word count limit

[Mellobunnie]

Hi,

I just finished writing my personal statement but found it to be 623 words. Do you think they'll cut off my essay from 600 wds?
Any help would be appreciated~

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[ri23]

Yes they will, do some editing.

 

[rosemma]

Actually, they won't. They have no way of counting words, only characters, and therefore cannot limit your word count. However, I would NOT turn anything in that is over because it will just look bad and sometimes if it is over they won't read it altogether. So just edit it. Mine was 685 and I went through and didn't get rid of anything drastic and cut it to 592. You can do it!

 

[sheltervet]

According to my word processing system (Microsoft Word), my personal statement is 749 words, but out of curiosity I pasted it into the VMCAS personal statement field, pressed the save button, and it did not give me that annoying "please limit your personal statement to 600 words!" message.

After playing around with the field a little, it appears that it is set to accept 5000 characters with spaces, which may average out to 600 words for most (now I'm worried that my statement is comprised of too many short words!).

I think that as long as your statement fits into the field, vet schools are going to read all of it...I wouldn't want to attend a school where the members of the admissions committee are actually anal enough to count each individual word!

 

[BobDog]

I think that as long as your statement fits into the field, vet schools are going to read all of it...I wouldn't want to attend a school where the members of the admissions committee are actually anal enough to count each individual word!

On the other hand, it sure would suck to have them toss your PS because they found it to be way over the word limit. I wouldn't play the "there is no way they can tell" game with one of the most significant parts of my application.

Just trim it down a bit and then you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Kymmy16w]

597 here

 

[clawsbeatskin]

600 exactly.

 

[Kymmy16w]

600 exactly.

Niiiiice.

 

[Sweetcaroline14]

Hey There! I used word, then cut and paste. It wouldn't let me put any more than 600 words! So, I went back and forth and trimmed down words that were somewhat filler! I'd make sure it was exactly what they said. As previous posters said, it would really stink if you were penalized for it being "cut off"! Good Luck!

 

[narg99z]

I think that as long as the window accepts your essay when you cut and paste it, it is fine. VMCAS even has a disclaimer:

Your personal statement should be written clearly and succinctly – 600 words have been allotted for your statement. The word count can vary depending on the word processing program that you are using.

I had around 630 words and it pasted in fine (I tested it out with up to 700 or so and it was fine).

 

[philomycus]

I had around 650 and then trimmed it down to 600. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Plus, sometimes less is more

 

[OSJ]

I think some word processors don't count small words such as "and" or "of." I am still at 630 words and trying to cut it down to 600... I feel like if your word processor counts the small words, it might be okay to be a little over. I'm still going to try and cut mine down a little more if I can.

 

[sheltervet]

Yea...I was able to get my statement to exactly 600 words! Now if only VMCAS would work so I could submit my application