Difference b/t SOPHAS and Columbia statements

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cloosh10

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So I submitted my application already to Columbia but I had a question for you all. So I wrote a general SOPHAS essay and I had two specific paragraphs for Columbia in that essay. In it I mentioned a project I would like to work on and everything. I didn't put much thought into the Columbia 500 word statement and going on their website, it pretty much asks the same questions that I already answered in my general SOPHAS essay. I called the admissions office and the lady told me I could send in a new 500 word personal statement if I want to (and I should because I didn't really fill it out as I should have).

So my questions are: what is the difference b/t the SOPHAS essay and the Columbia essay, and do I write a new essay especially after I tailored my SOPHAS essay for Columbia?

Thanks for the help.

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Does your SOPHAS essay meet the requirements for Columbia (500 words max)?

Please submit a 500 word personal statement for the department/program of choice. Professional degree essays require a clear understanding of the public health field and how you hope to work within the field. Be sure to proofread your personal statement carefully for spelling and grammar.

Some questions you might consider in preparing your personal statement are:

Why are you particularly interested in the field of public health?
What interests you in a specific academic department?
What information about yourself, your transcript, your test scores, your career goals, etc. might help us to better understand and evaluate your admissions application?
 
From what I understand, the form on the SOPHAS application is what you use to write the essays for each separate school. You do not submit a SOPHAS statement separate from the statement for an individual school.
 
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@oneday81: Thanks for the copy and paste but I saw this already and that's what prompted me to write the post.

@edelfo: That's what I thought too but Columbia has a 500 word limit as opposed to the SOPHAS general essay which is like 1500 words (I believe). So why the difference?

So just to clarify my questions: There are two essays for Columbia. One is the general SOPHAS essay (which I tailored to Columbia any way) and then there is the Columbia 500 word essay. Both are personal statements. My SOPHAS essay is long (like 1300 words or something), so obviously does not meet the requirements for the Columbia essay. I attached my general essay to each school and did not send in a 500 word essay. Which one does Columbia read/take more seriously? Did they mean that I should make my SOPHAS essay only 500 words? I'm finding this confusing.
 
I feel like a lot of people are making this mistake (including me!) I'm wondering how strict this 500 word limit is.... in my opinion, that's not enough to write a cohesive personal statement.
 
I called Columbia to ask about this when I was completing my app, and the idea is to write a SOPHAS essay that is approx 500 words. You don't have to submit a second essay then, and in fact I'm not sure they recommend that either. However, when I realized that it was hard enough writing 600 words for Harvard (and they're very strict about that) and I couldn't possibly cut out another 100 words and in fact had an essay for Columbia that was about 700 words, they said that that was absolutely fine. I think they recommend that it's not more than 1.5 times the recommended 500 words, aka you should stop at 750 words. But you could call and check this.

Also, SOPHAS allows 1500 words to cater to various schools that will have various requirements and questions to answer in your personal essays. Your job is then to tailor that essay specifically to the word limit and specifications of each school.

Not to worry though, I think Columbia's pretty easy on this point and will allow you to submit what you have.
 
Thanks guys that really does help. I just called Columbia myself and the admissions office person was a little unhelpful saying that they may or may not read an essay that long, it just depends on the committee members. I don't want to look like the idiot with a 1300 word essay while everyone else's is no more than 750 (although I hardly think it's wrong to have a long personal statement). Should I go ahead and edit it down to be ~750 words? She said I can just email her another version if I need to.
 
Hi cloosh10, I would re-submit a 500-700 essay, if they are giving you the opportunity to do that. That's really nice of them to do for you! The SOP is probably the most scrutinized part of your application. Good luck in your application process! :)
 
@MPHProspect2012: Thanks! I will do that!

Thanks to everyone who helped, I appreciate it!
 
@oneday81: Thanks for the copy and paste but I saw this already and that's what prompted me to write the post.

@edelfo: That's what I thought too but Columbia has a 500 word limit as opposed to the SOPHAS general essay which is like 1500 words (I believe). So why the difference?

So just to clarify my questions: There are two essays for Columbia. One is the general SOPHAS essay (which I tailored to Columbia any way) and then there is the Columbia 500 word essay. Both are personal statements. My SOPHAS essay is long (like 1300 words or something), so obviously does not meet the requirements for the Columbia essay. I attached my general essay to each school and did not send in a 500 word essay. Which one does Columbia read/take more seriously? Did they mean that I should make my SOPHAS essay only 500 words? I'm finding this confusing.

Your "SOPHAS" essay should be tailored to each school's requirements; thus, your essay that you attached via SOPHAS for Columbia should have been 500 words.
 
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@ASK2211: haha i just realized i did the same thing for harvard. looks like i'll be calling them up tomorrow. god i'm an idiot. thanks for the heads up.
 
@ASK2211: haha i just realized i did the same thing for harvard. looks like i'll be calling them up tomorrow. god i'm an idiot. thanks for the heads up.

Haha! :D Glad to be helpful....Harvard's a little more stuck on this point, so I'd get them a 600 word essay asap.
 
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