Personal statement length?

[decidpremol]

PASS says the max length is 5,000something characters. Does your personal statement really need to be that long? Some people have told me to try and use the whole space, thers say to try and make it about a page long so what is the most common length?

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[capisce?]

PASS says the max length is 5,000something characters. Does your personal statement really need to be that long? Some people have told me to try and use the whole space, thers say to try and make it about a page long so what is the most common length?

Use whatever you need to use to get your point across. I know when I read personal statements and they ramble on and on just to fill space I usually end up just skipping it and heading to the next one.

 

[dentalmental]

Use whatever you need to use to get your point across. I know when I read personal statements and they ramble on and on just to fill space I usually end up just skipping it and heading to the next one.

hey capsice, do residents get to see sop's of prospective candidates? do they have a say in selection process?

 

[capisce?]

hey capsice, do residents get to see sop's of prospective candidates? do they have a say in selection process?

depends on the program but for us, yes and yes.

 

[dlux]

Having had the pleasure of reading applications to dental school and gpr programs, I can tell you that in my experience less can TRULY be more. While you certainly have to convey your point, it can be done in a page or less. My essay this go round is about 4000 characters. Printed out it is one page. Good luck!

 

[dentalmental]

Having had the pleasure of reading applications to dental school and gpr programs, I can tell you that in my experience less can TRULY be more. While you certainly have to convey your point, it can be done in a page or less. My essay this go round is about 4000 characters. Printed out it is one page. Good luck!

dlux , you mean you cramed 4000 characters in a page?
wow! how did ya do that? smaller fonts?

 

[ItsGavinC]

I agree that less is more. You don't need to take up the entire space. There are lots of things to read, and nobody wants to read more than they need to.

 

[dlux]

I just looked on the PASS application and it is 3728 characters. I'm pretty sure the Word document is 10 font, but that only applies to the ones printed to be delivered outside of PASS, since it appears that all PASS statements are uniform font.

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

PASS says the max length is 5,000something characters. Does your personal statement really need to be that long? Some people have told me to try and use the whole space, thers say to try and make it about a page long so what is the most common length?

From my experience of reviewing some essays for evaluation, I suggest you keep to no more than a page and a half. 3 pages or more are tough to read unless the story is compelling and must be told. Instead of hammering away your eight achievements that you have done in college, narrow down to two or three of your best ones. Make it short, simple and to the point. Remember that AC reads hundreds of these so they get tired quickly. DP

 

[wodie79]

My opinion...
the shorter the better. And too many people end up writing a stylized version of their CV. Make it stand out andhave some type of theme to it.

 

[PFM]

My opinion...
the shorter the better. And too many people end up writing a stylized version of their CV. Make it stand out andhave some type of theme to it.

I agree with this. Having served in the admissions committee, all I want to know is why did you apply for this program. But most of the time its a CV in paragraph format and does not even answer the one question I look for.