Word Limit and Length

[JohnMason]

Hi everyone

I am apply the political science PhD at Chicago. The university has a policy of 2,500 word candidate statement (Most of other schools asks for around 1000). The political science department  does not provide too much specific requirement or addition word limit. So shall i write a 2000+ words statement, i feel like i would be quite long, and involve a bit much bio info, and a bit much research interest. Or, shall i just write at the length that feels right, around 1,500. I am just worried that falling too much short of the word limit might create the impression that i did not put too much effort into it.

[Edotdl]

2000 words does seem long. I kept mine at about 1000 for most schools even if they had a longer limit. As long as you include all the information you want/need I don't think adcoms will view a shorter statement negatively. In fact, at many schools they explicity stated that brevity is appreciated. Being too long actually might be bad if it's unclear and bores the reader.