Formatting PS + résumé

Rigid DesignatorRigid Designator Alum Member
in Law School Admissions 1091 karma

Is it acceptable to have, say, a size 12 font resume and a size 11 font personal statement (or vice versa)? Or am I taking the "be consistent" advice too far?

Comments

  • _oshun1__oshun1_ Alum Member
    3652 karma

    I don’t even know what type of font or size my resume was, I was just trying to shrink it to a page and make it look pretty. I don’t think it matters for your resume since it’s an entirely diff format than an essay. For your PS and additional essays I think it would be best to keep it all the same font and size. I really doubt adcomms would be paying attention to that though. Double check the prompt too as some schools like UCLA say to keep your PS to a 12 pt font.

  • Rigid DesignatorRigid Designator Alum Member
    1091 karma

    @oshun1 said:
    I don’t even know what type of font or size my resume was, I was just trying to shrink it to a page and make it look pretty. I don’t think it matters for your resume since it’s an entirely diff format than an essay. For your PS and additional essays I think it would be best to keep it all the same font and size. I really doubt adcomms would be paying attention to that though. Double check the prompt too as some schools like UCLA say to keep your PS to a 12 pt font.

    Yeah, that UCLA one is tricky. 12 size font plus 2 pages max. Sigh.

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member ⭐
    8392 karma

    I kept mine at Times New Roman 12 for everything, including resume. (12 pt seemed to be a size that worked for all schools, so I kept it that to not have to re-size things all the time.) My resume is all the same with the exception of my name at the top in the header. I don't know that it would have to be the same, but I personally think it looks nicer and more consistent to have your resume match the rest.

  • Rigid DesignatorRigid Designator Alum Member
    1091 karma

    @"Leah M B" said:
    I kept mine at Times New Roman 12 for everything, including resume. (12 pt seemed to be a size that worked for all schools, so I kept it that to not have to re-size things all the time.) My resume is all the same with the exception of my name at the top in the header. I don't know that it would have to be the same, but I personally think it looks nicer and more consistent to have your resume match the rest.

    That's what I'm thinking, just keep it consistent wherever possible.

    I felt size 11 was a little small on my résumé, since it isn't double spaced. But then size 12 makes my PS just over 2 pages, which isn't acceptable for some places. I think I'll go for size 11 PS if needed, and size 12 résumé. I figure I'd rather they notice I used two font sizes than they have a résumé they're struggling to skim read.

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