Personal Statement Character Limit

[bosco]

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Hi everyone,

I know that the personal statement is limited to 5300 characters, and I am curious if anyone knows how spacing such as tabs and "returns" (i.e. blank lines between paragraphs) are counted or if they are even possible.

Have most of you gone right up to your limit or kept the essay pretty short and sweet?

Thanks!

 

[UCLAMAN]

go up to the limit....they gave you space to talk about yourself, sell yourself, explain why medicine, etc. use all of it!!!

 

[LetMeInPlease]

I have one hint for you. Count tabs and returns for at least three characters. When I did my essay I followed all of their instructions. When I previewed the essay it looked just great. It had all of its formatting and I counted every single character by hand.
When I submitted the essay however, it turned out as one big blob with no paragraphs and the last sentence was cut off mid-way. So, while it is good to use up all of your characters, be careful. I would try to shoot for 100 charcters fewer than the maimum. That way you definitely won't go over the limit. I have counted the cfharacters in my essay numerous times since it was submitted, and I still end up with fewer than the maximum characters, so the only thing I can think of is that returns count for lots of characters. I don't know how you can make your essay not become one big blob though.

 

[UCLAMAN]

to prevent the blob effect hit retrun twice so that there is a one line space between paragraphs. don't worry about indenting. The one line space between paragraphs will suffice. i don't think the indents show up anyways.

 

[wolferman]

I agree with UCLAMAN. Return twice between paragraphs. To make sure the blob-effect didn't occur, save and click on print so the window with the finished product appears. Then scroll down to the bottom to see if the formatting took effect. I had to save and check mine a dozen times when I was figuring out how to prevent the blob effect, but it was worth it when my essay was intelligible.

 

[Adcadet]

I assume bosco is asking for next year's application game. I would hope that the blob effect is fixed next year. If not, do the double enter trick. My PS was ~100 characters under, and it turned out just fine.

 

[cabruen]

OMG, are people already thinking about the next application cycle!!! Interviewing isnt even done, and people are staring to talk about essays again. I feel old.


But for advice on writing your essay...mine was written on a circa 1970 computer in an internet cafe in Managua, Nicaragua. (dont do this. If you think AMCAS is slow here, try it that why when you are paying $1.50 minute.)

I had 5290 characters. and double spaced between paragraphs.

 

[deleted9493]

Will my ~3800 character essay be looked down upon? I feel that what I've written is pithy and from the heart...and I really am not looking to make anybody hurl from excessive "corniness." Is there a minimum length for this thing?