If no required lenght, how long should PS be? Forum

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princeofegypt

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If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by princeofegypt » Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:46 pm

Certain schools don't have a required length on their personal statements; what is the average length that these schools would accept. Right now, I am at 2.5 pages, is that ok?

Curious1

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Curious1 » Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:46 pm

princeofegypt wrote:Certain schools don't have a required length on their personal statements; what is the average length that these schools would accept. Right now, I am at 2.5 pages, is that ok?
2.5 is fine--I kept it to 2 because a lot of schools limit it explicitly to 2.

Seneca

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Seneca » Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:46 pm

Mine was about 2.5. Just be sure that your format is reasonable, if you're sending to a school with no limit, and you're already onto a third page anyway. I've seen a lot of people mess around with font size, etc in order to cram a PS into 2 pages (even for schools that don't state a limit, just so they can send the same one around everywhere), but I've also heard from an admissions rep that it's irritating when they give no limit and people still feel the need to do that. So: 2.5 pages is fine, but make it 1-inch margins, double-spaced, and 12-point font (11.5 or 11 at the absolute smallest, if you're trying to keep it from going onto a fourth page).

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theadvancededit

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by theadvancededit » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:47 pm

2-2.5 page (no more than that), at size 12 font. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Garamond will do.

Curious1

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Curious1 » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:47 pm

theadvancededit wrote:2-2.5 page (no more than that), at size 12 font. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Garamond will do.
DEFINITELY not arial. ALWAYS nice font with serifs.

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Kess

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Kess » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:07 am

Curious1 wrote:
theadvancededit wrote:2-2.5 page (no more than that), at size 12 font. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Garamond will do.
DEFINITELY not arial. ALWAYS nice font with serifs.
I second that. The only thing arial should be used for is old school AOL ims. I just stick with Times New Roman for everything, as boring as that may be.

Curious1

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Curious1 » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:13 am

Kess wrote:
Curious1 wrote:
theadvancededit wrote:2-2.5 page (no more than that), at size 12 font. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Garamond will do.
DEFINITELY not arial. ALWAYS nice font with serifs.
I second that. The only thing arial should be used for is old school AOL ims. I just stick with Times New Roman for everything, as boring as that may be.
I think the font on this site is arial. But that's what sans-serifs fonts were invented for, reading on the internet. Serifs confer a more serious, professional tone. Stick to Times New Roman for everything. I did it for all except my resume, which was in Garamond--a little more eye-catching.

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by shoeshine » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:27 am

2 pages unless a school specifically says more is okay.

princeofegypt

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by princeofegypt » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:19 pm

Shoeshine, you're saying if there is no explicit limit to keep the PS to 2 pages? Because others have said 2.5 is acceptable, and I want to make sure my PS isn't discarded because I broke some lenght requirement.

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Curious1

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by Curious1 » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:24 pm

princeofegypt wrote:Shoeshine, you're saying if there is no explicit limit to keep the PS to 2 pages? Because others have said 2.5 is acceptable, and I want to make sure my PS isn't discarded because I broke some lenght requirement.
"Admissions officers dread files that land with a thud"

shoeshine

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by shoeshine » Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:46 pm

princeofegypt wrote:Shoeshine, you're saying if there is no explicit limit to keep the PS to 2 pages? Because others have said 2.5 is acceptable, and I want to make sure my PS isn't discarded because I broke some lenght requirement.
This is exactly what I am saying.

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NiccoloA

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Re: If no required lenght, how long should PS be?

Post by NiccoloA » Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:37 pm

I have a suspicion that it needs to be long enough to express your personal story, but not so long that the adcomm reads it and gets board.


This seems to conform to the 2 pages (double spaced).

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