I used this questionnaire, and I took a long time to think about each question and wrote out a brainstorm answering each one. About halfway through it, I had a solid topic and could reference what I had already written to create a full comprehensive statement. I hope it helps someone else.

What are your favorite activities outside of school/work?

How would your friends describe you?

When did you experience failure? How did you recover?

Have you ever been treated differently based on your race, ethnicity or sexual identity?

Are you a first-generation student or child of immigrants? How did this impact you?

Are you the oldest sibling? Do you have a lot of family responsibilities?

Have you received any accomplishments/awards outside of work?

What is your role in your group of friends?

Were there any moments when you had to really advocate for yourself?

Were you active in a religious community (church/temple/synagogue etc.) and did you have any leadership roles there?

Did you start or create anything at school, home, or work?

What were the circumstances in your family growing up?

Have you received any accomplishments/awards at work?

What are most proud of from your professional experience?

What was your biggest mistake professionally? How did you learn from it?

Do you have an area of expertise or special interest?

How have you handled rejection?

How would your managers/professors describe you?

Have you held any management or leadership roles?

Was there a time when you experienced conflict in a professional setting? How did you handle it?

Have you proposed change in a process/project at work/school? What was the result?

What inspires you to pursue a legal education?

Do you have any personal experiences with the law?

Who do you want to impact as a lawyer?

How has your professional experience shaped your career goals?

How will a legal career help you achieve your professional goals?

Additional Questions

What is a community where you feel at home? What is your role in the community? How do you contribute to it?

What have you done to make your school or community (family, organizations, hometown) a better place?

Describe a time where your leadership positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts (in your family, community, school, or organizations).

Describe a time where you made one or more people’s lives better. How did it make you feel?

What is something you frequently do that others will miss in your community when you are in law school? What drives you to make this contribution?

What is your greatest skill? What actions did you take to develop or grow this skill?

What is the most significant challenge you’ve faced and the steps you took to overcome it? How did the experience change you?

Have you faced any educational barriers? (e.g., a learning disability, family circumstances, illness). If so, what personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome these barriers? How has this experience shaped who you are today?

Describe a time where someone didn’t believe in you, and you proved them wrong. What was the situation? What actions did you take? What did you learn about yourself?

What is a subject or topic you learn just for the fun of it? How do you pursue your interest in it?

What do you find yourself doing or learning in your free time? (Avoid video games, hanging out with friends, or watching TV)

Describe a time you found yourself immersed in a topic. What did you learn? How did it change how you think about the world, yourself, or others?

Describe your creative side. Your creative side can be artistic, but it can also be shown through the unique approach you took to solving or thinking about a problem.

Think about an academic subject that inspires you or gets you excited. How have you furthered your interest in it inside and/or outside of the classroom?

What preoccupations, questions, or curiosities keep you up at night? Is there any common thread between the ideas that you spend time thinking about?

What is a topic that you can talk about forever without losing interest?

Think about your participation in your favorite organization. How would it be different if you weren’t there? In other words, what have you done that changed what the organization is today?

Describe a time where you had to lead. What did you do and what was the impact of what you did?

Describe a time when you helped resolve a conflict. What steps did you take to help others come to an agreement?

Describe a time you saw a problem that needed to be solved. What actions did you take to you solve it? What impact did your actions have?

Describe a time you saw a situation you did not agree with. What actions did you take to remedy it? What impact did your actions have?

Describe a time you set a goal. What actions did you take to achieve this goal? What impact did your actions have?

Is there anyone in your life who might call you an inspiration? What did you inspire them to do, learn, or change? What did you learn in the process?

What have you done or experienced in your life that is different than other applicants? How have these experiences shaped who you are?

Has your home or family life presented any challenging experiences for you? How have you grown from these challenges?

What is a Value you hold dear that most students lack? How did you develop this Value?

Think about your peers. What qualities, insights, experiences, Values, or skills make you different?

If you asked your peers, what would they say makes you unique? Do you agree with them?

What are you deeply passionate about that no one else seems to care about as much?

What is a topic that you can talk about forever without losing interest? How is this different than other applicants?