Personal Statement Word Count Forum

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scottybared

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Personal Statement Word Count

Post by scottybared » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:20 pm

My generic personal statement (2 pages double-spaced, 12 inch font, 1 inch margins) is 716 words long. The University of Washington is the first schools I've applied to that has a word limit (700). Should I really worry about 16 words? My essay is such that cutting 16 words would probably be a difficult and would negatively affect the flow. Should I really worry about it?

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rinkrat19

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by rinkrat19 » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:33 pm

I'm the queen of 'FOLLOW THE DAMN INSTRUCTIONS' but even I would feel ok submitting 716 words for a PS. Especially since you say it fits on 2 pages.

For a memo in class, not so much. :P

PersuasiveCharm

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by PersuasiveCharm » Fri Oct 14, 2011 5:11 pm

I say follow the instructions....

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No13baby

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by No13baby » Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:30 pm

Get your statement in under the word limit. I feel your pain - I am also applying to UW and became very frustrated trying to pare my PS down.

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Flash

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by Flash » Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:41 pm

Edit it down. You don't need 700 words for a PS. A good PS can be 500-600 words.

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Redclh

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by Redclh » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:39 pm

730 words here, and I just turned it in like that. Probably should have pared it down more, but I really didn't feel like editing it again when it was so hard to get it to two pages and had already tailored it for other schools.

Seneca

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by Seneca » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:49 pm

Do everything you can to cut your PS to follow the instructions. You're so close, there's no reason not to make this final effort. I'm sure that you'll be able to find a way to cut sixteen words without significantly impacting the flow of your PS. Consider posting it here for some input.

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theadvancededit

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Re: Personal Statement Word Count

Post by theadvancededit » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:53 pm

Seneca wrote:Do everything you can to cut your PS to follow the instructions. You're so close, there's no reason not to make this final effort. I'm sure that you'll be able to find a way to cut sixteen words without significantly impacting the flow of your PS. Consider posting it here for some input.
+1

16 words is really, at most, two sentences. Removing superfluous words -- "that" is a good place to start-- may be the only thing you need to do.

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