Updated November 15, 2024

250 Words on the Yale 250-Word Essay

There is so much advice floating around the internet about how to write Yale Law School’s infamous 250-word behemoth. It should be intellectual! No, it should be funny! Professional! Personal! Creative! Quirky—but not too quirky!

The problem with all of this advice is that it’s both correct and wrong. The challenge is figuring out which advice applies to you. (For a few universal “don’ts” for this 250-word personal statement see this interview with YLS Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Asha Rangappa.)

Navigating this essay can be tricky, but here is the key: it is just another essay. The only difference is that it’s shorter. (How short is 250 words? This blog post should give you an idea.)

There is no need to panic. All of the regular advice about law school essays still applies. Tell a memorable story. Demonstrate your ability to reflect meaningfully about a topic or experience. Write clearly and have no errors.

The topic itself is not that important—great Yale 250s can be written about violins, scuba diving, or foreign policy. Identify an issue, experience, or belief that is important to you and is not yet explored in your application. Pick a topic that showcases a new aspect of your personality, background, or intellectual interests and that you can write about compellingly.

People often ask if you can use a shortened version of one of your essays for another school. Definitely. But be extra careful that the shorter essay stands on its own and flows beautifully. Good luck—and read on for more answers to FAQs about the Yale Law School application’s 250-word essay!

FAQs: Our best Yale Law School application essay tips

Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered with all of the application essay advice you need for Yale Law School! Here are answers to some FAQs about the Yale 250 and other relevant law school essays:

How important is the Yale 250-word essay to the rest of the application process?

Yale Law School considers its 250-word essay very important to the overall application process. It gives the law school far more insight into the candidates than they could otherwise glean, and provides a unique opportunity for applicants to showcase their critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and personal perspective beyond the dry transcripts and numbers.

In short, the Yale 250 potentially makes a tremendous difference and helps an applicant stand out in a highly competitive pool in a few ways:

• Distinguishes applicants in personal ways. This essay allows applicants to reveal their passions and thought process on a specific topic to stand out from others with similar academic achievements.
• Demonstrates engagement. In choosing a topic from your academic, professional, or extracurricular work, you can demonstrate your engagement and interest in a particular field.
• Insight into your unique personality. This is a platform for showcasing your writing style and unique perspectives, which can be crucial for admissions officers.

What are the other components of the Yale Law School application process? How does the Yale 250-word essay fit in?

Beyond the Yale 250-word essay, the YLS application process includes a personal statement, GRE or LSAT scores, letters of recommendation, transcripts with your GPA, and an optional essay. You submit your application materials through LSAC, just like with other law schools.

If you’re an LLM applicant, the admissions committee uses the Test of English as a Foreign Language 8 (TOEFL) to ensure you will be able to flourish in the law school community.

The optional essay allows you to elaborate on specific aspects of your background or values that might not be covered elsewhere in the application. For example, if you have significant volunteering experience that doesn’t really come through in a short extracurricular activities section of a CV, you can talk about that part of your work here and how it influences your goals as a future lawyer.

Applicants may submit an addendum as part of their application if they feel it helps the admissions committee better understand the strength of their candidacy. These addenda may include, for example, explanations related to test scores or a less than stellar high school or college GPA, such as a history of learning disabilities or difficulties with standardized tests. If you’ve applied to law school or started and dropped out of a program in the past, use the addendum to explain why you’re more prepared now than you were the first time. An addendum isn’t required, and many applicants do not include one.

The 250-word essay acts as a unique opportunity to showcase an idea or issue of personal interest from your academic, extracurricular, or professional experiences, allowing the law school admissions committee to understand how you would engage intellectually within the YLS community.

How does the Yale 250-word essay compare to law school application essays that other top law schools require as part of their application materials?

The Yale 250-word essay stands out from other top law school application essays because it is a mandatory, short, open-ended essay that asks applicants to choose to write about any idea or issue from their academic, extracurricular, or professional experience that particularly interests them. This stands in contrast to most other schools, which generally have more specific prompts or optional essays with stricter guidelines. Essentially, it gives applicants more freedom to showcase their intellectual curiosity without being confined to a specific topic.

In other words, it is flexible, but mandatory and requires a concise response. Stanford, Columbia, New York University, Chicago, and Harvard law schools typically require just the opposite: a longer personal statement with more specific prompts.

How does the Yale Law School personal statement compare to the Yale 250-word essay? How does the Yale 250-word essay compare to other Yale Law School application essays?

A few different law school essays are part of the Yale Law admissions process. Of course as an applicant you’ll submit the 250-word essay and a personal statement, but applicants also submit a law school diversity statement. In the , you can touch on anything from gender, race, class background or LGBTQ+ identity to being a first-generation applicant. Anything that is part of why you add something unique to the community is fair game here.

The Yale Law School personal statement should give a more holistic view of your background and goals from clerkships to law firms, while the 250-word essay should provide a more focused take on a specific area of interest. The shorter Yale 250 allows you to showcase your intellectual curiosity and engagement, having already provided your more general experiences in the personal statement.

If you’ve ever been impacted by the criminal justice system, you will probably also need to submit a supplemental character and fitness addendum. Don’t think of this as a disqualifying factor. Instead, see this as your chance to show how you’ve grown from this experience and how you have taken responsibility for your past actions.

Does your Yale 250 essay (or any of your other writing) have any impact on financial aid?

No, your Yale 250 essay does not affect your financial aid package at Yale Law School. YLS bases its financial aid decisions solely on the information provided in the financial aid application, which is a separate document. The admissions committee does not consider your financial need when they consider your application.

Yale Law School operates on a need-based financial aid system, so any financial aid award is granted based on need, not on essay quality. 

How do law school essays affect the acceptance rate at YLS?

Law school essays significantly influence which candidates eventually become admitted students at Yale Law School. They offer a crucial platform to showcase their unique motivations for pursuing the legal profession, their personality, and potential contributions to the first year community.

The admissions committee considers all of this alongside standardized test scores and academic achievements as part of a holistic review process. Law school essays allow applicants to share their values, personal experiences, and goals, demonstrating why they would be a good fit for the first year and LLM communities at Yale Law. 

Tailor your essays to highlight specific aspects of the Yale Law School community and curriculum to demonstrate a genuine interest in the New Haven law school community and culture.

What other basic expectations does the Yale Law School admissions committee have for law school essays including this one?

For Yale Law School essays, the admissions committee expects a professional result that shows you’re ready to be a law student. They’re looking for a standard 12-point font, double-spaced text, clear, well-organized headings, and concise American English that directly addresses the prompt.

Don’t forget to include your name and LSAC number—and never exceed the specified word count!

More helpful resources:

Sample application materials from Yale Law School

A personal statement tip sheet from the Yale Law School Admissions Office

A podcast from YLS on “nailing the personal statement”