As I discussed in my previous post, I think everyone who applies to top LL.M. programs should think about the Harvard Law School essay questions even if they don't intend to apply to Harvard. Harvard has the most difficult set of essay questions that any LL.M. program asks and most who apply to Harvard will be utilizing their content for other schools. So even if you don't apply to Harvard, you should be aware of what some of your strongest competition will be doing. Harvard has four essay questions (you can download the application here).
The Personal Statement questions:
Personal Statement: Please read parts (a) and (b) below carefully and write an essay addressing both questions, with part (a)constituting at least half of the total length. Your entire statement should be no more than 1500 words—anything exceeding the word limit will be disallowed. Please type or word-process your statement, with your full name on the top of each page and your signature at the end, and attach it to your application.
(a)Briefly describe either an important issue in your field of interest or a current legal problem facing a particular country, region, or the world, and then propose a theoretical framework or a legal analysis or strategy to address this issue.
(b)Please tell us something about yourself—in particular, why you wish to pursue an LL.M. degree at Harvard and how doing so connects with what you have done in the past and what you plan to do in the future. Important: Your personal statement must address the above questions specifically, and must be solely the product of your own efforts. We reserve the right to disqualify a statement written by, or with the help of, someone other than the applicant.
Now while (a) and (b) are the main questions, there are actually two other essay questions:
Academic interests: Please describe the areas of your academic interest, including a list of three to five courses in which you are most interested. If you are interested in pursuing the concentration in international finance, tax, human rights, or corporate law and governance, or in the six-credit LL.M. Thesis option, please so indicate. (Note: Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.)
Career plans: What are your career plans (both short-term and long-term) after you complete your graduate law studies? (Check � no more than 3) Law teaching: Full-time Part-time Government service Law Firm In-house (Corporate counsel) International Organization Non-Governmental Organization Judiciary Prosecutor Research Business (non-law) Other (please specify): Please elaborate on your plans. In which country (or countries) do you intend to pursue your career? (Note: Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.)
Clearly no applicant should duplicate the content they write in essay (b) and in these two shorter questions, yet I believe many applicants do because they treat these two shorter questions as simply application questions and not essay questions. If you think of them as essay questions, you see that, in fact, Harvard gives 1900 words maximum to each applicant. This is more than you are likely to write for any school with the possible exception of schools that don't specify essay length.
Now let's analyze the questions:
(a)Briefly describe either an important issue in your field of interest or a current legal problem facing a particular country, region, or the world, and then propose a theoretical framework or a legal analysis or strategy to address this issue.
Question (a) is what makes Harvard's essay really different from most other LL.M. applications. This is a real test of your analytical and legal thinking. It is also test of your ability to communicate something important in 750-1000 words. You need at least 500 for (b) and (a) must be at least 750 words long. From my experience the most effective way to write this essay is to:
1. Identify a legal issue that you know really well and can provide a nuanced perspective on. Ideally it should also relate to what you intend to study at Harvard, but at minimum should be a reflection of your best legal thinking.
2. Write a long first draft, say 1000-2000 words.
3. Expect to go through at least four more drafts before it is close to being finished.
4. Show it to a lawyer or other legal expert who can assess whether what you say is actually accurate and impressive. With my clients, I always tell them to do this. Even if I am very familiar with the legal issue my client is analyzing, I ask them to try to get expert advice. If expert advice is not available, find the next best thing, a fellow legal practitioner whose opinion you trust.
5. If you use an admissions consultant, you should ask him or her to assess this essay within the context of your entire application and in comparison to other applicants who were admitted to Harvard.
(b)Please tell us something about yourself—in particular, why you wish to pursue an LL.M. degree at Harvard and how doing so connects with what you have done in the past and what you plan to do in the future.
This is actually a very standard question though somewhat different from the standard catchall questions that most other schools ask. The real issue here is think first what you don't need to include here and that requires looking at the next two essays first, so we will come back to this question.
Academic interests: Please describe the areas of your academic interest, including a list of three to five courses in which you are most interested. If you are interested in pursuing the concentration in international finance, tax, human rights, or corporate law and governance, or in the six-credit LL.M. Thesis option, please so indicate. (Note: Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.)
For most other schools, this would be a standard part of the main question, but Harvard does it a little differently. This means that in (b) you don't have discuss your academic interests in detail because you will doing it here. In the context of your answer, provide the list they ask for. I suggest only focusing on two or three areas of legal interest because if you try to do more you will not be able to say anything very intelligent about it. Instead come across as someone with a very focused academic plan. Your academic plan at Harvard should be consistent with your future career plans.
Please elaborate on your plans. In which country (or countries) do you intend to pursue your career? (Note: Please limit your response to no more than 200 words.)
You should use this space to provide a specific career plan. You will have already talked about your future in (b), but at a more conceptual level. Here you should provide details of your future plans.
One thing to keep in mind: HARVARD IS FOR LEADERS. It does not matter if your leadership is as a judge, a prosecutor, a leading attorney in your field, a government expert, a scholar, or a in-house legal counsel, Harvard is looking for people who will make a difference. Your career plan is the place to show how you will use the legal knowledge you acquire at Harvard to become a credit to the legal profession. In (b) you will focus on "why?"
Now back to (b):
(b)Please tell us something about yourself—in particular, why you wish to pursue an LL.M. degree at Harvard and how doing so connects with what you have done in the past and what you plan to do in the future.
Given that you don't need to provide the details of either your academic plan at Harvard or your career plans, there is plenty of room in (b) to focus on what Harvard wants to know:
1.Why do you want an LL.M. at Harvard? Explain clearly the reason(s) for obtaining an LL.M. and at Harvard in particular.
2. Connect to the past: You need to reveal something about yourself, in particular your motivations for pursuing a legal career and need to trace that motivation to your desire to pursue an LL.M. Tell a story that reveals something about you. If you are having difficulty understanding how to do that, I suggest taking a look at one of my earlier posts.
3. Connect to the future: You need to explain why an LL.M. will help you achieve your future goals. The details for that plan will be discussed in your career plan essay. If you are having difficulty formulating goals, please click here.
A good (b) answer should effectively provide the conceptual backbone that connects all four essays because essay (b) is about your past and future motivations as a legal professional. Those motivations should certainly impact what legal issue you write about in (a) as well as your academic plan at Harvard and your future career plans.
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com.
-Adam Markus
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