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My PS is just over 1000 words, and comes out to 3 (full) pages with 11 point font.

The information contained therein is all valuable and contributes to the piece.

I know that Yale has no page limit, but they suggest somewhere around two pages (+or-).

So, would submitting my PS as is be application suicide?

Stanford414 wrote:My PS is just over 1000 words, and comes out to 3 (full) pages with 11 point font.

The information contained therein is all valuable and contributes to the piece.

I know that Yale has no page limit, but they suggest somewhere around two pages (+or-).

So, would submitting my PS as is be application suicide?

Depends how good your story is. But unless it's extremely exceptional (and remember, we're talking YALE standards here), you should trim it much closer to 2 pages.

Stanford414 wrote:My PS is just over 1000 words, and comes out to 3 (full) pages with 11 point font.

The information contained therein is all valuable and contributes to the piece.

I know that Yale has no page limit, but they suggest somewhere around two pages (+or-).

So, would submitting my PS as is be application suicide?

It's not all about whether the information is valuable, since a lot of the time it can be written in a shorter way that gets the same information across.

Stanford414 wrote:My PS is just over 1000 words, and comes out to 3 (full) pages with 11 point font.

The information contained therein is all valuable and contributes to the piece.

I know that Yale has no page limit, but they suggest somewhere around two pages (+or-).

So, would submitting my PS as is be application suicide?

If your app is about how you spent your nobel prize money to help children in poverty in third world countries, I don't think it would that big of a deal.

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acrossthelake wrote:My essay for undergrad was around 900-1000 words, and the limit was 500, and it was mentioned in my admissions letter. YMMV.

Undergrad =/= LS

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Thanks everyone.

There appears to be a pretty firm consensus that the final product should hover around 2 pages, so I'm thinking 2 1/2 max.

What font is considered acceptable? I know 12 is standard, but 11 is certainly readable. In fact, Harvard's application explicitly mentions that 11 point font is acceptable (albeit the minimum allowable). What does everyone think?

I'd go with 12 pt font. You can't go wrong with the standard 12 pt Times New Roman.

I know that 11 point font is acceptable, but I'm not sure you want to turn in "acceptable" to Yale. I wouldn't try to push the boundaries on an application of such magnitude.

Depends on the content.

mine was Times Roman, 11 pt, 2 pages + 2 lines. No problem.

I don't know about Yale, but I know someone who got into Harvard Law with a 5 page personal statement. She is exceptionally wordy, though.