format of attachments Forum

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pacifica

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format of attachments

Post by pacifica » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:40 pm

I'm gearing up for the upcoming cycle and have been reading a lot of former apps. It seems like a lot of instructions say to the effect of "send as attachments to app by uploading personal statement, resume, diversity statement, etc" in the electronic application.

For people who have applied previously, do the uploaded files have to be in a certain format? Is it strictly Word documents (.doc), or can I upload PDF files as well? I like the sharper formatting in Adobe, so really prefer to do that instead.

Thanks for your help.

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rinkrat19

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Re: format of attachments

Post by rinkrat19 » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:46 pm

It says to not upload PDFs, as they may not convert correctly.

What "sharper formatting" in Adobe? A PDF is just an image of whatever document you created it from.

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pacifica

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Re: format of attachments

Post by pacifica » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:57 pm

Thanks for the info.

I usually work straight from Illustrator for work-related publications because I constantly fear for PC-to-Mac issues with margins etc for Office documents, but if they're going to convert everything, then I guess it doesn't matter.

katesearches

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Re: format of attachments

Post by katesearches » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:46 pm

wait, can someone quickly clarify something- what exactly are they converting into?

I'm also very specific about margins, spacing, etc. If I submit as doc. or docx. what happens?

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rinkrat19

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Re: format of attachments

Post by rinkrat19 » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:10 pm

katesearches wrote:wait, can someone quickly clarify something- what exactly are they converting into?

I'm also very specific about margins, spacing, etc. If I submit as doc. or docx. what happens?
It gets converted to some sort of pdf-like format. You don't see the end result that the schools see of a specific document, but you can download your entire submitted application package to a certain school, in pdf form. The page that was your resume, or your PS, or whatever, looks just like the word doc.

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BVest

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Re: format of attachments

Post by BVest » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:30 pm

rinkrat19 wrote:A PDF is just an image of whatever document you created it from.
That is not correct.

And the LSAC system did not allow me to upload PDF files at all in the most recent cycle.

Here is what LSAC has to say:
LSAC wrote:Creating Your Attachments

How do I create and upload attachments?

You can create personal statements, résumés, and any other required documents in other programs (such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Notepad, and so forth) and attach them to your applications. To upload and attach your files, select the attachment type in the Attachments section of the application, click Browse, choose the file you would like to attach, enter a title in the Describe file field (click the checkbox to add this file to My Common Files list if you want to have this file available to other applications) then click Attach. You can attach files in the following formats: DOC, HTM, HTML, TXT, WP, WPD, RTF, WPS, WPT, DOCX.

NOTE: PDF documents are not accepted.

It is important that the description of your written statements convey information regarding the content so that if you wish to edit or delete a written statement in the future, it will be easily identifiable. Law schools do not see the name of your attached documents.
Last edited by BVest on Sat Jan 27, 2018 6:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

katesearches

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Re: format of attachments

Post by katesearches » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:33 pm

rinkrat19 wrote:
katesearches wrote:wait, can someone quickly clarify something- what exactly are they converting into?

I'm also very specific about margins, spacing, etc. If I submit as doc. or docx. what happens?
It gets converted to some sort of pdf-like format. You don't see the end result that the schools see of a specific document, but you can download your entire submitted application package to a certain school, in pdf form. The page that was your resume, or your PS, or whatever, looks just like the word doc.

so i get that we cant upload a pdf,
but i still don't get what exactly it is getting converted into?
Are they taking our text and making their own format, spacing, margins, etc?

Or, they're just getting an image of whatever our document was?

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rinkrat19

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Re: format of attachments

Post by rinkrat19 » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:37 pm

katesearches wrote:
rinkrat19 wrote:
katesearches wrote:wait, can someone quickly clarify something- what exactly are they converting into?

I'm also very specific about margins, spacing, etc. If I submit as doc. or docx. what happens?
It gets converted to some sort of pdf-like format. You don't see the end result that the schools see of a specific document, but you can download your entire submitted application package to a certain school, in pdf form. The page that was your resume, or your PS, or whatever, looks just like the word doc.

so i get that we cant upload a pdf,
but i still don't get what exactly it is getting converted into?
Are they taking our text and making their own format, spacing, margins, etc?

Or, they're just getting an image of whatever our document was?
I don't know what format the schools see at the other end. I would guess it's a PDF, because that's the format you can see your own app in, but I don't know for sure.

It looks just like your word doc. All your pretty formatting in your resume, for example, turns out fine.

I'd show you one of mine from last year, but it's crammed full of personal info.

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pacifica

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Re: format of attachments

Post by pacifica » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:56 pm

Thanks for all the helpful answers. Two follow up questions/clarifications:

(1) I assume from the above description that you can see the PDF of the package you sent to the school as a preview BEFORE you click the submit button, to make sure all the formatting is still intact?

(2) Has anyone had any experience with embedded images within Word documents being converted? Are they also converted without trouble? I know this is a weird question, but the reason I even asked about the PDF in the first place was because I have a C&F addendum in which I'd like to attach a copy of the official resolution document (verifying that it was a minor, resolved incident) in addition to my explanation. I was going to scan that paper document and attach it as a PDF, but now it seems like I'll have to embed it as an image within a Word doc

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