Personal Statement Length

monp0485

How long should a personal statement be? I have heard different things on different sites - some saying 1-2 pages and others saying a max of 3. I am asking this because mine is 2 full pages right now and I feel like it may be longer with my friends' editing/comments on how I can better improve it.

Thanks!

LSAT_Wrecker

I started with 2.5 pages and I thought I couldn't cut a word. Then I chopped it to 2 pages and was like, "This is it!" Then I noticed my target school would only accept 500 words. After collapsing in despair, I chopped, chopped, and chopped and got to 500 words exactly. Ends up, the 500 version says exactly what I wanted the 2.5 page paper to say in a much more elegant and concise manner. I used that 500 words as the basis for every other PS and only added if a school's individual prompt required it, never going over 2 pages (one school allowed up to 3 pages but said "we value brevity" - hint hint).

Point being, a major consideration to applications (and lawyering in general I'd offer) is to say what you need to say in as few words as possible.

NotMyName

2 pages double spaced will meet most schools’ guidelines. You’ll have to confirm for each school before submitting though.

Leah M B

2 pages is the general good length. A few schools I’m applying to all say max of 2 pages, some give a word count and 1 or 2 schools allow in the 3-4 page range. Concise is always best, but about 2 pages is a good goal and you may need to edit it for individual schools from there.

monp0485

Thank you so much, yall! That helped a lot.