In addition to the standard personal statement and resume, Stanford Law School (SLS) invites applicants to submit responses to up to three optional essays. SLS provides one optional diversity essay prompt, as well as four short-answer essay questions of which candidates may answer up to two. We urge you to respond to the maximum number that you can. Compelling responses will only strengthen your candidacy.
Optional Essay. At Stanford Law School, we value the ability to communicate constructively across differences – even when the stakes are high or the differences significant. Please discuss a time when you encountered a viewpoint that contrasted with your own and explain how you responded. Would you do anything different if the same thing happened today? Your essay should be approximately one to two pages in length.
This is a timely question. SLS generated headlines and controversy last year after students disrupted a guest speaker, 5th Circuit Judge, Kyle Duncan. In the aftermath of the incident, SLS officials made a public apology noting that the protest was not aligned to the school’s values around free speech and that students would be required to attend free speech training. Similar controversies at Yale and other elite programs have led the ABA to push forward legislation that would require law schools to enact policies protecting the free exchange of ideas on campus.
Given this context, SLS is looking for students who are able to exchange ideas respectfully and with humility, even when impassioned. Engage the reader in a situation when you disagreed with another party or were challenged to learn more about a contrasting position. Were you able to listen and learn from someone you disagreed with? How did you remain calm? Did maintaining respect for the other speaker allow you both to come closer to one another’s position? Did you come to an agreement? If not, how did you maintain your relationship despite the differences? What parts of the interaction were you proud of? What mistakes did you make? Be sure to provide insight into what you learned from the experience and how those insights will inform your interactions with students, professors and visiting speakers at SLS.
Optional Short Essays. If you think these optional short essays could help us get a better sense of who you are, we encourage you to consider submitting your responses to no more than two of the following questions. Note that there is a 100 to 250-word limit for each question.
As you consider the four short-answer essays, keep in mind your overall application. Select the questions that will allow you to enhance and complete your profile.
If you could sit and chat with anyone, living or from any time in history, who would you chat with? What's one question you'd ask? Why?
The key part of the question is the “Why?”. Give a person and a question, but spend most of your limited word count on the why. What about this person do you admire and/or are curious about? What do you hope to learn from them?
You're given the opportunity to teach a one-day class to your fellow students at Stanford Law School. Based on your particular skills and talents, what would you teach?
This essay provides a great opportunity to showcase a non-academic side of yourself with the admissions committee. Do you have a unique hobby or interest? Have you mastered the chocolate souffle? Are you an avid guitar player? Show the admissions committee what you are most passionate about.
The library in the town where you grew up has been destroyed. Choose three books to contribute to rebuilding the library's collection.
The key part of the question is also the “Why?”. Give three titles, then explore why each one is meaningful to you. Did one prompt a significant evolution in your perspective and/or have a particular impact on your community? Is another relevant to the town’s history? Did your third title elevate minority voices? Show the reader what you value most through the books you select.
Music has a way of setting tone and mood for any occasion. With this in mind, pick three songs or musical works to be playing in the background as the Admissions Committee reviews your materials.
It’s time to get creative and show some personality! SLS is looking for students who will be collaborative and form lasting personal and professional relationships, so exposing a bit of vulnerability to showcase a quirky or sentimental side is a good idea. You could choose three titles or musical works that correspond to different parts of your life (i.e., a running mix, a study mix, and a social mix). You could propose a theme and pick three titles that fall under that theme. Or you may opt for three songs representing different eras in your life. As with the other optional questions, be sure to spend most of the word count on the “why?”.