Too long? Forum

marklg89 · Post by **marklg89** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:46 pm

Hi guys,

I remember reading in the "Ivey guide to law school admissions" that a good rule of thumb is 2-3 pages double spaced, 11 point font and 1'' margins all around. Although my current PS stands at exactly 2 pages double spaced at 11point font, I think that the generous margins are decieving. Even though it appears to be within the page limit and adheres to the minimum font, the word count is 836, and I recall reading in several topics that anything over 800 is overkill.

So, is it too long? Most of the schools I'm applying to do not have a page limit, but the ones that do set it at 2pgs dbl spaced 11+ pt font, which suggests that I'm all set... but still I'm worried that the margins give me extra 'illegal' space. My friends who read it told me that in spite of the apparent wordiness my PS is still concise and flows quickly. My biggest concern is overburdening an already overburdened addcom with a long PS that will make him hate my soul. I appreciate any input from you lovely TLSers!

let/them/eat/cake · Post by **let/them/eat/cake** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:50 pm

"Yes," she said, "it is."

You Gotta Have Faith · Post by **You Gotta Have Faith** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:55 pm

Mine was ≈ 600 words or so. If you think you could tone it down without taking away from what you put in there, then I suppose you should do that to make it more succinct. But if you just can't, then I wouldn't worry tons about it. It's a hair longer than ideal, but certainly not in the excessive range.

Emma. · Post by **Emma.** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:55 pm

I basically did what you have done, 11pt and 1" margins to get my PS under 2 pages. I think I came in around 840 words as well. I'm not saying that my PS was a work of art, but I think it really depends on your individual essay. I had to cut a LOT just to get down to that point, so I felt like even though my essay was long it was pretty concise and there wasn't really much fat left to be cut. I think as an adcomm if I was faced with a long PS that could obviously benefit from some further editing I'd be pretty unimpressed.

On some school's PS advice it said if you are going over the recommended page limit you damn well better have something really good to say. I think that is probably the best advice.

JohnnyTrojan08 · Post by **JohnnyTrojan08** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:58 pm

Although I don't think that you'd be penalized explicitly for a personal statement of that length, if anyone whose opinion you trust has described it as "wordy," you need to cut it down. Have a pre-law adviser, career services counselor, or someone from a writing department look it over and see if you can cut out some unnecessary clauses.

Plus, size 11 font is noticeably smaller than 12; maybe make that your goal and the 800+ question will take care of itself.

marklg89 · Post by **marklg89** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:11 pm

let/them/eat/cake wrote:"Yes," she said, "it is."

Hahaha... When I wrote the thread I was banking on atleast one person to have an 'interesting' take on the title. Glad to see it was the first reply!

Anyway, thank you all for sharing your experience and advice. I'll definitely work on identifying unnecessary clauses and cutting them out. I feel that as long as the jist of the PS is unharmed, a shorter essay will do me no harm. Thanks again, guys. These forums are filled with great wisdom (for the most part)

xqhp82 · Post by **xqhp82** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:47 pm

i wonder what font did you use? because mine is about 770 words, i used times new roman 12 pt with double space but it's almost 3 pages long; cutting it down to 2 pages would mean taking out 220 words which is quite significant. any suggestion?

Emma. · Post by **Emma.** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:56 pm

xqhp82 wrote:i wonder what font did you use? because mine is about 770 words, i used times new roman 12 pt with double space but it's almost 3 pages long; cutting it down to 2 pages would mean taking out 220 words which is quite significant. any suggestion?

Cut down as many of those 220 words as possible. Use indented paragraphs rather than a line break between graphs. After that you can try 1" margins on all sides. As a last resort use 11pt TNR (unless the school specifies 12 pt).

xqhp82 · Post by **xqhp82** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:24 am

Emma. wrote:
xqhp82 wrote:i wonder what font did you use? because mine is about 770 words, i used times new roman 12 pt with double space but it's almost 3 pages long; cutting it down to 2 pages would mean taking out 220 words which is quite significant. any suggestion?
Cut down as many of those 220 words as possible. Use indented paragraphs rather than a line break between graphs. After that you can try 1" margins on all sides. As a last resort use 11pt TNR (unless the school specifies 12 pt).

but isn't 500 words a bit too short for a PS? i have tried everything you mentioned here and it's still 3 pages long for 770 words. my question is how did you guys managed to fit in >800 words in 2 pages??? is there a different double-spaced measurement in different word documents (e.g. Word 2003 and 2007?)

Adjudicator · Post by **Adjudicator** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:32 am

I didn't want to start a new thread, so since this thread is already about length...

Is 700 words typically long enough? I wrote my statement with University of Washington in mind, and they impose a strict 700 word limit. With a 12 point font, it doesn't even reach a full 2 pages. Should I add a bit more for the other schools, or just stick with the finely-tuned 700 words?

billyez · Post by **billyez** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:28 am

Stick with the finely-tuned words. Adding more can dilute the point rather than enforce it.

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