ucas personal statement

OP

University of Suffolk student

Original post by mai0may

Hey! They don't mind and completely understand that there's a line limit.
I submitted mine without any paragraph spacing in October and got 5/5 offers so they really don't notice!

Hey thanks i was kinda worried about the flow of my ps

Original post by ankxx

I forgot to leave lines between paragraphs. My first draft had blank lines in between but when i pasted it on that ucas slot , they disappeared and it all looks jumbled . Will the ucas examiner divide it on their own

Hey @ankxx, don't worry about that - universities are more interested in the content of your personal statement than the format 🙂

Mara
UoG Rep

Reply 4

Official Rep

13

Original post by ankxx

I forgot to leave lines between paragraphs. My first draft had blank lines in between but when i pasted it on that ucas slot , they disappeared and it all looks jumbled . Will the ucas examiner divide it on their own

Hi @ankxx

Well done on writing the statement and don't worry about the formating. It's really about the content of it.
Milena 🙂
MA Creative and Critical Writing at Uni of Suffolk

Reply 5

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

When reviewing personal statements we always recommend leaving a full line spaces between each paragraph.

It sounds like this is something you didn't have time to do properly when you applied for whatever reason?

It won't cost you an offer, but there is no button I am aware that allows a university to edit your PS to break up paragraphs. To them, you have shared one huge lump of text.

Reply 6

sub2000

1

Original post by ankxx

I forgot to leave lines between paragraphs. My first draft had blank lines in between but when i pasted it on that ucas slot , they disappeared and it all looks jumbled . Will the ucas examiner divide it on their own

it shouldnt be a probelm

Reply 7

Admit-One

As someone who reads and scores up to 200 statements a week, it’s a massive PITA to forgo formatting and greatly increases the chances of skim reading and missing your well crafted examples.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by 04MR17

When reviewing personal statements we always recommend leaving a full line spaces between each paragraph.

It sounds like this is something you didn't have time to do properly when you applied for whatever reason?

It won't cost you an offer, but there is no button I am aware that allows a university to edit your PS to break up paragraphs. To them, you have shared one huge lump of text.

yes i'm actually kinda worried because it affects the flow of the read . Also it doesnt convey the seriousness paragraphs are not related but i unfortunately made them look like they are and it becomes very boring to read . Takes away the interest and the face value reduces . i hoped my first few paras were seperate because they were kinda unique and i wont convey the same grandiosity

Reply 9

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Admit-One

As someone who reads and scores up to 200 statements a week, it’s a massive PITA to forgo formatting and greatly increases the chances of skim reading and missing your well crafted examples.

but actually they are kind of in seperate paragraphs . i forgot to leave lines but when one para ends the next one doesnt continue from the same line. Rather it starts from the next line . its just that there is no empty line in middle

Reply 10

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by mai0may

Hey! They don't mind and completely understand that there's a line limit.
I submitted mine without any paragraph spacing in October and got 5/5 offers so they really don't notice!

Sounds like you got lucky and applied to courses that don’t weight the PS in offer making. OP might not be so lucky

Original post by UoG Official Rep

Hey @ankxx, don't worry about that - universities are more interested in the content of your personal statement than the format 🙂

Mara
UoG Rep

Did you check with your admissions staff about this before posting? Are you 100% confident that ALL universities are happy with a wall of text?

Original post by University of Suffolk student

Hi @ankxx

Well done on writing the statement and don't worry about the formating. It's really about the content of it.
Milena 🙂
MA Creative and Critical Writing at Uni of Suffolk

How many PSs do you read in your job?

Reply 11

PQ

Original post by ankxx

but actually they are kind of in seperate paragraphs . i forgot to leave lines but when one para ends the next one doesnt continue from the same line. Rather it starts from the next line . its just that there is no empty line in middle

It’s not ideal. You’ve massively increased the chances that something important will be missed by not editing your PS down but the vast majority of courses won’t score the PS for offer making.

What subject/universities are you applying for?

Reply 12

OP

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by PQ

It’s not ideal. You’ve massively increased the chances that something important will be missed by not editing your PS down but the vast majority of courses won’t score the PS for offer making.

What subject/universities are you applying for?

management edinburgh st andrews manchester bath warwick

Reply 13

PQ

Original post by ankxx

management edinburgh st andrews manchester bath warwick

Not a course that generally puts a heavy emphasis on the PS for undergraduate applications.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by PQ

Not a course that generally puts a heavy emphasis on the PS for undergraduate applications.

It appears something like this on ucas . does this mean that it was received at the uni end in seperate paras because actually i pasted it copying it from a pdf in which it was differentiated .
(3rd) round, which is yet to be held.
Barney's critique of the industry-structure hypothesis, attributing above-normal returns to.

Reply 15

OP

Original post by PQ

Not a course that generally puts a heavy emphasis on the PS for undergraduate applications.

and also dont unis prefer extra content over easy on the eyes ps

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 16

mnot

20

Original post by ankxx

and also dont unis prefer extra content over easy on the eyes ps

In my experience of reading academic literature (not PSs), I (and almost all academics I’ve known) greatly prefer concise, well written texts over volumes of detail.

Reply 17

Admit-One

Original post by ankxx

and also dont unis prefer extra content over easy on the eyes ps

Speaking as someone with a huge amount of experience reading, scoring and advising on personal statements, no.

80% of most statements is either generic or otherwise not terribly insightful. Highlighting unique content in a punchy style is considerably more powerful than wading through waffle. You’re not trying overwhelm the reader with volume, but instead demonstrating depth of thought.

Reply 18

mai0may

13

Original post by PQ

Sounds like you got lucky and applied to courses that don’t weight the PS in offer making. OP might not be so lucky

Did you check with your admissions staff about this before posting? Are you 100% confident that ALL universities are happy with a wall of text?

How many PSs do you read in your job?

cardiff and sheffield both emphasised that the personal statement was important 🤷 but line spacing doesn’t make or break a personal statement, it’s what you write not how it looks

Reply 19

Admit-One