1200 words

[celph]

Are 1200 words too much?

edit: for a department that doesn't specify how long the SOP should be.

Edited December 10, 2010 by celph

[Alyanumbers]

Are 1200 words too much?

edit: for a department that doesn't specify how long the SOP should be.

If I were you, I'd stay within 1000 words, as that is the longest I've seen specified... Anyway, shortening your statement will help make it crisper and more powerful.

[Strangefox]

Are 1200 words too much?

edit: for a department that doesn't specify how long the SOP should be.

Yes, I guess it's too much. The standard length is around 1,000 words so you can make it a liiiiitle bit longer, say 1,050 or 1,070, but I would not make it longer than 1,100, that's for sure.

[eklavya]

Are 1200 words too much?

I was able to fit everything I wanted to say in a page - which is about what, 650 words? 1000 words would be a page and a half then.. which seems like a good length too. Since this isn't a term paper, going for longer length isn't a healthy choice. Like the person above said, if you stay short and crisp, it'll do the trick.

[Strangefox]

I was able to fit everything I wanted to say in a page - which is about what, 650 words? 1000 words would be a page and a half then.. which seems like a good length too. Since this isn't a term paper, going for longer length isn't a healthy choice. Like the person above said, if you stay short and crisp, it'll do the trick.

Unfortunately, sometimes even if you make it short and crisp, it's hard to squeeze it all in 1,000 words. It depends on what you have to say. You may need to explain some important things in your SOP about yourself and your life choices - and I don't mean by telling anecdotes

[LJK]

Number of words is sort of ambiguous - I have an SOP question that specifies 1000 words or 6000 characters. 6000 characters lasts me to about 900 words (language, perceptual, conceptual and categorization are examples of frequently used words for me). I'm choosing to keep the body of my SOP within the 6000 characters and letting my references take up those last hundred words. If there is a cutoff in their application system, losing part/all of the the references isn't a big deal as my POIs are likely to be familiar with the articles anyway. The majority of my schools don't have a word limit, and my self imposed limit was to keep everything to 2 pgs single spaced. That might mean 1200 words in some cases but I think it is all right. I know that isn't how everyone on here feels but its the opinion of my advisor and some of my fellow grad students who are pursuing a phd where I am getting my masters.

Edited December 10, 2010 by LJK

[Strangefox]

By the way, in one of the schools I applied to they do not specify the length so I asked them if 1,090 words would be fine. Their reply was very nice: "If your statement is how you want it, then you should submit that. If you can tighten it up a bit, that would be fine too. We don’t pay close attention to length, but rather look for statements which are well-written."

So you can also ask a grad coordinator about that.