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Paragraphing in PS

viirkokka

Am I right in thinking you don't use paragraphs but use indents instead?

I did mine last year but have to resubmit it this year.

Indents will be removed by UCAS.

Reply 41

andreasms

14

I believe those people who struggle not to leave blank lines, are the ones who are definitely beyond the character/line limit and want to convince themselves (and others) that it is indeed fine not to leave blank lines.

Well, as many others have already said, I just cannot be bothered reading ANYTHING (such as a 4000-character essay) that is not in sections or paragraphs.

And if your application/personal statement gets to the hands of an admission tutor who just happened to have a bad day or did not get enough sleep, a non-structured/paragraphed statement would not be so appealing.

Just my thoughts though.
I had the exact same question in my mind whether to leave lines or not, but when inserting it into the UCAS system, it was plain obvious that blank lines SHOULD be there to make a distinction between the paragraphs.

As someone said earlier, you should try and eliminate as many bad factors as possible, increasing your chances and giving fewer reasons of an admission's tutor to reject you.

Think it through: Would you rather pleasantly read a personal statement from a candidate who used paragraphs, or try not to shoot yourself with the block of text/personal statement of another applicant who did not bother leaving an extra line to make it more readable.

If two applicants have the same qualifications and equally good personal statements, it comes down to the taste/impression given by the applicant. And this does include blank lines.

Gosh, I think we overdeveloped the lines theory. lol

Reply 42

Rosemary7391

8

Life would be easier if UCAS allowed indents... But thats life.

Interestingly, I've used blank lines on my statement, on the advice of a PS helper, yet my referee hasn't. Hmm.

Reply 43

miniaturexhero

I'm applying for Medicine.
It's difficult to fit paragraphs in.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Reply 44

ffrann

From the UCAS website:
"If you prepared your personal statement using a word-processing package and pasted it into Apply, you may find that any paragraph spacing that you included is not displayed. Don't worry - your chosen universities and colleges will receive the original formatted version."
i.e. you can put in carriage returns on your word processor (mine automatically leaves a line when you do this) and they will not show up on UCAS, so will not count towards the line limit, but will be seen by the universities. I think the same applies for tabs, but not for foreign accents.

Reply 45

motiv3

9

ffrann

From the UCAS website:
"If you prepared your personal statement using a word-processing package and pasted it into Apply, you may find that any paragraph spacing that you included is not displayed. Don't worry - your chosen universities and colleges will receive the original formatted version."
i.e. you can put in carriage returns on your word processor (mine automatically leaves a line when you do this) and they will not show up on UCAS, so will not count towards the line limit, but will be seen by the universities. I think the same applies for tabs, but not for foreign accents.

dude, i just phoned them up. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! They stated and I quote 'Admissions will receive the personal statement as it is shown when you click preview'. Therefore, if you have NO LINES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR PREVIEW then the ADMISSIONS WILL NOT SEE LINES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS!

Reply 46

saxty

motiv3

dude, i just phoned them up. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! They stated and I quote 'Admissions will receive the personal statement as it is shown when you click preview'. Therefore, if you have NO LINES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS IN YOUR PREVIEW then the ADMISSIONS WILL NOT SEE LINES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS!

When you phoned whoever you phoned, did they mention whether lines between paragraphs mattered or not?

Reply 47

Good bloke

19

saxty

When you phoned whoever you phoned, did they mention whether lines between paragraphs mattered or not?

UCAS doesn't care. You can fill your PS with exclamation marks if you like. UCAS only administers the system. Nobody at UCAS reads your PS.

Reply 48

motiv3

9

saxty

When you phoned whoever you phoned, did they mention whether lines between paragraphs mattered or not?

Well although they said it didn't think about it logically. Admissions read numerous personal statements and they know that although it is hard to write a personal statement and include the spaces, it still can be done. The benefits of lines between paragraphs outweigh the cons of no lines. Looking at my p.s. now after lines have been added, i can fully understand what people are talking about. The clarity is increased, more formal and shows that I'm not making a big list of things I want to say and that I've thoroughly thought about what I want entered into this.

