Personal Documents

As part of your application to our JD program, you are required to submit a personal statement and a current résumé. You may also submit an optional essay.

Personal Statement

Your personal statement should discuss the significant personal, social, or academic experiences that have contributed to your decision to study law. Most personal statements are approximately two pages long. Please double-space your personal statement.

Résumé

A current résumé is required of all applicants. The résumé should reflect all full-time and part-time employment, both paid and unpaid, and all extracurricular activities and honors. Please format your résumé in reverse chronological order, with the most recent employment at the top, and indicate for each position whether it was full-time, part-time, paid, or unpaid. Please do not include high school activities or awards in your résumé. There is no required length for the résumé. Occasionally, the admissions committee will request further clarification of an applicant’s activities.

Optional Essay

In addition to your personal statement, you may wish to provide an optional essay. Consistent with the American Bar Association, Boston University School of Law believes that knowledge about bias, cross-cultural competency (ability to understand people from different backgrounds and engage with them effectively), and racism are central to the legal profession. Please tell us how your education, training, or lived experience has deepened your knowledge about “bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism” and/or prepared you to explore these topics at BU Law. Most optional essays are no longer than two pages double-spaced.

Optional Addenda

Applicants may choose to submit an addendum with their application. This is a brief explanation of a specific situation for which you would like to provide additional information. Addenda are usually no longer than a paragraph or two. The goal of an addendum is to provide context to something the admissions committee would not be able to know from simply reviewing your application.

Optional Scholarship Essays

Applicants who wish to be considered for the ASPIRE Scholars Program must submit an essay answering the following two-part prompt:

(1) What does antiracism mean to you, and how have your life experiences shaped your commitment to antiracism? In your answer, in addition to professional experiences (if any) please draw from your lived experiences, whether as a member of an underrepresented or marginalized group, as an advocate, and/or as an ally. (Word limit: 350 words)

(2) How do you envision using your antiracist education and training in your legal career, whether it be in the private, governmental, or public interest sectors? (Word limit: 250 words)

If you wish to be considered for a Public Interest Scholarship must submit an essay (2-pages maximum) describing your public interest career goals and focus. This essay must be in addition to your personal statement. The definition of public interest law is broad and includes both domestic and international work; direct service, impact litigation, and policy work; and government and non-profit work. Recent public interest scholars have come to BU Law with career goals in international human rights, immigration law, public health, judicial clerkships, public defense, prosecution, government at all levels, housing policy, environmental policy, and criminal justice reform.