Personal Statement length

[Chewbie]

I was wondering if it's ok to have your personal statement a little longer than the supposed 4,500 words (with spaces). I'm about 2,000 words over. I find it hard to talk about all aspects of the essay in only 4,500 words. Any ideas on this. Thanks!

 

[cycloketocaine]

I was wondering if it's ok to have your personal statement a little longer than the supposed 4,500 words (with spaces). I'm about 2,000 words over. I find it hard to talk about all aspects of the essay in only 4,500 words. Any ideas on this. Thanks!

If it says no longer than 4500, don't make it more than 4500. It shows you can follow directions. And, they probably have 1,645,798 other ones to read, and when they pick your novel up, I doubt that they will be excited.

 

[binghamkid]

PharmCAS will cut your essay off at the limit, regardless of whether it fits or not. It's your job to doublecheck.

 

[timbutt2]

Try cutting down on these meaningless words---I think you'll find a shorter, more readable essay as a result.

just, really
very
all
now
suddenly
felt
realized
managed
that
just
only
was/were
is
had/have
-ly
all
now
somehow
something
thing
'Actually/that/just/seems/a little/
almost
began

Try replacing words like is/was/were/had/have with active verbs. The cat was sleeping on the rug to The cat slept on the rug.

 

[parabolic]

Also, it's not 4500 words, it's 4500 characters (and each letter and space counts as one character). So if you're already at 6500 words, you probably have a lot more cutting to do!

 

[wigwam]

i'm the opposite, i cant think of anything to write about, haha. not a very good writer...

 

[sdn1977]

Yep - stick to the absolute character limit. If it goes beyond, it will get shortened automatically. If that happens & it appears incomplete -it won't get read. It will get tossed in the automatic reject pile because you didn't follow directions.

Now - how to fix it? Give it to an independent third party to read. You can use your mom or dad, but ONLY if they can be independent. All that stuff you put in there about going to camp when you were 7 and winning the best writer award in the 5th grade will be important to them. But, an independent reader will be able to tell you that is irrelevant "stuff" & needs to be cut. If they can be that objective, then they're a good resource. Otherwise, use a professor, a professional mentor of some kind - pharmacist, someone you know in business, etc..

Having said that, be prepared to totally rewrite your essay. You've gone off on a tangent somewhere & not kept to the heart of what they are looking for. So, don't get your feelings hurt. Just get a good "reader" who will look at it with critical eyes & be prepared for an extensive rewrite.

Always keep the actual question or statement the essay is supposed to focus on in front of you. Learn to keep asking yourself, is this relevant to the issue they are wanting me to explain?

Good luck!

 

[bananaface]

To trim down, go back and think about how your thoughts are organized. Is there anything that you said in more than one place? Does everything relate to the prompt? Are your thoughts stated clearly and concisely?

 

[Utterdevotion]

I was wondering if it's ok to have your personal statement a little longer than the supposed 4,500 words (with spaces). I'm about 2,000 words over. I find it hard to talk about all aspects of the essay in only 4,500 words. Any ideas on this. Thanks!

I would also suggest letting one of the PS proofreaders take a look and help you cut some stuff 🙂