You don't have to cut much, about 200-300 characters which initially you think is a lot but its only about 2-3 sentences.

Now you don't have to take my word but personally and also from what i gathered from the UCAS lady, lines between paragraphs aren't ESSENTIAL BUT THEY DO HELP IN TERMS OF MAKING THE READER LIKE YOU :P

Reply 49

motiv3

9

Good bloke

UCAS doesn't care. You can fill your PS with exclamation marks if you like. UCAS only administers the system. Nobody at UCAS reads your PS.

I agree to an extent. The lady who answered my call was genuinely interested in my problem. She even went and talked to her supervisors regarding the issue rather than a blunt 'no'. I do think they care and want to help you as much as they can but they aren't the admissions tutor. Lines may not matter to them because in their opinion it doesn't matter but whether this is the case for the admissions tutors, it might not.

Don't take the risk and put in lines. Think about it, a few lines or no places?

Reply 50

Good bloke

19

Wouldn't the effort you are expending in trying to find someone authoritative who might say the blank lines don't matter be better spend in doing a bit of trimming in your PS?

Reply 51

motiv3

9

Good bloke

Wouldn't the effort you are expending in trying to find someone authoritative who might say the blank lines don't matter be better spend in doing a bit of trimming in your PS?

hahah harsh but funny.

Now whether that was directed at me or Saxty :P

Not you, obviously.

motiv3

You don't have to cut much, about 200-300 words which initially you think is a lot but its only about 2-3 sentences.

Do you mean 200-300 characters?

Even that seems alot though.

Reply 54

motiv3

9

yellowjacket

Do you mean 200-300 characters?

yeah sorry about that.

p.s. why not just tell me on msn J?

Reply 55

ExRx123

17

Teebs

Let me assure you, that doesn't stop them from producing appalling PSs :yep:

100% agree

Reply 56

Kalashnikov

2

It's best to keep the spaces between paragraphs.

Reply 57

k4j8i5a

ffrann

From the UCAS website:
"If you prepared your personal statement using a word-processing package and pasted it into Apply, you may find that any paragraph spacing that you included is not displayed. Don't worry - your chosen universities and colleges will receive the original formatted version."
i.e. you can put in carriage returns on your word processor (mine automatically leaves a line when you do this) and they will not show up on UCAS, so will not count towards the line limit, but will be seen by the universities. I think the same applies for tabs, but not for foreign accents.

I just checked this, and the UCAS website for apply 09 (http://www.ucas.com/students/startapplication/apply09/faqs/personalstatement/copyandpastingastatement) agrees with it. I don't really know who to believe, surely the website must be correct, but wouldn't the people on the phone have to know?
I'm tending towards believing the website...

Reply 58

motiv3

9

k4j8i5a

I just checked this, and the UCAS website for apply 09 (http://www.ucas.com/students/startapplication/apply09/faqs/personalstatement/copyandpastingastatement) agrees with it. I don't really know who to believe, surely the website must be correct, but wouldn't the people on the phone have to know?
I'm tending towards believing the website...

K4j8i5a i phoned them up! Today if you want to know when! They said that the comment you've quoted is incorrect and should not be there! The lady i talked to even spoke to her supervisors!

Now if you read above from that quote your mentioning about on the UCAS website, you'll also read

'Your statement shown in 'preview' mode will be displayed as it will be sent to your chosen universities and colleges' WHICH IS THE TRUTH! Not the other quote!

I also think your leaning towards the website because you want to use the space to add more stuff to your personal statement.

Reply 59

k4j8i5a

Oh well, it was worth a try!
Kind of seized the opportunity to convince myself there, I didn't think you'd asked her about the website part.
Thanks for the help tho - i should probably go and adjust my PS...

Paragraphing in PS

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