Cover letters for internship: Is shorter or longer better?

[annel]

Hey all,
I have heard two schools of thought in regards to internship cover letters. One says keep them short and too the point, ideally under a page. The other says flesh them out, and make sure to make a convincing case that you are an ideal candidate, and try to list everything that you like about the site.

Thoughts? Is shorter better?

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[WisNeuro]

Shorter. When I review, the cover letter is pretty far down the list of importance. But, I value objective info more than most probably. That being said DO NOT go over a page and a half. At most, 2 pages. If you're bleeding onto pg 3, I'm starting to have misgivings about you.

 

[neuronic]

To the extent that you can concisely convey information, shorter is better. Specifically, when sites have hundreds of files to review, your cover letter is likely to get read more so than your essays. As such, you will want to show good writing skills. Probably spend a short paragraph detailing what program and degree you are from and your enthusiasm for their program. A paragraph on what interests you in their program, and why you are a good fit. For research sites, a paragraph about those interests may also be appropriate. I would say 1 - 1.5 pages is standard though. Good luck!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agree: ~1.5 pages seems to be fairly standard for internship and postdoc apps, with 2 being the upper limit (including signature line).

 

[researchgirl]

Agree: ~1.5 pages seems to be fairly standard for internship and postdoc apps, with 2 being the upper limit (including signature line).

mine were all 1.5-2 pages (none went on to a third page). i just wanted to add on that each site is different in what they look at - the lab i work in also takes interns for a clinical rotation, and the supervisor who reviews applications says she reads cover letters FIRST, looks for a good fit, then looks at the CV, and rarely reads essays. so, it seems like what is 'most important' or most likely to be read thoroughly is dependent on site/supervisor.

 

[Pragma]

Unless they request a lot of information in the cover letter, keeping it under a page is almost always appropriate. I followed this logic for internship, postdoc, and the academic market. You can say a lot in one page. They are definitely important...often the CV and cover letter are the only things that get read for the first cut. But that doesn't mean more = better...on the contrary, I think less is more if you are an effective writer.

 

[WisNeuro]

Unless they request a lot of information in the cover letter, keeping it under a page is almost always appropriate. I followed this logic for internship, postdoc, and the academic market. You can say a lot in one page. They are definitely important...often the CV and cover letter are the only things that get read for the first cut. But that doesn't mean more = better...on the contrary, I think less is more if you are an effective writer.

Agreed, I'll give the person who can concisely, and eloquently, write a cover letter in one page major bonus points over someone who just throws up on paper for 2 pages.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agreed, I'll give the person who can concisely, and eloquently, write a cover letter in one page major bonus points over someone who just throws up on paper for 2 pages.

If nothing else, attempting to write a cover letter in under a page, even if you don't use it, is good practice. It often seems to be the case that what can be said in 1.5 pages can be explained just as well in 1 page, although part of this is also going to depend on the particular site (e.g., if they're specifically requesting that you address A, B, C, D, E, and parts of F).

 

[MCParent]

Hey all,
I have heard two schools of thought in regards to internship cover letters. One says keep them short and too the point, ideally under a page. The other says flesh them out, and make sure to make a convincing case that you are an ideal candidate, and try to list everything that you like about the site.

Thoughts? Is shorter better?

The school of thought that says "flesh them out, and make sure to make a convincing case" is also the school of bad writing. A convincing case and brevity are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the opposite is probably the case. I can't see how a cover letter could possibly be over 2 pages except by being superfluous.

2 page MAX, ideally about 1.5. That counts the business-letter addresses at the top of page 1.

 

[annel]

Thanks for the replies all,
The "page length" way of looking at cover letters doesn't really fit here, because I've noticed the letters as they appear in MS Word are significantly longer than they appear in the AAPI, due to the AAPI using smaller font.

My cover letters are all for university counseling centers. My template was about 500 words, and it's been whittled down to 330. In order to cut it down, I had to eliminate a couple sentences about my passion for therapy, but I think that the shorter letter might look better. What kind of word counts are y'all hitting in cover letters?

Also, a supervisor of mine suggested it might be helpful to include some personal info about me in the closing of the cover letter. Ie. "Self-care is important to me. I enjoy x/y/z."

I have not seen this done in many cover letters. What do you all think? Good/bad idea?

 

[researchgirl]

Annel,
My cover letter word counts were between 800 and 1,000 words (including addresses/salutations/signature lines). I did not include any personal information about myself in my cover letter. My cover letters predominately discussed why I felt I was a good fit for the internship - my relevant experience, my internship goals, and why I was excited about various rotations offered by that program.
That being said, I am not applying to any university counseling centers, so I'm not sure if they might be looking for something slightly different 🙂

 

[G Costanza]

I'd focus on fit and see if you have room left over for a touch of personal info at the end. I left the personal information for my first essay though. I'm UCC all the way.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Also, a supervisor of mine suggested it might be helpful to include some personal info about me in the closing of the cover letter. Ie. "Self-care is important to me. I enjoy x/y/z."

I have not seen this done in many cover letters. What do you all think? Good/bad idea?

I think if it flows with the voice of the cover letter that it adds a nice personal touch. Applicants are more than just numbers and citations, and having a tidbit here or there about outside interests can help the reader get a better idea about the person. Obviously, choose wisely about what you disclose.

 

[thewesternsky]

I agree with researchgirl-- My cover letters are all about 1000 words. This works out to between 1.5-2 pages on the APPI (often just over 2 pages in Word) including addresses and sig lines. I focused on my experiences, the quality of my training to date, and how the internship would be a good fit with my goals and experiences. I did not include personal info, although I put a little of that stuff in my APPI Essay 1 (autobiographical essay).

 

[cara susanna]

Ditto the others. I left the personal stuff for my essays. Also, some of my essays were actually less than 500 words.

 

[pavlove]

Yep, 800-900 words here as well. I didn't apply to any UCCs either, though.

 

[CheetahGirl]

What kind of word counts are y'all hitting in cover letters?

Also, a supervisor of mine suggested it might be helpful to include some personal info about me in the closing of the cover letter. Ie. "Self-care is important to me. I enjoy x/y/z."

All my cover letters were between 600-800 words.

I applied to one UCC (one of my alma maters). I basically had to rewrite my cover letter for that site because all others are major medical centers. I did not add anything personal, except one or two lines about my previous experience with that university's population. All my personal stuff is contained in my APPIC essays, which were each between 500-550. To those of you said, keep it to 500words, I made a strong case (in my mind) for not cutting them down to 500 or less words...yes, I know, I didn't follow instructions...it's the rebel in me (shame it has to surface in my APPIC essays) - we'll see how I fare with my blantant disregard of that particular guideline.