Personal Statement Questions!!!

[DannyV]

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Ok guys...this is going to be simple and clear....

I know the limit is 1500 words for the Personal Statement, BUT THAT'S A WHOLE 2.5 PAGES TYPED NOT DOUBLE SPACED IN WORD. THAT'S ALOT. 😡

So that's the limit, but how long is a decent length? Do I have to write whole 2.5 typed pages?

Columbia requires 500 words, that's reasonable. But others dont mention anything besides the limit. Some schools say one to one and half page typed...well thats like 700-1000 words. So whats a good amount? 😎

ALSO, if you guys can kind of include your own Personal Statement length... (I prefer in word count, but page wise will do)

Thank you all!🙂

 

[Stories]

For my MPH, I had around 500-600 words. My PhD personal statement had around 1800.

 

[kelwalk]

I don't know what's standard, but I wrote 5 pages double-spaced for all of my applications--it was a little under 1,500.

I devoted a page or two to my academic background, a page or two to work/internship experience, and then some description of what I wanted out of a future career in public health.

I was an English/journalism major though, so I like writing, haha.

 

[futureepi]

I think mine was three pages, double-spaced. It seemed to be well-received.

 

[DannyV]

thank you guys
one more thing..what schools did you guys apply to? and where did you get in? (this is just for me to compare that the schools I am applying to will accept something around that length too)

once again....Thanks all

 

[futureepi]

thank you guys
one more thing..what schools did you guys apply to? and where did you get in? (this is just for me to compare that the schools I am applying to will accept something around that length too)

once again....Thanks all

I was accepted to UCLA, Michigan, Emory, Minnesota, and BU. Rejected at Harvard, Berkeley, and UW. I had pretty subpar GRE scores.

 

[DannyV]

oh ok...thanks....see now that helps me cuz i am applying to Emory, BU and UCLA that matches with your acceptance...so for those schools....that length did it! lol (i know there might not be a correlation of the length of your personal statement and the acceptance) haha but it helps..thanks

 

[kelwalk]

I applied to BU, GWU, Temple and Tufts. Got accepted to BU, GWU, and Temple, rejected from Tufts.

 

[DannyV]

oo..ok thanks guys...

 

[hankea4]

Sometimes I think less is more. Focus on the quality of your personal statement, not the number of pages it consumes. If you can fit your statement into fewer - albeit solid - words, probably the better.

Mine was about 2.5. I opened with a fairly unique hook and then answered all the pertient questions following the same "theme" throughout my essay. I got into BU, GWU, and Johns Hopkins. I'm going to BU in the fall.

 

[DannyV]

congrats and thanks! ok one more thing...i m thinking about opening up with my experience in public health...then talking about how i learned from it..and then transitioning it to how that experience and my academic background helped me decide with track...then talking about my characteristics that make me a good fit...and then my future plans...are those strong and solid transitions? or does it seem jumpy and skippy?

 

[Stories]

congrats and thanks! ok one more thing...i m thinking about opening up with my experience in public health...then talking about how i learned from it..and then transitioning it to how that experience and my academic background helped me decide with track...then talking about my characteristics that make me a good fit...and then my future plans...are those strong and solid transitions? or does it seem jumpy and skippy?

Search online for other personal statements. You'll find there's a lot of ways to approach it. Just find one that suits you.

 

[DannyV]

cool thanks =) i'm loving the forums! =D

 

[DannyV]

can you help me locate some samples on the internet? ty

 

[queenkatez]

Hi,
I think 2.5 pages double-spaced is more than enough. In my opinion, schools want to see if you can clearly convey your thoughts and ideas while also maintaining brevity. Quality over quantity is my school of thought. Keep in mind that most admissions committee members may have to review hundreds, if not thousands of applications and the last thing I suspect they'll want to do is sit there and read a pile of lengthy, flowery essays. But again, this is just my opinion. And I'm certainly not trying to suggest that ALL long essays are full of fluff.
FYI: My essay for Columbia ran just a tad bit over 500 words and my essay for New York University came out to 2 pages.

 

[loryat011]

I would have to agree with many of the posters when I say quality not quantity is important for your personal statement. All though last year when I was writing my statements for various school I was worried about everything... How to write my statement, how much to write and what to include and what to exclude. On UC Berkeley's website (http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/state_purpose.shtml) they give an outline on what is expected for a personal statement. I used it just as a guideline and obviously added a lot more personal stuff to make it my own. Most of my personal statements were around 2 pages. I was accepted to BU, UCLA, Arizona, Michigan and Harvard... which I will be attending in the fall. I was rejected from Pittsburgh and ironically UC Berkeley. Good luck with writing your personal statement!

 

[DannyV]

thank you queekatez and loryat011 that really helped....and thanks for the link it was very helpful...thanks once again

 

[ahowardmd]

I'm kind of confused here guys: the personal statement is 5300 characters, not words. I almost maxed out my essay at 950 words, and that only adds up to 1.5 pages (single spaced). Sounds to me like some people might have PS's that are a little too long.

 

[Stories]

I'm kind of confused here guys: the personal statement is 5300 characters, not words. I almost maxed out my essay at 950 words, and that only adds up to 1.5 pages (single spaced). Sounds to me like some people might have PS's that are a little too long.

You do realize not everyone applies to the same exact program and same school that you're applying to, right?

 

[ahowardmd]

You do realize not everyone applies to the same exact program and same school that you're applying to, right?

Guess I didn't! I didn't realize people have personal statements outside of AMCAS or AACOMAS. Does this mean that if I'm applying through AMCAS, I have to write another personal statement for my Dual Degree MPH programs?

Thanks for enlightening me buddddddddy.

 

[behealthy]

We're not talking about MD/MPH, just public health schools. Mine was about 3 pages ( right around 1500 words), and columbias was 500. I could easily fill 3 pages, but have to be concise. I focused on my motivation to do what I want to do, and used my experiences to support my end goal. 500 words was hard. 5 years of college, jobs, research, hard to sum up in so little space.

Or, just go for the 2 word statement. "I rock"

 

[Stories]

Guess I didn't! I didn't realize people have personal statements outside of AMCAS or AACOMAS. Does this mean that if I'm applying through AMCAS, I have to write another personal statement for my Dual Degree MPH programs?

Thanks for enlightening me buddddddddy.

Generally, the MD/MPH programs admission decisions are conferred by the medical school (since MD applications are far more strict than MPH applications). So, no. You don't have to write a separate MPH personal statement. Your statement should reflect why you're applying to a dual-degree program and not just a single degree program.