Law schools, just like many other institutions, value applicants who deeply understand the college for which they are applying. For law schools particularly, this reflects some fundamental legal skills: research and attention to detail.
Regarding attention to detail, some components of the supplemental might not seem necessary but could still play a role in helping your essay to stand out. One such part is a title.
We'll explore the nuances around titling law supplemental essays to help you in this critical application process.
What You Should Know About Titling Law Supplemental Essays
You’ll need a bit of understanding of the general requirements concerning supplemental essays in order to understand how they can apply to law schools specifically.
Let's start by understanding the role of headers in supplemental essays.
Should Supplemental Essays Have Headers?
Generally, titles are not mandatory in supplemental essays.
Particularly with supplemental essay prompts that have a low word-count limit, adding a title can further reduce the low word count that you already have at your disposal. Therefore, using a title is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
In cases where you have a high word-count limit, adding a title can be an opportunity to capture the interest of admission officials. You can use it to place a positive and lasting impression in the reader’s mind.
Do Law School Supplemental Essays Need Headers?
A well-written title can sum up everything that you want to say in your essay. This can give the admission official important context into everything that you have to say, so when they read the content, they are merely getting further details.
Basically, it's like presenting your essay in just one statement and making it possible for the admission official to understand the point of your content.
For law schools that typically have thousands of applicants and are quite competitive, this strategy might help you stand out.
How to Title Your Law Supplemental Essay
The process of crafting a title requires a delicate balancing act.
Let's take for example the “why this school” supplemental question that's required by many law schools, such as the School of Law at the University of California and University of Notre Dame Law School. A title for such a question should provide a powerful insight into something very specific about the school. It should not be generic or seem like flattery that would not please the reader.
To achieve something like that, here are a few useful tips:
1. Reflect the core aspect of your essay: Your title should capture the main theme or message within your essay. It should not present one thing while the content provides something else.
2. Avoid generic titles: If your title is not adding any extraordinary value, then it may not be useful. It may be just a redundant series of words that add an extra reading task for the admission officials.
3. Showcase your unique perspective: The title can be used to set yourself apart from everyone else. It can portray something distinctive that cannot be found in other applicants' essays. Although it may not be possible to figure out what everyone else is writing, but your unique experiences will likely stand out from the rest.
4. Maintain professionalism: The extent of creativity may be limited when applying to a law school. You want to maintain some level of professionalism which aligns with your chosen legal field.
Remember, a title is not mandatory and if it adds no value, it will not be necessary. Only use this component in an essay if it truly adds value to your content.
Titling Law Supplemental Essays for Different Colleges
Just like supplementals vary from college to college, how you title the content will also vary. This is based on the prompts that you have to answer as well as the expectations of the admission officials.
Here are a few examples for various institutions.
How to Title Stanford Law Supplemental Essays
For the Stanford Law School, optional essays encourage constructive communication across differences. The essay prompts are meant to dig out your personal experiences in encountering viewpoints that contrasted with your own. This means your title will also be aligned with this goal in mind.
Here are a few tips to consider:
1. Reflect the constructive communication theme
2. Highlight personal growth
3. Be concise
How to Title Duke Law Supplemental Essays
The Duke Law School offers prompts requiring short answers on a range of topics. Even so, when writing the content and even crafting a title, you should consider Duke's overall focus on equal justice, the rule of law, diversity of perspectives, ethical leadership, and public service.
By putting the key issues front and center in your title, you indicate that you understand what is required.
How to Title Michigan Law Supplemental Essays
The University of Michigan Law School also has a range of prompts requiring answers on a wide variety of topics.
The prompts ask applicants to articulate their interest in the school's cultural, academic and professional aspects, share personal challenges and growth, reflect on the influence of their background, discuss qualities relevant to legal practice, and explain how their experiences and perspectives would enrich the school's intellectual and demographic diversity. There are also prompts for applicants to consider how they are perceived by acquaintances and to envision a dinner conversation with a prominent figure, exploring potential topics of discussion.
All those are critical factors to consider when crafting titles for your responses.
Examples of Admission Essay Titles
To help you craft an appropriate title for your law supplement, we have compiled a few samples to show how such titles were crafted.
These are evaluations of essays by students to Hamilton College:
· "Life from Seven Feet Up" by Alexander Wear
The title "Life from Seven Feet Up" directly refers to the author's height and how it has shaped his life. The essay delves into how being exceptionally tall has influenced his character, interactions with others, and personal growth. The title effectively encapsulates the unique perspective and experiences the author shares in the essay.
· "Tunnel Vision" by Joe Pucci, New York, N.Y.
In this essay, the title "Tunnel Vision" reflects the author's focused perspective. The term "Tunnel Vision" typically refers to a narrow or limited viewpoint, often associated with intense concentration or a singular focus on a specific goal. In Joe Pucci's essay, he’s showcasing a sense of determination, perseverance, and intense introspection.
