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I know brevity is key and that you need to follow the page limits, but most of my appreqs.com sources don't mention anything about margins. Typically for college papers, we have been told to stick to one-inch margins. Does that apply here or could I go down to say .5"? Also, what about making to periods smaller to remove some length (unseeable to the human eye). I ask, because I could use just a tad more space on my personal statements...

Honestly, just get someone else to cut it down. 1" margins are standard, and the last thing you want to do is annoy some adcomm who may have a pet peeve about formatting.

Someone was asking about this yesterday, and the bottom line is: something CAN be cut, and your PS will probably be stronger for it.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&t=126556

eskimo wrote:Honestly, just get someone else to cut it down. 1" margins are standard, and the last thing you want to do is annoy some adcomm who may have a pet peeve about formatting.

Someone was asking about this yesterday, and the bottom line is: something CAN be cut, and your PS will probably be stronger for it.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8&t=126556

The bolded should probably be sticked in this forum. How many questions have we had just today asking some variety of this??

Adcommies who read 10,000 apps a day are going to immediately notice any unusual fonts, sizes, margins, etc., before they even start reading. Do you really want the first impression your essay makes to be that you are someone who can't follow directions?

Yeah, stick to the traditional fonts and margins. I have to say though, the period thing is pretty clever. Still, I would avoid it, as it will look strange and will save you very little space.

legalease9 wrote:Yeah, stick to the traditional fonts and margins. I have to say though, the period thing is pretty clever. Still, I would avoid it, as it will look strange and will save you very little space.

Seriously. You could get away with small periods and/or reducing the tracking around them. This might get you one to two characters per page, at best.

I agree that cutting can help and that rules shouldn't be broken. But is it really an issue if they don't state a specific margin size. I think .8" looks better than 1" anyways, but maybe that's me

Because appreqs.com doesn't list margin specifications for any of them...

tipler4213 wrote:Because appreqs.com doesn't list margin specifications for any of them...

I didn't know what that website was, so I googled and got

This information is not guaranteed to be 100% inclusive or accurate. Therefore, you must be sure to verify the requirements with each school to which you apply

I have decided to leave my margins 1" and just edit to make it fit (succinct writing is a virtue) -- If you do chose to use smaller margins at least ensure that ALL the documents you submit (Addenda, DS, PS, etc etc) use the same margins. It would look glaringly obvious if you had your PS formatted to .75" and the rest of your app portfolio with standard 1".

Single spacing after periods can save many people a line or two. I like to do this then change my alignment to "Justified" so it doesn't look too crammed. You can also make your header a single line rather than envelope style if headers are required.

Name Personal Statement LSAC# pg 1 of 2

vs.

Name
Personal Statement
LSAC#

Though for those schools that strictly require two pages (according to appreqs) only UCLA requires both 12pt font and double spacing. The rest are a variety of readable font (some 10pt, 11pt or 12pt), readable margins and variable line spacing. Maybe I'm missing some, but there seems to be some leeway depending on the school.