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Hey guys,

I feel like I have a great personal statement. I've been working on trimming it down as much as I can, and I think I'm to the point where I can't be more concise without leaving out important and relevant details. It's still 3 pages long in Times New Roman 12 point font.

Some schools, like Georgetown, don't have a limitation on PS length. Obviously, I'm not going to send them a book or anything, but is three pages double spaced too long? Can I use 10-point and not get docked for it?

You probably shouldn't use any font size smaller than 11-point font.

Don't use 10 point font. I'd stick with 12 (or 11 at the smallest). As for schools that don't have a page limit, 3 pages is completely fine.

ODBCP wrote:Hey guys,

I feel like I have a great personal statement. I've been working on trimming it down as much as I can, and I think I'm to the point where I can't be more concise without leaving out important and relevant details. It's still 3 pages long in Times New Roman 12 point font.

Some schools, like Georgetown, don't have a limitation on PS length. Obviously, I'm not going to send them a book or anything, but is three pages double spaced too long? Can I use 10-point and not get docked for it?

I think it depends on the school. Just follow the guidelines in the application and you should be okay. I had a similar probably with my PS being 2.5 pages and had to make an alternate version to meet some application requirements. GL.

quick hijack (if there is such a thing):

this is an issue that confuses me. regardless of the font you choose, when you upload the document to lsac it changes it to a standard format. so what does it matter what font you choose for your word processor? is there something i'm missing?

I was under the impression that you just upload a .doc file to LSAC and that it is forwarded to the schools in that format. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

After a little research, 10-point font seems to be ok with some schools, and I can't find any that specify a larger font... It also takes my essay from about 2.5 pg double spaced to a flat 2, which is perfect.

I think that LSAC keeps the font you used even though it converts it (and I know that when I convert my .doc files to .pdfs by myself it usually preserves the font). My applications did not appear to have changed fonts when I previewed them.

ShuckingNotJiving wrote:quick hijack (if there is such a thing):

this is an issue that confuses me. regardless of the font you choose, when you upload the document to lsac it changes it to a standard format. so what does it matter what font you choose for your word processor? is there something i'm missing?

RTFM wrote:I think that LSAC keeps the font you used even though it converts it (and I know that when I convert my .doc files to .pdfs by myself it usually preserves the font). My applications did not appear to have changed fonts when I previewed them.

Agreed. My fonts were all retained.

ShuckingNotJiving wrote:quick hijack (if there is such a thing):

this is an issue that confuses me. regardless of the font you choose, when you upload the document to lsac it changes it to a standard format. so what does it matter what font you choose for your word processor? is there something i'm missing?

Its possible you are trying to use a non-standard font that the PDF application on LSACs servers doesn't recognize. If you stick with standard fonts they should be retained. All of mine were.

If you need to squeeze more onto the page Arial Narrow 11pt still looks professional and is pretty dense. If the school allows for more than 2 pages though i would increase the font to 12 pt.

bdubs wrote:

ShuckingNotJiving wrote:quick hijack (if there is such a thing):

this is an issue that confuses me. regardless of the font you choose, when you upload the document to lsac it changes it to a standard format. so what does it matter what font you choose for your word processor? is there something i'm missing?

Its possible you are trying to use a non-standard font that the PDF application on LSACs servers doesn't recognize. If you stick with standard fonts they should be retained. All of mine were.

If you need to squeeze more onto the page Arial Narrow 11pt still looks professional and is pretty dense. If the school allows for more than 2 pages though i would increase the font to 12 pt.

yeah. i was using a bootleg font. thanks. /hijack

bdubs wrote:

ShuckingNotJiving wrote:quick hijack (if there is such a thing):

this is an issue that confuses me. regardless of the font you choose, when you upload the document to lsac it changes it to a standard format. so what does it matter what font you choose for your word processor? is there something i'm missing?

Its possible you are trying to use a non-standard font that the PDF application on LSACs servers doesn't recognize. If you stick with standard fonts they should be retained. All of mine were.

If you need to squeeze more onto the page Arial Narrow 11pt still looks professional and is pretty dense. If the school allows for more than 2 pages though i would increase the font to 12 pt.

Arial Narrow rocks especially if you used 11 pt times new roman then get to UCLA that requires it to be a 12pt font.