· "Windows" by Irina Rojas, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The title "Windows" is fitting for Irina Rojas' essay as it features a theme of introspection, insight, and perspective. Just like windows offer a view into the outside world, the title implies a glimpse into the author's thoughts, emotions, and experiences. It sets the expectation for a narrative that is reflective, thought-provoking, and deeply personal.
Here are some more examples, more specifically related to law. Although these are personal statement essays, the basic principles can also apply to supplements
· “Empowering others through intellectual property law” by Maria A. D. RePass:
This title is well-suited to the essay since she talks about her journey from a background in scientific research to pursuing a legal education in intellectual property law. Throughout her essay, she highlights her passion for helping scientists protect their discoveries through patent law. The title effectively captures the essence of her story, showcasing her desire to empower others in the field of intellectual property law.
· “An unconventional career change” by Nicole Davies
The title aligns perfectly with the narration whereby the author shares her unique journey from working in public relations to discovering her passion for legal counsel and advocacy, particularly in the healthcare sector. Nicole's story reflects her unconventional career change and transition into pursuing a Juris Doctor degree. Thus, the title emphasizes the significant shift in her career path.
· “Eager for the next challenge” by Dina Megretskaia
Dina Megretskaia's story resonates well with the title. Throughout her writing, she expresses her eagerness to embrace new challenges, transition from financial planning to law, and acquire the knowledge and power necessary for her legal career. The title accurately reflects the enthusiasm for embarking on a new chapter in her professional life and seeking opportunities for growth and development.
· “Breaking down new barriers” by Rebecca Boll:
Here too, the title is a perfect fit. In her essay, Rebecca discusses her transition from a successful career at General Electric to pursuing a law degree as a Chief Technology Officer/VP of Strategy. She talks about breaking down barriers as a woman in her field and overcoming challenges to achieve her goals. Hence, the title captures the theme of overcoming obstacles and pushing boundaries.
Useful Tips in Titling Law Supplemental Essays
Here, we’ll explore some general guidelines to help you in the process of titling these supplemental essays.
Follow these steps and rules to stay on the safe side.
What to Include and Avoid
Your title, just like your content, should not be too much on the creative side or lost in statistics and data. It should provide a balance that shows a combination of facts and personal perspectives.
Here are some things to include and to avoid:
1. Reference school-specific characteristics:
Different law schools have a unique style and character. Your title should demonstrate an understanding of the school's character. Don’t present something that would appear out of context to the institution you have in mind.
2. Focus on accurate facts:
The last thing you would want to do is to present any details that are inaccurate. Instead, aim to present aspects that are verifiable. A prompt like the “why this school” question will be best answered with concrete reasons rather than broad compliments.
3. Avoid vague titles and clichés:
If your title is not clear or does not present a unique perspective, it would only ruin your content. Make sure that it adds value and presents something of interest to the admission officials.
Ideal Format or Structure
The prompt of your supplemental may include a recommended format or structure. You'll need to take this into consideration if you are thinking of adding a title.
Certain formats may not work well with a title. In some cases, you may just need to list items instead of writing an essay.
Let's look at specific universities and see their formatting requirements.
Michigan University
The University of Michigan Law School provides several formatting guidelines. You are required to use double spacing and at least an 11-point font. You should also mention the prompt number at the very top of your essay.
Although detailed, this formatting requirement leaves room for a bit of flexibility on other aspects. Considering that your essay can be between one and two pages long, it might be possible to include a title as well as an introduction, body and conclusion.
Duke University
Duke Law School also has a general formatting requirement for the supplemental essays. You should use one to two pages with double spacing in the optional essay.
You are also required to label the essay that you are answering. This can be an opportunity to include a title that expressly mentions the question that you are answering.
Conclusion
Overall, titling supplemental essays is not mandatory but can be useful in certain circumstances as we have elaborated. You can get some insight from past successful applications to see how other students might have included this feature.
Considering that some formatting requirements require you to label a prompt that you are answering, a title can serve this purpose.
Ultimately, the choice of including a title really depends on your specific circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
To help you in this process, we'll cover some extra issues that you may come across when titling your supplementals.
Can a title ruin your supplemental essay?
Just like any other part of your content, the title can ruin your writing depending on how you write it. If it does not fit in with the overall theme and content, then it will be counterproductive.
When should I avoid titles?
Since supplementals don't typically require titles, you are under no compulsion to include it. It's also unnecessary particularly if the word-count limit is very low.
Does the title count as part of the essay word count?
Typically, the title is part of the essay word count. If you are not clear on the guidelines, it's better to err on counting it as part of the word count rather than writing beyond the word limit.
.jpg)
