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Personal statement issues

Hi!

I've written and redrafted my personal statement several times only to find that the box where it is to be typed on the UCAS website doesn't allow for indentations at the beginning of a new paragraph.

I don't have any characters for blank lines so what should I do?

I also discovered that the word count on a word-processor wasn't a true indication of the word count as once I pasted the PS into UCAS, I was 11 characters over despite the word processor claiming I was at 3992

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I deleted indentations when I submitted mine, and just used one break (no white line breaks though), and it didn't disadvantage me.

Have a re-read and try to delete any unnecessary words I'd say, and really analyse everything you say and ask yourself "does this really show the admissions tutors I should be picked?"
I know it's hard, and you're so close being at the word count, but hopefully you can find some characters to remove!
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Avatar for CaitlinDy
CaitlinDy
OP
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Original post by antonyzac
I deleted indentations when I submitted mine, and just used one break (no white line breaks though), and it didn't disadvantage me.

Have a re-read and try to delete any unnecessary words I'd say, and really analyse everything you say and ask yourself "does this really show the admissions tutors I should be picked?"
I know it's hard, and you're so close being at the word count, but hopefully you can find some characters to remove!


I've managed to achieve the character limit which is fine however I feel it doesn't look neat without indentations at the beginning of paragraphs.
Although everyone will be in this situation so it'll be alright.

Thank you very much!

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by CaitlinDy
Hi!

I've written and redrafted my personal statement several times only to find that the box where it is to be typed on the UCAS website doesn't allow for indentations at the beginning of a new paragraph.

I don't have any characters for blank lines so what should I do?

I also discovered that the word count on a word-processor wasn't a true indication of the word count as once I pasted the PS into UCAS, I was 11 characters over despite the word processor claiming I was at 3992

Posted from TSR Mobile


The one thing to do is definitely to look through for places where you can save characters and this then allows you some characters and lines to play with. Once you've done this, you can then look into leaving a line between each paragraph? While the admissions tutor will rightly focus on the content of your statement, improving the appearance of the statement by leaving a line between each paragraph will make your statement easier to read and present a good impression to the admissions tutor who will probably spend a lot of time just looking at walls of text.

The About Me section of Good bloke's profile goes into the advantages of paragraphing like this a bit more:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/member.php?u=129948
Original post by CaitlinDy

Although everyone will be in this situation so it'll be alright.


Have a read of my profile to get the best advice on this matter.
Original post by toronto353
The one thing to do is definitely to look through for places where you can save characters and this then allows you some characters and lines to play with. Once you've done this, you can then look into leaving a line between each paragraph? While the admissions tutor will rightly focus on the content of your statement, improving the appearance of the statement by leaving a line between each paragraph will make your statement easier to read and present a good impression to the admissions tutor who will probably spend a lot of time just looking at walls of text.

The About Me section of Good bloke's profile goes into the advantages of paragraphing like this a bit more:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/member.php?u=129948


You beat me to it!
Just to reiterate the points above: I've never come across a statement that couldn't be edited down and I've never come across a statement that wasn't improved by making the layout easier to read. Your points will have more impact and are more likely to be read if you present your statement with line breaks.

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