single or double space after sentences?

[busyizzy]

Random question, I know.

I normally use a single space after sentences, but my friend who is an English major double spaces. She edited my personal statement with double spaces after sentences. I am currently over the 4500 character limit of PharmCAS (i HATE HATE HATE that limit .... 4500 is nowhere NEAR enough to talk about why pharmacy, your goals, and your educational/extracurricular/professional experience), and so in my desperation to gain about 20 characters, I cut it back to single spaces.

But it just got me thinking. What do you guys do, single or double space?

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[sgtbrushes]

Hands down, two spaces is "grammatically correct." I'm not sure how you are submitting your application. If it is in a very rich text format (Like Microsoft .doc, for example), two spaces is the standard. If it is more "plain" text (like SDN forum posts, .txt files), then one space is completely acceptable.

 

[roziak]

If it is for the PharmCAS essay, just use single spaces. A 4500 character limit is definitely not enough. Use single spacing to get as much info as you can in there!

 

[fenixtnlfan]

I normally double space, but I did single spacing for PharmCAS so I could make it in the limit.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Single space for PharmCAS. I was tempted to go with no spaces.

 

[desmoulins45179]

Single space for PharmCAS. I was tempted to go with no spaces.

I have never heard of the two spaces thing until college (high school never mentioned it though my friends; schools did). I think my professor said that two spaces is more formal but that some newspaper does a single space. I don't think it matters that much. Especially since you can't format on pharmcas.

 

[aboveliquidice]

I normally double space, but I did single spacing for PharmCAS so I could make it in the limit.

Absolutely...

 

[diastole]

I asked the family expert, my husband, the professional editor and he said that it is one space after sentences. The two space thing comes from the days of typewriters. Since we no longer use typewriters, we don't need to put in two spaces after the periods. Books and magazines use special formatting programs (Framemaker, for example) that would muck up the design if you left in two spaces.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I asked the family expert, my husband, the professional editor and he said that it is one space after sentences. The two space thing comes from the days of typewriters. Since we no longer use typewriters, we don't need to put in two spaces after the periods. Books and magazines use special formatting programs (Framemaker, for example) that would muck up the design if you left in two spaces.

I think MLA formatting still requires two spaces, but interesting info anyway 🙂

 

[desmoulins45179]

I think MLA formatting still requires two spaces, but interesting info anyway 🙂

I never heard that before (high school or college). In my writing 101 class at UB, the prof never said that you HAD to have 2 spaces (and papers were written in MLA format).

 

[Passion4Sci]

I never heard that before (high school or college). In my writing 101 class at UB, the prof never said that you HAD to have 2 spaces (and papers were written in MLA format).

As a practical matter, however, there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor or editor requests that you do otherwise.

Guess it was just a stylistic thing for everyone to ask for that in my undergraduate. Oh well! Sorry =P I distinctly remember EVERY one of my instructors asking for double-spaced periods. I guess it was for their tiring eyes.

 

[desmoulins45179]

Guess it was just a stylistic thing for everyone to ask for that in my undergraduate. Oh well! Sorry =P I distinctly remember EVERY one of my instructors asking for double-spaced periods. I guess it was for their tiring eyes.

I got the impression that it's more "formal" but not maybe it is correct but no one in buffalo really cares

 

[delano2000]

I say double space because it looks more professional unless you are using pharmCAS.

 

[socalpharm86]

Did you guys bother separating paragraphs or was the whole thing one gigantic paragraph? I'm contemplating making it one huge paragraph so I can fit an extra word in there!

 

[confettiflyer]

Double spacing is "technically" still the correct/formal way, and this is how I was taught back in elementary school...but back in the real world, nobody I know/work with does this anymore. It's a leftover rule from the typewriter days, and I personally think the 2x space after sentence rule looks really really funny.

I never double spaced after a sentence in undergrad or in pharm school...and I was never dinged on it. For PharmCAS, I also ignored this rule, I think you're fine.

 

[desmoulins45179]

Did you guys bother separating paragraphs or was the whole thing one gigantic paragraph? I'm contemplating making it one huge paragraph so I can fit an extra word in there!

i separated them into paragrahs and double spaced the paragraphs. so it looked like:

This is the
first paragraph.

This is the
second paragraph.

 

[Sparda29]

WTF? I never even heard about this double spacing until now. I call shenanigans.

 

[medicalCPA]

I had never heard of double spacing after sentences until I started college in the US. I have never been penalized for using single spacing after a sentence, and I certainly did not use it for PharmCAS, where every single character counts.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

This might sound ludicrous but I even double space my sentences here on SDN. lol It was shoved down our throats so much during AP Language, AP Literature, and even college English. When I have to squeeze things in for stuff like Pharmcas I definitely go back and delete spaces though. It's such a habit that I can't automatically single space.

 

[onychophagia]

This might sound ludicrous but I even double space my sentences here on SDN. lol It was shoved down our throats so much during AP Language, AP Literature, and even college English. When I have to squeeze things in for stuff like Pharmcas I definitely go back and delete spaces though. It's such a habit that I can't automatically single space.

Ditto. I double space on the forums too! From what I remember though, the MLA format only requires double spacing when writing academic research papers. Anywhere else is personal preference.