Applicants looking for LGBTQ-friendly law schools — whether because their career goals include LGBTQ advocacy or because they want to find a more inclusive environment to make the transition to law school easier — can find many resources online to make their school choice easier.
Choosing the right schools to apply to, however, is only the first step. Here are some do’s and don’ts for LGBTQ law school applicants to consider.
[Read: 5 Traits That Help People Get Into Top Law Schools.]
Do use your personal statement to draw a connection between your sexual orientation and your desire to go to law school. Many LGBTQ candidates choose to only discuss their orientation in a diversity statement, but the personal statement is also an option.
That is not to say that you should force the issue. But if you have an experience that has played a part in your career goals — for example, by making you want to defend and promote LGBTQ rights — including it in your essay would give admissions committees better insight into who you are and provide a unique story to separate you from other applicants.
Don’t feel obligated to out yourself. If you’re not comfortable discussing your sexual orientation, you’re obviously not obligated to do so.
Your sexual identity may be a significant part of who you are, but even if you discuss your aspirations to advocate for LGBTQ rights, you don’t need to disclose your orientation.
Furthermore, if you’re applying to some schools that are not as LGBTQ-friendly as others and are less comfortable outing yourself to the admissions committee there, you might want to prepare a slightly different version of your personal statement omitting that part.
Do consider whether including a diversity statement will enhance your application. Even if you choose to discuss your sexual orientation in your personal statement, that doesn’t preclude you from crafting a diversity statement around it.
If you’re worried about being repetitive, remember that the context in which the issue is brought up makes a big difference: The personal statement is usually about your life experiences and how they led you on the path to law school, while the diversity statement is meant to convey how you would contribute to school’s student body and heterogeneity.
[Read: Write Cohesive Law School Personal, Diversity Statements.]
Don’t limit your diversity statement to discussing your sexual orientation. If you have other characteristics distinguishing you from the average law student, why not incorporate them?
It’s natural to only discuss one’s sexual orientation as it plays a bigger role in daily life, than, say, a country of origin, but the very best diversity statements juxtapose sexual orientation with other factors such as socioeconomic hardships or ethnic diversity.
For example, one applicant wrote about the conflict between wanting to fit in with his close-knit immigrant community and living as an openly gay man in the U.S., which made for a very appealing and engaging story.
Do your research. With the much-welcomed focus schools now put on inclusiveness, most of them are happy to provide data on the number of LGBTQ students, faculty and staff, and highlight opportunities available such as journals, clubs, clinics or classes relevant to the LGBTQ community.
A quick search will provide you with a lot of information that will help you make an educated choice as to which school is right for you.
[Read: Key Data Points to Consider When Choosing a Law School.]
Don’t exclude a school too hastily. If a school offers programs that are directly related to your career goals, don’t exclude it from consideration just because it doesn’t have LGBTQ-specific extracurricular opportunities or LGBTQ faculty.
Especially in smaller schools, this by no means indicates unfriendliness or apathy toward the community, and it would be a shame to pass up a good program because of a misplaced assumption.
Instead, think about such a school as an opportunity: You can enroll and start a club, galvanizing the school’s LGBTQ students to be more vocal — and adding another impressive bullet point to your resume.
Questions about how to pick the right law school for you or how to craft a better application? Send me an email at lawadmissionslowdown@usnews.com.
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Do’s, Don’ts for LGBTQ Law School Applicants originally appeared on usnews.com
