Stanford Personal Statement's length Forum

[ocean]

When schools limit the maximum length of the PS to be 2 pages, they usually specify it, something like: 1 inch margin, at least 11 font and most importantly, double space.

There is no such specification from Stanford, all it says is two pages. Anyone else notices this?

I think I am gonna send a single space one if this is confirmed.

[UPennLaw]

I was under the impression that all PS should be double spaced unless specifically stated otherwise.

[ocean]

I was under the impression that all PS should be double spaced unless specifically stated otherwise.

But I have never seen this notion being specifically defined...

Now I am really curious.

[eve2490]

.

[r6_philly]

NYU scholarship essay requirement is interesting. It states 1 page, 500-750 words. You cannot fit 500 words onto 1 page double spaced. I end up doing 1.3 spacing for 600 words to fit. I wanted to keep it double spaced, but 500 would run more than 2 pages. Ultimately I felt adhering to the word count and the page count is better than the formatting. Just find it interesting, they obviously expected single space - for the scholarship essays at least.

[Gotti]

From their website:

Personal Statement. Enclose a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application


Never ever single space a personal statement. If your essays exceed 2 pages double spaced, you are not being succinct enough. Unless you're writing a PS for Boalt. In that case, they still prefer conciseness...they just give you a 4 page limit.

[WestOfTheRest]

From their website:

Personal Statement. Enclose a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application


Never ever single space a personal statement. If your essays exceed 2 pages double spaced, you are not being succinct enough. Unless you're writing a PS for Boalt. In that case, they still prefer conciseness...they just give you a 4 page limit.

Not to mention I got into boalt with 2 pages. If you can't say what you have to say in two pages, you need to get over yourself. You're not a special snowflake, regardless of what grandma says.

[ads222]

From their website:

Personal Statement. Enclose a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application


Never ever single space a personal statement. If your essays exceed 2 pages double spaced, you are not being succinct enough. Unless you're writing a PS for Boalt. In that case, they still prefer conciseness...they just give you a 4 page limit.

Not to mention I got into boalt with 2 pages. If you can't say what you have to say in two pages, you need to get over yourself. You're not a special snowflake, regardless of what grandma says.

+1. I was concerned about the length (or lack thereof) of my Boalt essay, but it wasn't a problem.

OP: don't try to outsmart the admissions office. Poor life decision. I would HATE to read one single-spaced essay, let alone thousands, and I'd want to smack - not admit - the applicants writing them.

[Dany]

I'm just going to +1 double-spacing, which is always TCR re: personal statements.

Also, OP, I love your avatar. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[Saltqjibo]

What do you guys think about possibly sneaking in some 1.9 or 1.8 spacing using a condensed font (garamond)? I did it for some schools who said around 2 pages 11+ etc, just to sneak my PS under (its about 2 pages and 7 lines in times new roman 11pt). Think I'll get a knock against me for it?

[Weirdlog]

What do you guys think about possibly sneaking in some 1.9 or 1.8 spacing using a condensed font (garamond)? I did it for some schools who said around 2 pages 11+ etc, just to sneak my PS under (its about 2 pages and 7 lines in times new roman 11pt). Think I'll get a knock against me for it?

Honestly, unless you go egregiously over the limit, I really don't think this will be that big of a deal. I think I did a bit of doctoring to fit my PS on 2 pages and I would be amazed if formatting issues ended up making or breaking your application.

[ahduth]

What do you guys think about possibly sneaking in some 1.9 or 1.8 spacing using a condensed font (garamond)? I did it for some schools who said around 2 pages 11+ etc, just to sneak my PS under (its about 2 pages and 7 lines in times new roman 11pt). Think I'll get a knock against me for it?

Honestly, unless you go egregiously over the limit, I really don't think this will be that big of a deal. I think I did a bit of doctoring to fit my PS on 2 pages and I would be amazed if formatting issues ended up making or breaking your application.

I'm guessing their process is: load up application in Acrobat. Expand/contract all fonts to 11 point. Force double-spacing. Crop application at 1" margins. Print and read.

So as long as you don't lose anything critical during that process, you should be fine.

[christinalsat]

Mine was 750 words. I did double spaced (came out to two pages). I actually didn't notice the one page requirement. Will this hurt me?