How do i cut down my personal statement?!

I am currently working on my 3rd draft of my personal statement, and although I've got it reduced from the original 6500 characters, I am still well over the 4000 character limit.

I am currently at 5874 characters and 77 lines which I know is far too much for the UCAS application. I just have no idea how I can cut things out - everything just seems too important to be there :/

Any suggestions? :s-smilie:

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Reply 1

hellomynameisr

I'm having a similar problem. I am slightly over the 4000 character limit and I feel as though if i cut down anything, it won't be as good. What I've been told to do is only write things relevant to my course. I am applying for physics and so 95% of my statement is about physics and the 5% (one short sentence at max) is something not entirely irrelevant. So just focus on writing things about your course and cut the crap about everything that is irrelevant/not related to your course

Reply 2

NeverLucky

I think one of the best ways is to get someone to read it over for you. Do you have a teacher who you can ask to read it?
I've also had the feeling before where I thought everything I wrote in my PS was important but it wasn't until after I showed people my PS that there were bits that didn't really help my application and there were often unnecessary lines of information which I could have done without which massively cuts down the character limit.

Reply 3

LGBTvoice

Original post by NeverLucky

Well it'll be a bit hard to get a teacher to have a read over it seen as I've broken up for summer now. I could email it to them but it's a case of me relying on them to check their emails regularly.

Reply 4

EnglishMuon

Get rid of anything not directly related to the subject you're applying for (unless demonstrates some amazing ability not shown elsewhere). For example lots of people seem to write about sports clubs etc. they attend, but in reality they really don't care about that stuff unless its related to your subject.

Reply 5

LGBTvoice

Original post by hellomynameisr

I'm applying to study law and so obviously most things I write will be based around it one way or another. I keep reading that universities want to see you relate all your subject choices to the one you're choosing to study at uni and so I can't help but write a sentence or two on each of my subjects, sometimes I go off on one such as my philosphy and ethics course which has made my statement longer! :angry:

Reply 6

LGBTvoice

Original post by EnglishMuon

I've already done that :frown:

I've got a single sentence about what hobbies I do and that is reading about local history because I have no room to write about anything else I do. I have spoken about a few activities I have done to show my interest such as visiting a court, a prison, taking part in mock trials, etc.

Reply 7

Doones

Original post by GeorgeB16

Being able to come up with a concise and persuasive summary of something would be a key skill for a lawyer...

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Reply 8

LGBTvoice

Original post by jneill

Being able to come up with a concise and persuasive summary of something would be a key skill for a lawyer...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Well it's a shame I haven't acquired that skill to demonstrate it in this case, how do I exactly do it? Go through every sentence one by one and cut it down?

Reply 9

?Hannah

don't worry mate, writing a personal statement is supposed to be hard! i am quite good at writing concisely, and have reviewed many personal statements in the past. do you want me to have a look at it for you?

also, there are many excellent personal statements on TSR, written by people applying for law. don't copy, obviously, but perhaps you could get some ideas and pick up on the style that they have used to write their statement.

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Reply 10

ATW1

Highlight, right click, cut.

Reply 11

Doones

And don't send your PS to people you don't know. And even then it's not recommended.

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Reply 12

LGBTvoice

Original post by ?Hannah

How do you cut it down for people?

Reply 13

LGBTvoice

Original post by jneill

And don't send your PS to people you don't know. And even then it's not recommended.

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Don't worry I'm not stupid enough to do that

Reply 14

?Hannah

Original post by jneill

And don't send your PS to people you don't know. And even then it's not recommended.

Posted from TSR Mobile

fair enough, ive just helped out with the personal statements for my siblings. plus, i do review a lot of essays and work for my friends. but, i completely get why it would be rather risky to send something like a personal statement to someone who you don't know.

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Reply 15

NeverLucky

Original post by GeorgeB16

Well it'll be a bit hard to get a teacher to have a read over it seen as I've broken up for summer now. I could email it to them but it's a case of me relying on them to check their emails regularly.

You've got loads of time. In fact, you can wait until September to get your teachers to look over your PS. The fact that you've already started and wrote that much is great! I know people that didn't start writing their PS until September/October and they did just fine.
Enjoy your summer and you can refine and cut down your PS in September/October.

Reply 16

?Hannah

Original post by GeorgeB16

How do you cut it down for people?

sorry mate, it looks like you are on your own. i don't want either of us to get into trouble.

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Reply 17

Doones

Original post by GeorgeB16

Well it's a shame I haven't acquired that skill to demonstrate it in this case, how do I exactly do it? Go through every sentence one by one and cut it down?

Without seeing your PS (and don't send it to me :wink:

) I can't really advise, but have a look at the huge bank of PSs already on TSR for ideas.

Reply 18

LGBTvoice

Original post by ?Hannah

It's not the fact there is anything on there that can identify who I am because there isn't. I just know how strict UCAS are and all statements are scanned, etc and so any similarities would be flagged up to the universities and then I really would be in the ****.