Statements of purpose: double- spaced?

[Needle in the Hay]

Hi all,

 

Quick question. Most places say that the statement of purpose should be 2- 3 pages. This means double- spaced right? I have been assuming so, and that the same holds of the page limits for writing samples. I just wanted to make sure. This is one reason why I prefer the UK's style of giving length requirements in terms of word counts...

[isostheneia]

Yeah, I can't really imagine needing 2-3 pages of single spaced text to state your research plans and interests in faculty. So I would assume double spaced.

[Page228]

I've seen both single-spaced and double-spaced specified, which isn't helpful.

Yes, word counts are far better.

[overoverover]

3 pages? Is that around 900 words? 3 feels really long to me. 

At least a few schools I applied to gave sample and statement lengths in terms of word count, which I agree is much better. 

Edited December 16, 2014 by overoverover

[jjb919]

I've seen schools specify both word counts and pages. For those that specify word count, 500 words seems to be the norm, which is approximately 2 pages double-spaced.