Personal Statement, Page Limit

[AngelaT]

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Hey guys,

My Personal Statement is 2 pages and 3/4 (almost 3 pages, ~915 words). Most of the schools i'm applying to require 2-3 pages, however one of them needs 2 pages. The instructions are to 'write a 2 page reflective essay....' I'm having some issues reducing the length of the essay. I don't think any information I've included is fluff and/or unnecessary. I've contacted the school to inquire about this, and they told me 3 pages should be fine. I don't know what's the best thing to do at this point. I don't want them to think I did not follow the instructions.....

Does anyone have any thoughts on it?

I'd really appreciate your feedback as the deadline is coming up soon!

 

[deleted462159]

If the school says it's fine, what's the problem?

 

[AngelaT]

If the school says it's fine, what's the problem?

Blizzard, I know but what if the person who reads my statement doesn't think so?! 🙁 I'm gonna try to cut it down but it is going to be difficult...

 

[Slugathor]

I would leave it as it is, especially if the admissions department said it was alright. Trying to cut down on a statement can be dangerous, you may end up losing the message that you originally had inside the document. I mean, it is not like you are over by like five pages or something, are you by chance applying to a top ten program in the field?

 

[AngelaT]

Thanks guys for the advice! Slugathor, not sure if they are in the top ten. Is there something specific about those programs that I should pay attention to?

 

[Slugathor]

High ranked programs are usually a bit more strict on the requirements due to the volume of applications. They also sometimes add things here and there to the application process to weed out those who are applying to everything. It is usually these kind of programs that will be a bit more conservative with your statement, but since you already talked to someone in admissions about the certain school in question, I really don't think you should have a problem.