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How long should my PS be?
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:21 pm
by mvonh001
Thank You.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:24 pm
by rinkrat19
Always, always, ALWAYS double-spaced.
And as long as the instructions tell you. For most schools that's 2-3 pages, but for some it's two pages or a word limit. Berkeley has no limit, but they are weird.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:49 pm
by Happy Gilmore
Over 9000 pages
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:37 am
by A-Modest-Proposal
Happy Gilmore wrote:Over 9000 pages
+9001. but to answer OP's question, always double space - and the rule of thumb I have heard is 3 pages (and by "3" i mean 2.5). It's long enough to make a cohesive statement, but short enough to prevent rambling.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:20 am
by mvonh001
And font size 12 - times new roman?
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:52 am
by rinkrat19
mvonh001 wrote:And font size 12 - times new roman?
You can do 11pt and/or Garamond to give yourself more room, but ONLY IF THE INSTRUCTIONS DON'T SPECIFICALLY REQUIRE a certain font/size.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:52 pm
by Cicero76
Single-spaced as an option in the poll wtf is this
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:52 pm
by rinkrat19
Also, 1" margins all around, if that needs to be clarified too.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:21 pm
by PRgradBYU
LOL @ the 4 pages single spaced option.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:54 pm
by bp shinners
rinkrat19 wrote:mvonh001 wrote:And font size 12 - times new roman?
You can do 11pt and/or Garamond to give yourself more room, but ONLY IF THE INSTRUCTIONS DON'T SPECIFICALLY REQUIRE a certain font/size.
And only if you can't cut it down to size at size 12. After reviewing a few hundred of these things, you can quickly tell when someone has messed with the font size (even 11.5), margins, etc... If you do that, you better be damn sure that every single word in that personal statement is necessary*.
*Hint - It's probably not.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 6:36 pm
by mvonh001
PRgradBYU wrote:LOL @ the 4 pages single spaced option.
Just wanna make sure all my bases are covered... lol
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:27 am
by Ti Malice
A-Modest-Proposal wrote:Happy Gilmore wrote:Over 9000 pages
+9001. but to answer OP's question, always double space - and the rule of thumb I have heard is 3 pages (and by "3" i mean 2.5). It's long enough to make a cohesive statement, but short enough to prevent rambling.
The "rule of thumb" is two pages, since that's the explicit given by many schools.
Re: How long should my PS be?
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:38 pm
by Rory19
I would say two pages double spaced, etc. etc. unless the school specifically states that you can write something longer. For instance, I read that Boalt frowns upon two page statements because they intentionally give you more pages and expect you to take the opportunity to really customize the statement for Boalt. For them, I would say 3.5-4.