Longer than 2 pages?

[StillIll]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of finishing up my personal essay, and its clear that most schools prefer the 2 page limit.

But a few schools, I've noticed, don't have this same limit. Cal Boalt, for example, appears to have a 4 page limit and NYU says that they'll "leave the length to your discretion". I imagine it is likely there are other T20 schools that have similar guidelines.

Should I make an extra effort to lengthen my PS for these schools? Originally my PS was longer, half the battle has been whittling it down to two pages. Or are these schools generally looking for 2 pages? What, in everyone's valuable experience, is the best way to go about this?

Thanks so much

[eerie_erie]

I would say to leave it at two pages. If you have covered all of the important points and your personal statement is cohesive, then don't spend anymore time trying to make it longer. It might come out as too wordy and make it look like you don't know how to be concise. Also, once you submit, you can focus on other more appealing things! Good luck. (2L @ NYU)

[TripTrip]

Lengthening it for Boalt is basically the replacement of the Why X essay. If you are writing the Why X for Penn, Duke, and Mich, lengthen your PS for Berkeley. Otherwise don't worry about it.