General Admissions & OTCAS Personal Statement Length

[roobeck]

What is the range of acceptable lengths for an OTCAS personal statement? Is 2 single-spaced pages too long?

Thanks!

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[gOT2beOT]

I've been told double spaced, 12 point font, at 1500 words max! Mine is about this and is at 4 entire pages!

 

[RNtoOTinMN]

Mine ended up being 3 pages double spaced and 1371 words!

 

[OTstudent2BE]

SJSU states that the personal statement should be less than 500 words

 

[w.amanda96]

I have already submitted my applications...and my essay was a total of 2 single spaced pages. Should I be worried?

 

[KnightOT]

OTCAS website states: “You are limited to approximately 1 page (7500 characters, including spaces). “

Link here: OTCAS Instructions

My essay was one page. Although it was hard to fit everything I wanted to say into such a small space, you have to think about it this way- each school is going to have hundreds of applications to read/go through. It would take an incredibly long time if everyone’s essays were multiple pages

 

[w.amanda96]

OTCAS website states: “You are limited to approximately 1 page (7500 characters, including spaces). “

Link here: OTCAS Instructions

My essay was one page. Although it was hard to fit everything I wanted to say into such a small space, you have to think about it this way- each school is going to have hundreds of applications to read/go through. It would take an incredibly long time if everyone’s essays were multiple pages

Very true. I made the mistake of copying and pasting just the prompt portion onto my document while working on the essay. I hope that my essay length will not completely turn away my applications!

 

[gOT2beOT]

Is this really true? A friend who got into OT school last cycle said hers was 3 pages. How can OTCAS tell how long I.t is when it’s an uploaded document?

 

[@OT97]

Is this really true? A friend who got into OT school last cycle said hers was 3 pages. How can OTCAS tell how long I.t is when it’s an uploaded document?

The only limit is in size, I think it states it can't be more than 15MB. And yes it depends on the program you are applying to, but most don't have limits in length anymore. My friend's was 3 pages too and she is currently in her first semester.

 

[KnightOT]

Is this really true? A friend who got into OT school last cycle said hers was 3 pages. How can OTCAS tell how long I.t is when it’s an uploaded document?

I don’t think OTCAS will prevent you from uploading it regardless if it’s longer than the one page! If you want to leave it longer than the one page, do you it is your application after all.

 

[gOT2beOT]

I don’t think OTCAS will prevent you from uploading it regardless if it’s longer than the one page! If you want to leave it longer than the one page, do you it is your application after all.

Ok! Yeah, I mean I can most likely edit but this news has caused me some more anxiety. Haha. Thank you for the information

 

[gOT2beOT]

The only limit is in size, I think it states it can't be more than 15MB. And yes it depends on the program you are applying to, but most don't have limits in length anymore. My friend's was 3 pages too and she is currently in her first semester.

15 MB is huge! Ok, thank you for the info!

 

[proapplicant]

the otcas personal statement can be however long you want but with the specific essay that you get for each school you apply to you should stay within their limits

 

[To_oT]

A good rule of thumb is to try to say what you want to say in as few words as possible. They are looking for people that can be concise and articulate ideas easily, since you will be using this skill as an OT.

 

[OT_soon-to-be]

SJSU states that the personal statement should be less than 500 words

Hey! Thanks for the heads up. Can you please send the link to this information? I'm having trouble finding it on the SJSU website and want to make sure I do it right. Mine is currently way longer than 500 words!