Finalizing your law school applications? Please welcome back law school admissions essay expert Eileen Conner, founder of Pen and Chisel, who has some timely advice on making your applications as perfect as possible!
If you missed any of her other admissions Q&As, check them out here.
I’m almost finished with my law school applications. How can I ensure that I submit a set of applications with no mistakes?
To polish your application to its highest sheen, you’ll need to go over it in minute detail and fix every error you can find. This means proofreading.
What is proofreading?
In short, proofreading is carefully checking over all the information in your application to catch and correct any mistakes. It’s the final step you should take to make your entire application exactly as you want it.
Proofreading is a great way to ensure that you create the best application possible. Although it may seem like a minor task in comparison to making your larger argument for admission, a solid round of proofreading can actually help you make the best possible impression on your readers. Delivering an immaculately proofread application showcases your attention to detail and your follow-through.
In contrast, overlooking small flaws in your application can make you look careless. In an occupation that is all about examining and communicating complex issues in detail, this can be a real problem. Avoid this by carefully proofreading all the different parts of your application before you submit them.
Best methods for proofreading
As a general rule, proofread essays at the end of the writing process. Of course, whenever you happen to notice a mistake, be sure to correct it! But don’t spend your time proofreading in detail until you’re satisfied with the overall shape and content of your essay. This will help you use your time most productively — you won’t waste time going over paragraphs with a fine-toothed comb only to later realize you should cut or rewrite them.
To begin the proofreading process, print out your essays. Seeing your writing in a different context can be very helpful. It combats the visual fatigue that happens when you stare at a screen for a long time and makes it easier to see errors.
Go through each essay with a red pen — or any color other than black, for contrast — and mark every error you spot. This list of common errors from the Purdue OWL can be a useful tool. But don’t stop there! You should also watch out for strangely worded sentences or phrases, odd grammatical constructions, and anything that might come back from a round of grading marked with the dreaded “awk.” Consider how you might rephrase these to be more accurate, more easily readable, or more concise.
Once you have a fully marked essay in hand, turn back to your digital document. Make all the corrections you marked, crossing them off on your paper copy as you go. Then print a new copy and go through the process again. This time around, you should find far fewer issues to consider. Make your second round of changes and check your essay over one last time.
Ask others for help
When you can’t find anything else to change, it’s time to get input from someone else. Ask one of your friends or advisors to proofread your finished essay. A fresh set of eyes can see things from a different perspective and catch errors that you may have skimmed right over.
After implementing your final set of changes, you’ll want to do one final read-through. Does everything look good? If so, you should be ready to submit your final draft.
Proofreading & fact-checking the entire application
So far, we’ve been discussing application essays — but these are not the sum total of your application. You’ll also want to double-check all the different pieces of your application to ensure that all the information you’re supplying is correct.
Does the GPA you’ve reported match the GPA on your official transcript? Are all the dates on your resume correct? If you mentioned a law school by name in an essay, is it the correct school, or one of your other target schools? Even your phone number and address require a once-over to ensure that the admissions committee is able to contact you with your admission decision.
You can follow the same process to proofread your application as you did for each essay. Simply print out your entire application and examine it carefully. Mark any errors you see as you come to them. When you’ve gone over the entire application in detail, go back to the digital app and make all the necessary changes. Repeat as needed to make absolutely sure that your application is exactly as you want it.
By following these simple steps, you’ll be able to submit a completely accurate law school application with confidence.
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Thanks, Eileen! And good luck to everyone applying.
Got an admissions question for Eileen? Leave it in the comments!
More about Eileen:
Eileen Conner is the founder of Pen and Chisel LLC, where she specializes in helping law school candidates perfect their application essays. A graduate of the University of Michigan’s prestigious creative writing MFA program, Eileen is the former Senior Editor for Law at Revision Editing.
Read On:
As you embark on your law school application journey, you might want to bookmark Applying to Law School 101: What You Need to Know to Succeed.
Then check out some of the rest of the Pen and Chisel Q&A:
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: Is Your Law School Personal Statement Too Vague?
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: Can I Tell Multiple Stories in My Law School Personal Statement?
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: How to Pep Up a Boring Law School Admissions Essay
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: Tackling Subjective Grammar Issues in the Personal Statement
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: How Can I Shape My Non-Traditional Experience into a Compelling Law School Application?
- Pen and Chisel Q&A: How to Tackle the “Why X School?” Essay
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[…] Finalizing your law school applications? Please welcome back law school admissions essay expert Eileen Conner, founder of Pen and Chisel, who has some timely advice on making your applications as perfect as possible! If you missed any of her other admissions Q&As, check them out here. I’m almost finished with my law school applications. How { Continue Reading } […]