Once you have a draft of your personal statement, you should have at least one person read it over. You don't necessarily have to go through a professional editing service, but you do want to make sure you choose someone with a strong grasp of the English language and preferably the law school admissions process.
The law school personal statement is a special creature and is an extremely important part of your application. Ideally you should ask someone who has either reviewed other law school personal statements or who has been accepted to law school; short of that, someone whose writing skills you respect is another good choice.
Potential helpful readers of law school statements may include the following:
- Pre-law advisor
- Law professor
- College writing professor
- Attorney
This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it should give you some idea as to where you can turn when your personal statement is ready to be critiqued. No matter who you choose, know that they should be reading for the following:
- Spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes
- Proper paragraph formation
- Extraneous thoughts or ideas that stray from the main point you're trying to make
- Whether you've answered the question, if you are writing in response to a question
- Overall readability and effectiveness of the statement
If you can find more than one person to read your personal statement, all the better, as sometimes it's good to have a few opinions to weigh as you edit; that said, remember that the statement is fundamentally yours, so don't let your voice get lost through suggestions. This is one of your only chances to speak directly to the admissions committee, so make it count -- and make sure its your voice that emerges.