4000 Character Personal Statement a no no?

[osprey099]

I finished and polished my personal statement but it is only a little over 4000 characters. The max amount of characters we are allowed is 5300. Will medical schools view this as a red flag? I really don't know what else I could say in my PS...

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[Status Sciaticus]

I finished and polished my personal statement but it is only a little over 4000 characters. The max amount of characters we are allowed is 5300. Will medical schools view this as a red flag? I really don't know what else I could say in my PS...

Quality >> Quantity

 

[milkphlegm]

Mine's also a little over 4,000. Maybe like 4,200 at most. If there's nothing else you can add, then I agree with Gandalf.. quality >> quantity.

 

[DoktorO]

The more concise you can put it the better it is. If yours is 4000, then its 4000. Between a 4000 character PS with no fluff vs a 5300 character one the 4000 character one wins out every time

 

[bigdogrob4284]

If it conveys the point of a personal statement effectively, then it's fine.

 

[yehhhboiii]

adcoms have better things to do than count characters. they want to read about why you want to be a doctor. no one wants to read filler.

 

[eefen]

Communicating clearly and concisely is more important than taking up every possible character space. If anything, assuming it's written well, adcoms may even find it to be a breath of fresh air. 😉

 

[ventulus18]

Quality >> Quantity

+1

In my experience, most PS are between 4000 and 5300.

 

[zdbsy]

Question: Is there a maximum number of characters ruled by AAMC? And does the count include the space? Mine appears to be over the limit: 5600 including space🙁

 

[Pacna]

Question: Is there a maximum number of characters ruled by AAMC? And does the count include the space? Mine appears to be over the limit: 5600 including space🙁

As mentioned before in this thread, yes. The limit is 5300 characters including spaces.

Hitting "Enter" counts as 2 characters I believe.

 

[zdbsy]

As mentioned before in this thread, yes. The limit is 5300 characters including spaces.

Hitting "Enter" counts as 2 characters I believe.

God I've got too much to talk. I mentioned all the points that pushed me to medicine and it turned out the whole stuff is over 5700 🙁

 

[Ismet]

God I've got too much to talk. I mentioned all the points that pushed me to medicine and it turned out the whole stuff is over 5700 🙁

Make sure that your PS flows and doesn't jump from thing to thing. Well-written PS's often have a central theme and refer to a small handful of experiences that contribute to a desire to go into medicine. This is not a laundry list of every single reason why you want to do it. Cut some of the more trivial stuff out. I doubt all of your experiences were of similar "eye-opening, future-enlightening" caliber. Instead of briefly mentioning each thing, talk more in depth about a few things and tell your story.

 

[zdbsy]

Make sure that your PS flows and doesn't jump from thing to thing. Well-written PS's often have a central theme and refer to a small handful of experiences that contribute to a desire to go into medicine. This is not a laundry list of every single reason why you want to do it. Cut some of the more trivial stuff out. I doubt all of your experiences were of similar "eye-opening, future-enlightening" caliber. Instead of briefly mentioning each thing, talk more in depth about a few things and tell your story.

May I PM you? I just wanna show you how the central thesis of my PS is. I'll not bother you with the whole staff. I wanna know if it's suitable

 

[Ismet]

May I PM you? I just wanna show you how the central thesis of my PS is. I'll not bother you with the whole staff. I wanna know if it's suitable

Sure

 

[circulus vitios]

I think mine is 3300 characters.

 

[PhysMatMan]

I think mine is 3300 characters.

Same here. Does that mean I have to write more?

 

[Narmerguy]

Same here. Does that mean I have to write more?

Not necessarily, but make sure this is the decision you actually want. The PS is one of the few opportunities for you to sell yourself and talk about things in a way that makes you seem interesting and worth getting to know. You don't want to leave opportunities on the table.

 

[cyaneidae]

Mine is a little under 5300 characters, but my "story" took a bit a tell & I tend to write longish sentences, so... *shrugs*

If I had only needed 5000 characters to say what I needed to say, I would've only used that many characters.