Law School Admissions Essay Structures - Continued

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This approach might invite a chronological order, though chronology should not be reason in itself to organize material in a particular manner (see the below section on Narratives). The guiding principle here is to structure your evidence in a way that demonstrates your growth, from a general initial curiosity to a current definite passion, or from an early aptitude to a refined set of skills. It differs from the Hierarchy of Evidence approach because your strongest point might come at the end, but its strength lies precisely in the sense of culmination that it creates.

One successful applicant was asked to attach a photograph of something important to her and explain its significance. She chose a picture of a coffee mug from Delany’s and used this as a device to evince her maturation and personal growth. Instead of stating up front who she is today and then backtracking to an exposition of how past events have shaped her, she uses a chronological approach tempered by an introduction that foreshadows the theme to be explored: “‘There's got to be more to life than weekend coffee at Delany's,’ I remember saying out loud.” The growth she describes is not merely a matter of accumulating one experience after another, but rather a process of enrichment. She relates her childhood propensities (“As far back as I can recall, I have tasted life with gusto and an insatiable curiosity.”) before focusing on her current personality traits (“Nowadays, I channel my childhood exuberance into doing what I love most: venturing out into the world.”). The maturation is most poignant because she employs specific examples to support her claims.

The writer moves effectively from experience to experience; the result does not feel like a list or a haphazard construction, but rather a logically flowing piece. Moreover, the applicant’s final points have more force because we have witnessed a process of growth: “It's probably too late for me to become a concert pianist or ballerina, and I may never become the family's first lawyer or doctor. Whatever I choose to pursue, I know that I will attack it with the same passion I had sharing those adventures with my brother.”