Font Size on WS Opinions

[hungrybear]

The standard at my college was size 12 font for any paper, unless otherwise specified. None of my applications specify font size, though it is obvious they want a reasonable size. I was wondering if it would be unreasonable to change the font size to 11? My WS is about 20 pages over the average limit, and changing the font size gets me to about 10 pages over the average limit. 

Edit: Using Times New Roman. 

Edited September 10, 2017 by miami421

[rising_star]

Well, do you really think your writing sample is so great that you should get more space (and thus more of the adcom's time) than the other applicants?

[Concordia]

Makes you wonder why more committees don't specify word limits.  MS Word will happily keep you on track to achieve that.

Back to OP: 11-point is pretty normal, but if even that takes you 10 pages over, find a discrete section you can cut-- and maybe summarize in one paragraph with a note if it's crucial to your main argument.  My requirements were for 2x 2,000 words or a single 4-5,000-word essay.  I split the difference by snipping two bits from a dissertation and leading each one with a brief explanatory paragraph.  The whole thing was less than 5,000 words, but if anyone bothered to look, they'd have got verification of what topic I studied, that I understood a little theory, respected the limits of my conclusions (and some other poor bastard's)...

 

Edited September 10, 2017 by Concordia

[Sigaba]

1 hour ago, miami421 said:

The standard at my college was size 12 font for any paper, unless otherwise specified. None of my applications specify font size, though it is obvious they want a reasonable size. I was wondering if it would be unreasonable to change the font size to 11? My WS is about 20 pages over the average limit, and changing the font size gets me to about 10 pages over the average limit. 

Edit: Using Times New Roman. 

Think of the page limit as a word limit (250 words/page) as well.

And also think about the SOP as an opportunity to demonstrate your skills as a historian. Making a complex argument both effectively and efficiently is a core skill

 

[fuzzylogician]

26 minutes ago, Concordia said:

Makes you wonder why more committees don't specify word limits.  MS Word will happily keep you on track to achieve that.

Page limits are good enough, as long as people don't try to cheat. OP, it's so amazingly obvious when a student fudges the font size or margins or spacing in their papers. Keep to the rules, you aren't any more special than any other applicant. If they want N pages, give them N pages.