Is my personal statement too long?

kmarie7

My personal statement is 3.5 pages long. Is that too long?

danielznelson

It depends on your story, but many schools even explictly state their appreciate for concise statements. Definitely try whittling it down. You'd be surprised how much you can.

Alex

@kmarie7 said:
My personal statement is 3.5 pages long. Is that too long?

For most schools that will be too long. Most allow/require no longer than 2 pages, and even for the ones that allow longer, I've heard the common wisdom is to keep it around 2 pages.

danielznelson

@"Alex Divine" said:
I've heard the common wisdom is to keep it around 2 pages.

Yeah, and just try to look at this from the reader's perspective. Again, your story may be an exceptional one and thus may warrant a long PS. Mine definitely does not (I imagine most do not as well), and while my rough draft was 5-6 pages, I cut it down to just under two pages. I couldn't be happier with the end result and man does it look so clean. I imagine that alone is worth the shorter length.

It seems undoable at first. Once I got my PS down to three pages, I initially had a hard time getting it down to two. Then, after finally doing so, I decided to add in more and thought I would once again have a hard time getting back to two.

Fast forward to about 10 more instances of this, including one that forced me to cut down my length after inputting a header, and I'm back again at 2 pages.

I've had the same experience with my resume and with my diversity statement as well. There's so much that seemingly needs to be said, yet nothing about my application justified the length of my statements and resume. And once the length of my application components reached a more modest level, the end result was dramatically better. I could, ironically, go on and on about conciseness for your application, but I suppose I've found a decent end point.

Accounts Playable

Most places want two. Berkeley wants 3-4. I'd try really hard to get it down to at least under 3.

stepharizona

@"Alex Divine" said:
@kmarie7 said:
My personal statement is 3.5 pages long. Is that too long?

For most schools that will be too long. Most allow/require no longer than 2 pages, and even for the ones that allow longer, I've heard the common wisdom is to keep it around 2 pages.



Yep and remember @kmarie7 that is always double spaced and usually a 12 point font with 1 point margins (some schools get VERY specific about it) so be sure to read the instructions.

kmarie7

What are you all putting for your header? I have seen conflicting reports on this

danielznelson

@kmarie7 I entered my full name, with my last name first, my LSAC #, and the "title" of my statement.

I've also numbered my pages, with the page numbers right-aligned next to my name. My header is on each page.

Sprinkles

@danielznelson said:
I entered my full name, with my last name first, my LSAC #, and the "title" of my statement.

I did this too, but my header isn't on each page.

Sprinkles

Also, I know every school is different but I rarely hear of a law school wanting more than 2 pages in a PS. Quality over quantity is what I always say

David Busis

I've edited a lot of personal statements, and I've never once encountered one that needed to be longer than about 2.5 pages. Try cutting an unnecessary paragraph from every page, an unnecessary sentence from every paragraph, and an unnecessary word from every sentence.

Stevie C

Can we talk word count rather than pages?

Is a "page" double spaced 12 pt ? Do we assume Times New Roman, or is a different font in vogue these days?

Sprinkles

@"Stevie C" said:
Can we talk word count rather than pages?

I would say a single page double spaced should fit roughly 250 words.

@"Stevie C" said:
Is a "page" double spaced 12 pt ? Do we assume Times New Roman,

Yes.

David Busis

@"Stevie C" in my experience, 650–800 words tends to hit the sweet spot, though my own statement was only about 400 words.

badgalriri

Oops I did mine in 11 point font. Is it a big deal if I don't use 12? Haven't turned it in yet but it was so hard to cut down on.

Lol I based it all off of this link off Google http://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/application-instructions-top-50-law-schools-ps-length-and-optional-essay/

always learning

@"Alex Divine" Do you think that a 2 page personal statement and 2 page diversity statement is too long. I also have an LSAT score addendum

Alex

@"always learning" said:
@"Alex Divine" Do you think that a 2 page personal statement and 2 page diversity statement is too long. I also have an LSAT score addendum

No, I think those should be fine for your standard law school application. Always be sure to check though, because there are always outliers. For example, I think Berkley requires a 3-page PS.

Just make sure the LSAT addendum is short and sweet.