UCAS says my personal statement is too long when it isn't?!

Hi there, I've just finished my personal statement and it was exactly 4000 characters, but when I copied and pasted it to UCAS it said it was 21 characters over the limit, which it wasn't :s-smilie:

I've now edited it and it's a good 50 characters under the limit but now UCAS won't let me submit due to it being 5 lines over the 47 line limit?! I swear the limit was 4000 characters or 47 lines, which ever comes last??
I'm really confused and stressing out because I feel my personal statement is perfect and my school is making me send it off on the 1st October, but I don't understand why it won't let me save it, I'm well under the character limit! :frown:

Reply 1

Potally_Tissed

4000 characters or 47 lines, whichever comes first. It has to be under both limits.

Each time you press enter for a new line it adds two characters (which MS Word and similar won't count). If you've left a blank line between paragraphs, which you should to make it much easier to read, you're unlikely to fit in much more than about 3800 characters before you reach the line limit.

Reply 2

Siccatron

Original post by Potally_Tissed

Oh god, nobody told me it had to be under both, my teachers were telling me it's one of the other, I have no bloody idea what to do now, should I risk it by leaving the pargraph spacing?? :frown:

Reply 3

Palindromic

Original post by Siccatron

Oh god, nobody told me it had to be under both, my teachers were telling me it's one of the other, I have no bloody idea what to do now, should I risk it by leaving the pargraph spacing?? :frown:

I'd get rid of the spacing lines, just indent your paragraphs or make the line before the paragraph ends about half way in so it's clearly a new paragraph :smile:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 4

Potally_Tissed

Original post by Siccatron

Oh god, nobody told me it had to be under both, my teachers were telling me it's one of the other, I have no bloody idea what to do now, should I risk it by leaving the pargraph spacing?? :frown:

I wouldn't, it makes it far easier to read with proper paragraph spacing. Presentation is important and you shouldn't have to cut down too much.

If you submit it to our PS Help service we should be able to help you cut it down a little bit, as well as offering other feedback throughout :smile:

Reply 5

Potally_Tissed

Original post by J1994D

I'd get rid of the spacing lines, just indent your paragraphs

Doesn't work, the indents get removed when you put it on UCAS.

or make the line before the paragraph ends about half way in so it's clearly a new paragraph :smile:

Wouldn't really recommend that, it's not ideal and would be quite fiddly to get right. Your content and wording would be dictated by the need to get the right number of words on each line which is just making life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

Reply 6

Siccatron

Original post by J1994D

I'd get rid of the spacing lines, just indent your paragraphs or make the line before the paragraph ends about half way in so it's clearly a new paragraph :smile:

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

it doesn't allow me to indent :frown:

if i remove the spaces I'm perfectly on 47 lines ><

Original post by Potally_Tissed

I can't cut down 5 lines though :frown:

Reply 7

Tortious

Original post by Siccatron

I can't cut down 5 lines though :frown:

You think that, but it's surprising what a fresh pair of eyes can do! :p:

If you submit it to PS Help, we can help you find more concise ways of expressing yourself, and give you feedback on the content from someone who's studying/studied your subject at university! It's totally free and confidential, so if you've got a few days spare (the current waiting time) it's definitely worth doing. :yep:

Reply 8

Siccatron

Original post by Tortious

You think that, but it's surprising what a fresh pair of eyes can do! :p:

Original post by Potally_Tissed

Okay I've submitted it, hope it's possible for it to be cut down :frown:

Reply 9

NW86

Original post by Siccatron

it doesn't allow me to indent :frown:

if i remove the spaces I'm perfectly on 47 lines ><

I can't cut down 5 lines though :frown:

Of course you can!

Part of my job is removing superflous words from reports and slide decks pulled together by graduates. I can normally drop about 33% of the wording that a graduate is using and still keep the message and even then it becomes more punchy and emphatic as it is straight to the point as opposed to waffling around the subject.

Reply 10

Carrotcake18

Original post by Potally_Tissed

Hey

I applied last week to become a PS helper but haven't heard back yet, how long does it usually take to wait? (sorry can't PM you so thought i'd quote :colondollar:

)

Reply 11

Maden222

Really need some help from a PS helper if possible, wont let me post it under the medicine section, can anybody help? :frown:

Thankyou!

Reply 12

Potally_Tissed

Original post by Carrotcake18

Hey

I applied last week to become a PS helper but haven't heard back yet, how long does it usually take to wait? (sorry can't PM you so thought i'd quote :colondollar:

)

We're really busy right now so I can't say I'm afraid. There's a minor bug with adding people to the usergroup which means we need admin to do it temporarily, so it's unlikely that we will be able to admit any new helpers until Monday.

Original post by Maden222

Really need some help from a PS helper if possible, wont let me post it under the medicine section, can anybody help? :frown:

Thankyou!

See here

Reply 13

laali

I called up UCAS today and they said don't leave spaces between paragraphs, that's the way it is done and uni's know this, so it's fine

Reply 14

Tortious

Original post by laali

I called up UCAS today and they said don't leave spaces between paragraphs, that's the way it is done and uni's know this, so it's fine

I'd hope that people applying for uni in September 2012 would have places by now. (You've inadvertently bumped an old thread. :p:

)

I appreciate that the people at UCAS mean well, but I'd still be inclined to leave blank lines. If you do, the worst that happens is your document looks well-presented - better than the presentation of those other people who haven't left lines (assuming that not leaving lines is the norm). However, if UCAS is wrong, and most people do leave blank lines, you're going to look a bit of a muppet submitting something that's so difficult to read.

Entirely up to you since it's your PS, but the risk is lower with my strategy.