SOP length question

[chibimolinero]

I'm working on my Columbia Neuroscience PhD application. When it comes to the SOP, they say that there is no word limit, but recommend a statement of approximately 500 words.

 

I figure this means I should cut down my ~1000 word statement, but I'm unsure how close to this 500-word suggestion I should shoot for. Any insight?

[Applemiu]

I would reduce the space dedicated to personal anecdotes, future plans after graduation, and anything that can be found on the CV, to focus on future research plans and fit.

[chibimolinero]

I guess I want to know how much is too much, since 500 words is recommended but there is no strict limit. Right now my statement is ~800 words. Too much?

[Applemiu]

Oh, I see! Well maybe 800 is a little too much, I would aim for 700 maximum. I understand it's hard to cut down when there is not really a word limit.

[fuzzylogician]

I found that trimming my ~850 word SOP down to 500 words for a required application did it a world of good. The process itself was painful, I will be the first to admit that, but once it was done, my SOP expressed everything that my 800 word one did, but in a much more precise and sharp way. The way I cut my SOP down was (partly) to remove whole paragraphs that described different research experiences, so later on for applications that didn't have a word limit I added some of that back and ended up submitting something that was around 600-650 words and I thought was very good. I recommend trying to do something like that, because that process of constant editing for what really matters was very helpful in seeing the bigger picture. If you recommendation is 500 words, I think submitting something that's roughly 600-700 words is ok but a lot more than that might be noticeably longer than other applications, and it's not really a way that you want to stand out. 

[wetheplants]

What about when a school is asking for about 500? How close to 500 do you have to be? Do they want it on the dot exactly?

[Applemiu]

I would say 520ish, max 550 if you must, but no more than that.

[wetheplants]

Right. I'm at like 536 and removing content at this point... eep. 
Also, it's for Cambridge, so I don't know if they're more fussy than Americans.