Flesch–Kincaid readability test - How readable is your PS? Forum

[joshhoward]

I put a poll up. It will determine Flesch Scores, but not it's relation to law school admittance. I still encourage everyone to also post their info in a comment so a more informative study can be conducted.

[joshhoward]

Make a poll!

My ease was 46.1 and grade level was 13.8... I thought I wrote it in pretty simple terms.

wtf?!

How was mine 100 and under a 4th grade level?! Goddammit, I bet Dr. Suess hits higher.

Hopefully, the adcomm will just pay more attention to all the pretty pictures in my PS instead of the text.

Helm - I followed the instructions for Word 2007 but I can't find where it shows the readability stats. Help.

you have to run spellcheck first. it will show it when you finish all your corrections.

[JayTal]

LSAT: 168
GPA: 3.5
FRE: 45.3
FKGL: 12
Highest School - I'll let'cha know

[Kiersten1985]

LSAT: 169
GPA: 3.66
FRE: 41.4
FKGL: 12.6
Highest School - eek

[akowis]

.

[likeaspark]

LSAT: 171
GPA: 3.75
FRE: 26.5
FKG: 12
HRA: TBD

[Kiersten1985]

By the way, the title of this post needs some readability correcting. you >> your

[cubswin]

There are too many variables unaccounted for to make this study worthwhile.

[kurla88]

Make a poll!

My ease was 46.1 and grade level was 13.8... I thought I wrote it in pretty simple terms.

wtf?!

How was mine 100 and under a 4th grade level?! Goddammit, I bet Dr. Suess hits higher.

Hopefully, the adcomm will just pay more attention to all the pretty pictures in my PS instead of the text.

From wiki:

Although they use the same core measures (word length and sentence length), they have different weighting factors, so the results of the two tests correlate approximately inversely: a text with a comparatively high score on the Reading Ease test should have a lower score on the Grade Level test.

In the Flesch Reading Ease test, higher scores indicate material that is easier to read

[rx3r]

From wiki link from OP:

"Harvard Law Review has a general readability score in the low 30s."

[Helmholtz]

So I just copied and pasted my PS (typed on Word 08) into my work computer (running Word 03) and it gave me 61/10.

[likeaspark]

Does anyone else have a PS with a score lower than 30? I'd be interested in swapping personal statements to get a feel for another that has a similar level of readability. This all may or may not be meaningless, but it is certainly interesting...

[D. H2Oman]

Are we serious with this? Really?

[duodora]

Alright, just noticed a biig flaw here

My PS is *almost* chatty, and it's telling basically my life history. Although it has some "big" words in it, it's VERY readable. It scored a 53.

Out of curiosity, I also tested my most recent bioethics essay--it's talking about the ethics of using preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and in-vitro fertalization to create a second child in order to save the life of a first child with a lethal disease. It scored a 52. I'm pretty sure my bioethics paper is significantly harder to understand than the PS.

Just saying...

[Helmholtz]

Alright, just noticed a biig flaw here

My PS is *almost* chatty, and it's telling basically my life history. Although it has some "big" words in it, it's VERY readable. It scored a 53.

Out of curiosity, I also tested my most recent bioethics essay--it's talking about the ethics of using preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and in-vitro fertalization to create a second child in order to save the life of a first child with a lethal disease. It scored a 52. I'm pretty sure my bioethics paper is significantly harder to understand than the PS.

Just saying...

gasp

I thought all those little people inside my computer making decisions and giving me information were infallible.

[AngryAvocado]

My readability is 97.2, which isn't surprising considering my longest sentence is:

"Then the Chinese man smiled, and I knew I was ready to study international law."

[j2d3]

It would be more interesting if you also collect data about a variable that should have no impact whatsoever, but that is universally collectible, such as applcant height in inches plus weight in pounds divided by age. If you see no more correlation wrt your P's readability index than u see with the meaningless car, you know there's nothing there

[joshhoward]

even with just 18 votes, the bell curve in taking shape, with more than 50% between 40 and 50. I think that should already be helpful to an applicant, where if there statement is below or above, they should make sure that the content or the style of the essay warrants the readability score. This still has no bearing on one's chances or of a correlation, but it tells you what's normal. of course with admission, the saying "normal is boring" applies.

[Chichaca]

PS Readability: 54.9
PS Grade Level: 10.3
LSAT/GPA: 176/3.87
Height in inches plus weight in pounds divided by age: 8.33
Will update with results.

I still say no correlation. Writing style in itself has little bearing on effectiveness. I guess we'll see, though!

[Kiersten1985]

My readability is 97.2, which isn't surprising considering my longest sentence is:

"Then the Chinese man smiled, and I knew I was ready to study international law."

Is this sentence really and truly in your PS?

[kurla88]

My readability is 97.2, which isn't surprising considering my longest sentence is:

"Then the Chinese man smiled, and I knew I was ready to study international law."

Is this sentence really and truly in your PS?

I... think it's a joke? I really hope. :/

[js87]

Not totally sure I follow what we're looking for here, but I've got a readability score of 41.6 and it's written at a "12.4" grade level. Is this good, or is this bad? haha.

[Lyov Myshkin]

This test is counter-productive to the type of writing done by lawyers and looked for in the personal statement. Basically, the test only looks for polysyllabic words and large numbers of words per sentence. Basically, an essay plagued by run-on sentences and poor grammar with lots of big words will have the highest scores.

For documents that are meant to be concise and succinct rather than verbose and flowery, this test has no purpose (and, I would contend, in general). I'd say that this research has little to no applicable value on an intuitive level.

this post has low readability.

[Lyov Myshkin]

for this test to be useful for applicants, someone would have to go read a bunch of 'good' personal statements and try to find a range of readability in those statements. if there was a specific range of readability that the great majority of good personal statements fell under, then one could possibly use the readability index to make a guesstimate on whether their essay was too prose-ish or too academic. but even so, it would be unlikely that we'd be able say a ps was bad on the basis of the level of readability itself, since it's likely that good personal statements can fall outside the hypothetical range of readability for most personal statements.

i just realized my post resembles an lsat argument.

[joshhoward]

Not totally sure I follow what we're looking for here, but I've got a readability score of 41.6 and it's written at a "12.4" grade level. Is this good, or is this bad? haha.

your question is exactly what this topic is trying to determine.