How long should my personal statement be?
filed in One Bytes on Dec.01, 2009
This is for the Common Application.
I am currently applying for college in the U.S. My essay is about 900 words right now. How long should it be?
Any other tips about essay writing/applying for colleges would be much appreciated as well!!
Thanks for your time.
P.S. I have previously gotten a response saying 1 page double spaced, but I’m not sure that’s enough?
December 1st, 2009 on 10:44 am
How long should it be? Long enough.
There’s no magic answer and I’m sure your 900 word essay could be perfect as is, it has to meet a few key criteria:
It should be flawlessly written — neatly structured, no typos, well worded, etc.
It should tell a complete story, start to finish.
It should be very personal and present you as you truly are. It has to appear genuine or it’s no good at all.
That being said, it should also present a person who the admissions staff will want to accept.
Finally, it should be memorable so that it’ll stand out from the thousands of other essays with which it will be competing. Ask yourself, "What’s one thing that makes me different?" and be sure to incorporate it into your essay.
Basically, you have to write as personally an essay as possible that can still be understood and appreciated by a complete stranger.