palindrome Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 (edited) The grad programs to which I am applying (Linguistics, Psychology, Cognitive Science) appear to be letting applicants hang themselves by their own noose, by not really imposing a word limit on application essays. For instance, one quotes a 2,500 word limit, but then suggests that this is a limit of the online system, and that there's no limit for apps submitted by mail. Of course, they're not going to sit through a 25-page SOP just because they said there was no word limit, so the question is: what is a reasonable limit? I currently have 1500 words (2-and-a-half pages single-spaced); is this too much? Edited December 1, 2009 by palindrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexis Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Just basing what I've heard, it seems to be the two-page limit is a good thing to aim for (kind of one of those "unwritten rules" in applications). I guess it's down to whether everything you've included is relevant and crucial for you to get across? Are you including anything in there that might be better suited for a supplemental essay (if the school has one, e.g., explaining bad grades in your transcript or something)? My advice is try to edit it down to 2 pages if you can (doesn't necessarily have to be 1,000 words; you can probably fit 1,100 words on 2 pages), but that's just my humble opinion. To be honest, though, if you do keep it at above 2 pages, I can't imagine it hurting your application much, if at all. If there's no limit for that program, to have 2 pages and a little more doesn't seem like it would be a huge deal. Getting it down to 2 pages just might be something to aim for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palindrome Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 (edited) Just basing what I've heard, it seems to be the two-page limit is a good thing to aim for (kind of one of those "unwritten rules" in applications). I guess it's down to whether everything you've included is relevant and crucial for you to get across? Are you including anything in there that might be better suited for a supplemental essay (if the school has one, e.g., explaining bad grades in your transcript or something)? My advice is try to edit it down to 2 pages if you can (doesn't necessarily have to be 1,000 words; you can probably fit 1,100 words on 2 pages), but that's just my humble opinion. To be honest, though, if you do keep it at above 2 pages, I can't imagine it hurting your application much, if at all. If there's no limit for that program, to have 2 pages and a little more doesn't seem like it would be a huge deal. Getting it down to 2 pages just might be something to aim for. Thanks. I spent about 1/2 of my essay (~750 words) discussing my classes, intellectual development, and lab experience, 1/3 (~500 words) discussing a research question that interests me, and the rest (~250 words) describing my goals and why I like their program. Where would it be wisest to cut? Edited December 1, 2009 by palindrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroNerd86 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 a friend of mine who used to be on the admissions committee proof read my first draft of SOP which was about 1600 words, so just a bit larger than yours. He said it was definitely too long. Since the committee members have to read through so many of those things, they simply get bored with anything longer than 2 pages. However, since your programs either allow 2,500 words or don't have limit at all, they can definitely expect some "War and Peace" style essays. In that case, if you shorten yours successfully, you will actually stand out in a good way as someone who didn't make them tired:) I know it is hard to make it smaller though, since you essentially have to squeeze in the story of your life into 2 pages. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goukaku suru you ni Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Im still polishing my SOP. It's now about 1,200 words. I might leave it at about the same length. Good luck to us! Hoping to submit 1/5 application this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I definitely agree with NeuroNerd. I mean...what a great way to stick out to the adcomm which will probably get completely sick of reading tons of longer statements. If you can whittle it down to something more concise, I would suggest you do it. Just as long as you reread it to be sure that you've answered their questions, I think you'd be good with something a bit on the shorter side. The plus side is that if you absolutely can't get it any shorter, you don't need to be concerned about cutting out that ONE sentence that you just love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSwedeShoes Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 'Sup Cognitive Science buddy (I'm just about to take my Masters in cognitive science) I, too, applied to a certain cognitive science program that had a 2,5k word limit. My SoP was ~800 words. That was plenty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectralScatter Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 'Sup Cognitive Science buddy (I'm just about to take my Masters in cognitive science) I, too, applied to a certain cognitive science program that had a 2,5k word limit. My SoP was ~800 words. That was plenty Rule. If not including research experience, than keep it to one page. If including research experience, than keep it to two pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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