Personal Statement Brainstorming Worksheet
Personal Statement Brainstorming Worksheet is a Villanova Pre-Law Advising resource that helps students begin drafting a law school personal statement. The worksheet guides students through reflecting on meaningful life experiences, identifying themes, developing a thesis statement, and organizing ideas into a clear outline.
Students can use this resource to move from brainstorming to a structured personal statement draft that connects personal experiences with motivation for law school.
The worksheet helps students brainstorm by asking them to:
- Identify at least three meaningful life experiences
- Reflect on interests, hobbies, places, people, work, volunteer experiences, academics, adversity, or challenges
- Choose one experience to focus on
- Explain how the experience changed them
- Identify what they learned
- Describe the skills or strengths they developed or demonstrated
- Explain the result or impact of their contribution
- Connect the experience to a central theme
Example themes include:
- Responsibility
- Initiative
- Resourcefulness
- Self-advocacy
The worksheet also helps students turn a theme into a thesis statement. For example, a student might connect growing up in a large family to responsibility, transferring colleges to initiative, studying abroad to resourcefulness, or navigating ADHD to self-advocacy.
The outline section guides students through:
- Introductory paragraph: Start with a personal story or hook that connects to motivation for law school and the program.
- Thesis and preview: Explain why the student is a strong fit for the program and preview the main points.
- Body paragraphs: Discuss current or past experiences, future goals, reasons for applying to law school, and fit with a specific law school.
- Transitions: Use topic sentences and connect each body paragraph back to the thesis.
- Conclusion: Restate the thesis, connect to the mission or values of the program, and return to the original story or bigger picture.
The worksheet includes a sample outline about paddle boarding and transferring colleges, showing how a personal story can become a larger statement about initiative, growth, confidence, and wanting to help others through the legal field.
Students can use this worksheet to organize their ideas before writing and to make sure their personal statement has a clear theme, personal reflection, specific examples, and a strong connection to law school.
