Writing out School Names

[Apples]

Hey everyone... this is possibly a silly question, but would it be bad to not fully write out the school's name every time in your SOP (especially if you're referencing it several times)? As in, say I'm applying to the University of Illinois... do I always need to write out University of Illinois every time or is it ok to refer to the school as U. Illinois or just Illinois.

I've been abbreviating the names as above and now that I'm close to finishing I'm a little worried that that's not a good idea (or maybe it just doesn't matter).

I'm applying to statistics programs, if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any input!

[Sparky]

Well, I don't think you will get rejected for getting this wrong.

But for what it's worth:

Standard practice seems to be, write out the name fully the first time, and after that it's okay to abbreviate within reason. I wouldn't go to acronyms, generally (e.g. UIUC), but switching from "University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign" to "Illinois" the second time (and so on) is basically what I did. Definitely not "U. Illinois," though--if you have part of a word, write it out.

But again--this is not something huge to stress about.

[Bukharan]

Well, I don't think you will get rejected for getting this wrong.

But for what it's worth:

Standard practice seems to be, write out the name fully the first time, and after that it's okay to abbreviate within reason. I wouldn't go to acronyms, generally (e.g. UIUC), but switching from "University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign" to "Illinois" the second time (and so on) is basically what I did. Definitely not "U. Illinois," though--if you have part of a word, write it out.

But again--this is not something huge to stress about.

I totally agree with this.

I'd write out the full name the first time but then stick to 'Illinois'. Perhaps, until the concluding sentence when many people repeat the full name of the programme and the university.

Edited October 31, 2010 by Bukharan

[adaptations]

I've also been told to write it out the first time, and perhaps the last time, but to abbreviate in between. I think it is OK to use acronyms, especially with schools like The Ohio State University or OSU that are commonly referred to by their acronym.