<p>Hey everyone. This is a pretty widespread subject so hopefully we can get some good feedback. There is no limit on how long the personal statement for the common app can be, just a 250 word minimum. How long is yours? Have you been given any advice for the right amount of words?
I've been using about 1,000 and I think it might be way to much...</p>
<p>Mine was pretty lengthy. I’ve heard from NYU, Northwestern and Stanford admissions counselors that the reason there’s no limit is because they want to hear everything you have to say that you feel is relevant to your reason for transferring.</p>
<p>mine is like 5 pages</p>
<p>I’ve actually heard the opposite. You want your essay to be tight and concise. Think about how many transfer students apply. At 5 pages per applicant, that is a lot of reading the Admissions Counselors must be doing.</p>
<p>They have far fewer transfer essays to read than freshman essays… I don’t think the above really matters that much.</p>
<p>They’re still reading thousands. Take USC for an example. Over 9000 transfer applicants apply each year and you’re going to tell me that’s not a lot? It’s a known fact. Writing that is clear, concise, and to the point is a lot better than writing with fluff and padding.</p>
<p>^ Even tight and concise writing can still lead to 5 pages if there really is the need to explain a lot. Your writing should be as clear and concise as possible, but it IS understandable for it to be somewhat lengthy if necessary. The problem comes in if you have 5 pages when you really only needed 2. Anyway, to the OP: my main personal statement for my transfer applications was ~850 words or so (a little over 1.5 pages single spaced).</p>
<p>I tried to make mine maximum two pages. I had more but I just keep revising and editing until I had everything I wanted to say in it without being repetitive. I think it’s better to not overdo and over explain things. That was my main reason for going over a few pages so I just cut cut cut until I finally got it down to two pages.</p>
<p>Mine was just over 2 pages I think they want to see an expository response to the question so they can estimate the collected manner of your reasoning. I agree with dbroncos23 I think that having an essay more than 1,000 words or so is really pushing the admissions counselors’ patience</p>