General Admissions & OTCAS How long is too long?

[OT6374]

I am currently writing my personal statement for OTCAS and am having trouble with the length. Right now I have three full pages, single spaced. Is this too long? What is a normal length for a personal statement?
Thank you in advance!

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[deleted948274]

I am currently writing my personal statement for OTCAS and am having trouble with the length. Right now I have three full pages, single spaced. Is this too long? What is a normal length for a personal statement?
Thank you in advance!

Well it depends on if you are applying to multiple schools. I have seen a lot of schools put a word limit! I would look and see whatever the school guidelines have posted...you can only upload one personal statement to OTCAS unless the program gives you another personal statement to write, but there will be a slot for that essay under that programs tab. I would say that your essay is pretty long though. I’ve seen lots of people say they just skim essays, but write whatever gets your point across. Just my opinion though!


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[PlayWithClay]

I suggest trying to edit your essay down. Don't be surprised if the amount of time you take to edit it is longer than the time it took to write it. Read it out loud to yourself. Have family members and friends read it. Figure out what the most important parts are and remove the rest. Sleep on it and repeat. One of the skills you must have as an OT and an OT student is clear and concise communication, so take time to edit it to get it to be as impactful as possible. I also found this from PersonalEssay : "The average personal essay runs between 600 and 750 words, give or take, with the upper end of that range being more common (or the equivalent in characters, which is how Central Application Services tend to measure things - around 4000 to 5000 characters, including spaces). It is important you compose an essay characterized by both conciseness as well as an effective level of detail and specificity. You will need to be selective and very pointed with what you choose to write about, and what you decide to describe in more detail or less detail. The guidelines on this page can help you with these choices.". Mine was 1300 words (under 2 pages). I probably should have made it shorter but my deadline for submission was fast approaching, lol. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[OT0103]

As others have stated I would recommend cutting the essay down and like another girl said some schools have a word limit. I think less is more in the case of a personal statement... you want to say the most important things about yourself so that you stand out and get the point across in a concise essay. Think about how many essays admissions has to read through... you don't want them to feel like your personal statement is dragging for too long... I would say 1-1.5 pages single spaced is probably best (or 2 pages double spaced)

 

[ValleySY]

I am currently writing my personal statement for OTCAS and am having trouble with the length. Right now I have three full pages, single spaced. Is this too long? What is a normal length for a personal statement?
Thank you in advance!

Yikes! I'm surprised you haven't gotten more answers. Please consider editing your statement to 3000-3500 characters or no more than one single-spaced page. Remember that the committee members may be reading hundreds of essays; don't give them a reason to pass over your application. Ask yourself what you're trying to convey and only include the information that directly adds to your message.