Issues about PS Length Forum

[sangr]

hey guys

ive been writing and i ended up with double spaced ,11 size font, times new roman, with 1 inch margins being.. 3 pages.

i know the word suggestion is 500 words.

Mine so far ended up being a little over 1000. Which ill try to chop down, but id like to keep a bulk of my essay to safe the message im trying to portray.

would u guys say this is overboard? some school DO say no limit.. or a three page limit.

whats too much? is the 500 thing not necessary for many schools?

what about for a school with NO limit? they still want it to be succinct.

input/advice/opinions please.

thanks!

[chem]

Definitely overboard. Everything I've read about PS seems to say that it should keep it under two pages, with the exception of Berkeley, who want four.

[thederangedwang]

which school says it has to be 500 words? All the schools I know go by page length, not word count (except for yales 250 essay).

FYI, my statement is 941 words and using 11 Times new roman, double space, 1 inch margin, it is EXACTLY 2 pages long. Perhaps you need to use your space more efficiently (for example, make sure each line is filled before you start a new paragraph)

[OnceUponAMemo]

If you're really in a pinch, you can use condensed font.

[sangr]

what about around 900 like the last poster? dammit

i ask this because i read a guide and there was one wher ethe reviewer rated the PS as EXCELLENT, while her downfall WAS length (looked to be about 4-5 pages with 11 font, dble space) it still rated it EXCELLENT.

so i was wonderin if there were a lotta leeway for some essays

[chem]

what about around 900 like the last poster? dammit

i ask this because i read a guide and there was one wher ethe reviewer rated the PS as EXCELLENT, while her downfall WAS length (looked to be about 4-5 pages with 11 font, dble space) it still rated it EXCELLENT.

so i was wonderin if there were a lotta leeway for some essays

A personal statement will not be the thing that saves you, it will be mostly down to your GPA and LSAT. A PS, however, can get your application thrown out. You can take a huge gamble and play with leeway, but its probably going to get your app thrown out or at least hurt you.

[rinkrat19]

RTFM. If a school wants 500 works, keep it to ~515-ish. If they want two pages, for the love of god, keep it to two pages. (If they don't specify Times New Roman, try Garamond to take up less space.) If it says three pages, knock yourself out and fill all three, but don't go over. AND EDIT THE ESSAY TO FIT EACH SCHOOL'S REQUIREMENTS.

Not following the instructions says two things:
1. I don't respect your school enough to follow the damn instructions.
2. I am not a good enough writer to edit it down.
Do you want the adcomms thinking either of those things about you? Of course not.

Post it here and people will help you cut it down. Editing someone else's essay is easier, because we aren't emotionally attached to certain bits. Chances are, cutting the length will actually improve it.

No matter how awesome you think your essay is, I can pretty much guarantee you are not a good enough writer to buck the requirements. No one is, unless maybe William Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf have a time-traveling love child applying to law school this year.

[sangr]

thanks for the advice.

what do u guys think about a school that says we have NO requirement (but they did at at the end that being succinct is a virtue

thanks

[rinkrat19]

thanks for the advice.

what do u guys think about a school that says we have NO requirement (but they did at at the end that being succinct is a virtue

thanks

I that case, I would keep it to 3 pages or less. Preferably more like 2 1/2. Assume that the adcomms are reading dozens of these things a day. You don't want yours to be memorable only for its extreme length.

[MumofCad]

I think you need to post is and get some editing help. People often think that shortening something means losing content. That is not necessarily the case. Often we say things in far too many words. That is what they mean by "succinct". It can be any length, but you had better be sure you aren't wasting their time with alot of unnecessary detail or flowery language.

[sparty99]

Just follow the guidelines by the school. Mine was 1,000 words and for the two pages and double space requirement, I changed the spacing to be 1.5 to 1.8 so it would fit two pages. I doubt this was a big deal.