PS length

[flip26]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So its 5300 characters, including spaces? If I trust the character count in Word, that works out to what, approximately 1.5 pages single spaced? For those of you who have done it, what is the bigger challenge: writing a PS that long, or having more to say than space allows?

Asked a different way: does everyone max out the character length? I am running out of things to say at the 3,000 character level...just curious...I am comfortable with leaving it short, but would like to hear from others who have submitted a PS.

 

[aznb0y129]

So its 5300 characters, including spaces? If I trust the character count in Word, that works out to what, approximately 1.5 pages single spaced? For those of you who have done it, what is the bigger challenge: writing a PS that long, or having more to say than space allows?

Asked a different way: does everyone max out the character length? I am running out of things to say at the 3,000 character level...just curious...I am comfortable with leaving it short, but would like to hear from others who have submitted a PS.

5300 characters including spaces. Mine was slightly less than 1.5 pages single-spaced, but I clocked in around 4800 characters. I think you can leave it a little short, but with only 3000 in the bank, I'm sure you can come up with something else to say.

5300 characters doesn't seem like a whole lot, but when you start hacking out all the insignificant stuff, it becomes more of a struggle to get to 5300 than you would initially anticipate.

 

[thegetupkid]

IMHO, the personal statement is a vital opportunity to tell the ADCOM more about yourself. Some schools (e.g. Mayo, Harvard, UCSF) don't even have a secondary application so the personal statement is the only time the ADCOM can hear directly from you.

Because of this, I think it is imperative you write until you take up all of the 5300 characters. BUT, write concisely! (Don't B.S. to fill up the space-- but if you aren't filling up the space, I think you aren't including enough)

 

[RoadRunner17]

FYI - I think the AMCAS application system counts hard returns as 2 characters, so you really have about 5,280 characters (including spaces) according to the word count tool in Word. This depends on how many paragraphs you break your essay into, of course.

If you don't have material beyond 3,000 characters, don't force yourself to fill the extra 2,000 and change. It will probably be clear that you're coming up with fluff. Try to be concise but at the same time, provide a wealth of information about yourself.

 

[Jolie South]

If you don't have material beyond 3,000 characters, don't force yourself to fill the extra 2,000 and change. It will probably be clear that you're coming up with fluff. Try to be concise but at the same time, provide a wealth of information about yourself.

^^ This. I tried to keep the adcoms attention span in mind while I was writing. Don't ramble on for the whole allotted space if you don't need to.

 

[thegetupkid]

IMHO, the personal statement is a vital opportunity to tell the ADCOM more about yourself. Some schools (e.g. Mayo, Harvard, UCSF) don't even have a secondary application so the personal statement is the only time the ADCOM can hear directly from you.

Because of this, I think it is imperative you write until you take up all of the 5300 characters. BUT, write concisely! (Don't B.S. to fill up the space-- but if you aren't filling up the space, I think you aren't including enough)

Just to clarify... of course you don't want to bore the ADCOM with B.S. Still, I just can't imagine how any of our lives do not amount to 5,300 characters! I mean, think of those great moments in your life that formed who you were--surely there are a bajillion of those.

I just think the more the ADCOM knows about you, the better. (Of course, if you have to resort to "I played four-square in third grade and was king of wall ball"...then don't do it)

 

[Tiare208]

Mine was about 4000 long and it's been successful. I think that adcoms appreciate a concise statement because they have to read a lot of them. Also, as someone pointed out (Panda MD, maybe?), most of us don't have a life story that would justify filling all of that out. If you immigrated here from a war zone where you lost your parents and raised your 5 siblings by doing odd jobs out of school while doing important groundbreaking research, you definitely have things to say. For the rest of us...

 

[mikecougarmd]

Mine was something like 4000-4300 and it got me accepted. It's more about the content than the length. Make it memorable for the adcom.

 

[flip26]

Well, its now running around 3500, and I don't see the need to lengthen it (nor do I see how I could lengthen it). I suppose if I approached it from a different angle, a different theme, it could be made longer, but I don't have any earthly idea what that would be. I don't want to add additional anecdotes that more or less affirm the central theme of the essay...my gut tells me that more is not necessarily better on this essay. I am also trying to "hook" the reader, to leave him wanting to know more about me...you know, the "I want to meet this person" kind of thing...

This is the toughest piece of writing I have ever done, and I think I am a fairly good writer.

Thanks for the comments - very helpful.

 

[Arzt67]

I found it difficult to write a 5300 word PS about myself. My first drafts were around 2500-3000 words before I finished it with around 4200. I found that a good way to see if there's anything missing that could be added or topics that could be expanded upon is to get people who know you well to read it and get their opinions. This seemed to work for me, i got accepted, and I think it would help for those in a similar situation.

The most important thing with the PS, as others stated, is to make a good, coherent case as to why you would make a good physician. If you're able to make that case in 3000 words, leave it at 3000 words. Adding words just to reach the limit won't help if they don't support your case.

 

[scarletgirl777]

So its 5300 characters, including spaces? If I trust the character count in Word, that works out to what, approximately 1.5 pages single spaced? For those of you who have done it, what is the bigger challenge: writing a PS that long, or having more to say than space allows?

Asked a different way: does everyone max out the character length? I am running out of things to say at the 3,000 character level...just curious...I am comfortable with leaving it short, but would like to hear from others who have submitted a PS.

For me it was more difficult to fill up space. I would consider myself a very good writer, but 5300 characters is longer than 500 words, which means it is longer than our college application essays were and longer than a lot of scholarship and other contest essay requirements. It's just a little long for this kind of essay. Ended up being within 200 characters or so though.