Acceptable to use acronyms for schools and degrees?

[MYRNIST]

Simple question: is it acceptable to use common, semi-official acronyms for schools and degree programs (ex: "WWS" for Princeton Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) in a statement of purpose?

[wtncffts]

I'd think that it would be the same as any writing: write out the full name the first time, followed by the acronym, and use the acronym thereafter.

[ZeeMore21]

Don't quite see why you would have to use acronyms...I'm sure there is more than enough space on the applications to write the full name of the programs you attended. You really don't want members of the admissions committee mistaking one of your programs for something else.

[wtncffts]

Well, he was asking specifically about an SOP. I agree completely that on the actual application forms, the full name would be proper. Even on the SOP, I would personally tend to use a shortened form rather than an acronym for purely aesthetic reasons. So, perhaps something like "Wilson" as the short form, if that's a common way to refer to that school.

[fuzzylogician]

I would support the "one full reference, then acronym" advice. It takes up less space in the SOP (and space can be very precious, especially under word limits rather than page limits) and in many cases it also reads better. E.g. "UCSC" reads better than "the university of California - Santa Cruz" and "CUNY" reads better than "the city university of New York" when you repeat the name several times in a paragraph. Of course it depends on how the school is usually referred to, you don't want to make anything up, but if it's commonly referred to by its acronym, I don't see a reason not to use it in the SOP.

[ZeeMore21]

Well, he was asking specifically about an SOP. I agree completely that on the actual application forms, the full name would be proper. Even on the SOP, I would personally tend to use a shortened form rather than an acronym for purely aesthetic reasons. So, perhaps something like "Wilson" as the short form, if that's a common way to refer to that school.

Oh, my apologies then OP, I misread. I agree with wtncffts, probably would go with Wilson over WWS.