AMCAS won't let me over 5284 characters!

[Dr Trek 1]

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Has anyone else had this problem? When I type my PS in their window, it says that there are 5294 characters. Then, when I hit "Finish" and go back to the "Essay", it cuts it down to 5284 characters! Anyone have any idea why it does this???

 

[1viking]

AMCAS essay is a crock! Whoever wrote the source on the AMCAS needs to be fired. It was such a problem for me. It did the same thing to me last year when I applied. You need to make certain that you are using a text-only format--strictly. Don't use Word or any WP like that. Use notepad, if you are a Window$ user.
Anybody know if you can put in a br tag in the personal comments so that the dumd application doesn't clump your beautiful paragraphs into one?

 

[Dr Trek 1]

Do you mean I have to retype the entire thing into Notepad? I tried pasting it into notepad, then I copied and pasted that into the AMCAS application but the same thing happened. What can I do?

 

[mikeyboy]

Each time you press enter, it's an additional 2 characters (carriage return, line feed). Could be a factor.

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

AMCAS essay is a crock! Whoever wrote the source on the AMCAS needs to be fired. It was such a problem for me. It did the same thing to me last year when I applied. You need to make certain that you are using a text-only format--strictly. Don't use Word or any WP like that. Use notepad, if you are a Window$ user.
Anybody know if you can put in a br tag in the personal comments so that the dumd application doesn't clump your beautiful paragraphs into one?

I had to leave a space in between each paragraph so that it showed distinct paragraphs. You should do it too. It looks soooooo good that way 🙂

 

[TRUE]

I had to leave a space in between each paragraph so that it showed distinct paragraphs. You should do it too. It looks soooooo good that way 🙂

If you are counting on that to make your PS stand out, you're in a heap of trouble.

As for the 5284 characters, it's probably due to carriage return as someone mentioned.

Furthemore, if you call AMCAS about the paragraphs not showing up as you guys are complaining about, they'll tell you that the paragraphs will actually appear when the schools see your application.

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

If you are counting on that to make your PS stand out, you're in a heap of trouble.

As for the 5284 characters, it's probably due to carriage return as someone mentioned.

Furthemore, if you call AMCAS about the paragraphs not showing up as you guys are complaining about, they'll tell you that the paragraphs will actually appear when the schools see your application.

Perhaps you should take a look at my signature, by dear boy... 🙄

 

[TRUE]

Perhaps you should take a look at my signature, by dear boy... 🙄

I was speaking about people doing that in general... (ie: worry about the substance of the statement, not how it looks).

 

[gujuDoc]

Perhaps some ways to cut down word count may be to do things like use the symbol " & " instead of writing the word and everywhere. Or things of that nature.

That might help cut the number of characters down so you can fit everything in..

 

[1viking]

If you are counting on that to make your PS stand out, you're in a heap of trouble.

As for the 5284 characters, it's probably due to carriage return as someone mentioned.

Furthemore, if you call AMCAS about the paragraphs not showing up as you guys are complaining about, they'll tell you that the paragraphs will actually appear when the schools see your application.

maybe it is who you speak with. They said "sorry". At interviews I glanced quickly and saw my info clumped. What a poor service!

 

[cher25]

It did that to me when I applied last year. After trying everything to fit it all in, I finally had to accept that I would have to make my PS shorter. I had to revise it maticulously and take out some parts of my PS. It was very difficult because I felt like everything in it was important. But it actually made my PS more to the point. I think they do it because of the volume of applicants. They know that if there were no limit, some PS's would go on for ages.