Personal Statement word limit

[venus603]

I've just put the finishing touches on my personal statement and I'm very happy with it except for one thing: it comes to a little over 1,300 words, and I realized that a few of my schools specify a 1,000-word limit. I'm wary about cutting anything out of it, as I really feel that everything I say is important. What really puts it over is the long paragraph at the end where I talk about why I want to go to X university, but obviously that needs to be there. Initially, I didn't think that 1300 was too far over 1000 for it to be an issue, but I recently spoke with a friend of mine who is applying to law schools and she told me that for her applications, they say to follow every instruction to a tee or they won't even look at the application. Now, I'm applying to PhD programs in English, so obviously it's a totally different ball game. Do you think I should try to cut parts of it to make it adhere to the word limit, or is the limit to be treated more as a recommendation than a mandate? Is 1300 words really very far over 1000?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[rising_star]

In my opinion, 1300 words is way too much over. If they print it out double-spaced, it's an extra page. It's not like they won't notice that and they will wonder why you can't follow instructions.

[Nofia]

definitely cut it down to as close to 1000 words as possible, you really do need to follow instructions as closely as possible on these things. I wouldnt worry if it were maybe 1025 or something, but an extra 300 words is way way too much. go through and make sure you aren't using too many adverbs and other fluffy filler words. brevity is the soul of wit and suchlike haha. have you had any of your professors/advisors read it over? they might be able to help you figure out what can be cut.

[purplepepper]

I could have made this up, but I think I heard somewhere that usually 10% over or under is generally acceptable. I do think 1300 is too long..i think it can be cut down to less than 1100..i know it's a painful process though. but i've had a lot of help myself, and i've realized if its 300 words over, it can probably be tighter. good luck. you still have time to revise!

[latenight]

I'm in the same situation, trying to cut down my statement of purpose. (And my writing sample, for that matter.) I've been following the general rule: if it's on my CV, I don't explain it in my SOP. That helped a lot when I was cutting down. For the schools that have a 500 page word limit (arrrr!!) I just re-wrote the statement completely, which definitely worked - my thoughts were clearer and I was able to condense a lot better.

The writing sample, on the other hand, is a lot trickier.

[nabh]

What if the school does not specify how long the Statement of Interest can be? Is there a general unwritten rule of thumb that I don't know of???

The thing is, I am applying online and the electronic application has a stupid rule that nothing that exceeds 2000 CHARACTERS can be saved. By characters they include words, space, everything and I am at a loss now.

I am thinking about sending the essay to the school by post and submit anything else online. I am desperately in need of your advice.

[venus603]

Thank you all for your input. I've had numerous professors read it over and they've all told me not to change it, but I think you're all right, it is quite a bit over the limit.

[belevitt]

I had a 1000 word limit and I included 1140 words. Cutting down the letter was so difficult. I had to leave out valuable examples of research experience and any mention of my advanced coursework. Frustrating.