosity-driven personal growth" PS is fine if you have nothing better to write about. However, it won't make you stand out since most applicants who are considering good law schools could write a similar story like this. I think your diversity background / history of overcoming adversity could be a very good starting point for your PS. However, be sure to deliver a strong and coherent message in your PS that demonstrate the characteristics law schools are looking for. I have seen quite a few people lose the big picture (Why are they writing this PS? Who are they writing to?) and turn their PS into a mere emotional plea (no disrespect). That type of diversity PS won't help your law school admission.

I am not sure if you have looked at TLS' own PS resources here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/personal ... mples.html. It gives some good examples and critiques for different types of PS.

I personally think this type "curiosity-driven personal growth" PS is fine if you have nothing better to write about. However, it won't make you stand out since most applicants who are considering good law schools could write a similar story like this. I think your diversity background / history of overcoming adversity could be a very good starting point for your PS. However, be sure to deliver a strong and coherent message in your PS that demonstrate the characteristics law schools are looking for. I have seen quite a few people lose the big picture (Why are they writing this PS? Who are they writing to?) and turn their PS into a mere emotional plea (no disrespect). That type of diversity PS won't help your law school admission.[/quote]