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No more spaces in my PS... :|

After spending about 1-2 months on it and finally coming to pasting it into the box, UCAS SAYS ITS OVER BY 20 CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!! (even tho word says its 3997 characters w/ spaces)

So ive had to get rid of all the spaces between the paragraphs which makes it ALOT less easy on the eyes? Will this matter a hell of a lot? Im asking because medicine is competitive as it is and if having PSs which are difficult to read gives them another reason to reject ppl, then id be obliged to change.

Id like some statistics to ease my mind. Who didnt put any spaces in theirs and still got offers? and vice versa :p:

Atm im sticking with no spaces and keeping the content, so it looks like this:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

instead of
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

which looks neater and is easier to read but ... whats one to do.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

FyreFight

I'd find 20 characters to delete, myself. Removing the lines between paragraphs gives it a much worse presentation than getting rid of a couple of non-essential words, I think.

Reply 2

BabyGirl

My personal statement was 5000 characters.. I've now cut it down to 3800.. but I've got no opening paragraph :rolleyes:

and it's due this week..great..

Reply 3

mc4263

i haven't left spaces between lines just indented them will that make much difference as i too am applying for medicine?

mine looks like this..

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
__xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
__xxxxxxxxxxx

Reply 4

_GUESS_

i think ucas automatically take away the indents

Reply 5

friendlyneutron

I was in the same position as you with my PS last year, and I chose to take out the spaces. I think the admissions tutors prefer substance over style.

Reply 6

SupaMega

yeah ill probably leave out the spaces and hope for the best. k ty ppl

Reply 7

Gary2688

When UCAS print it out to give to your unis, they remove paragraph indents and delete blank lines you left. I went to an interview and I saw an interviewer holding a copy, and that's what they'd done to mine anyway

Reply 8

general-david

com on, ur just talking about 20 characters here. I was over by around 500 characters initially. u'LL JUST HAVE 2 CUT SOME OF THE CRAP and b a bit more direct. and definately leave spaces between paragraphs (trust me)

Reply 9

_GUESS_

and definately leave spaces between paragraphs (trust me)

ive heard the take it away

Reply 10

friendlyneutron

general-david

I don't see why on earth the OP should sacrifice content for presentation! Your PS isn't the place for things to look pretty. If UCAS are going to remove the spaces anyway, as happened to Gary, cutting out potentially important info is just a waste.

Reply 11

Duke Flipside

general-david

and definately leave spaces between paragraphs (trust me)

No, don't. UCAS removes all types of pretty formatting, so it's going to look rubbish anyway. All non-essential non-text characters should be removed, before the content starts going. In a personal statement it's the content that counts.

THANK YOU!!!

Does "&" get removed? i saved allot of chars there :smile:

Reply 14

_GUESS_

i dont think it 'formal' to use & and numbers writing ur ps

Reply 15

general-david

Well, they set a maximum amount of character 4 a reason. ITS THE MAXIMUM! U dont have 2 fill in all the sapces. Having one big block of long writing will be really putting off.

Reply 16

_GUESS_

i asked sheffield and keele about this topic and sheffield said that the formatting of your ps will not affect their decisions whatsoever, keele replied saying 'its up to' (really helpful!! :mad: