My personal statement is too long

I've nearly finished my personal statement and I'm really happy with it, but I've written a bit too much. I've also left out something important in my draft which I'd forgotten about. I've been looking through it and taking out any unnecessary words, but everything I have in it now is important. Any suggestions?

Reply 1

Student403

19

Show it to a teacher you trust deeply and ask what he/she thinks is the one thing that can be taken out. Notice how I said "a teacher". You don't want to ask too many, else you risk losing the personal aspect of the personal statement.

Reply 2

pineneedles

OP

14

Original post by Student403

Show it to a teacher you trust deeply and ask what he/she thinks is the one thing that can be taken out. Notice how I said "a teacher". You don't want to ask too many, else you risk losing the personal aspect of the personal statement.

That's a good idea, I've been going to my tutor, who happens to be a teacher who I trust, for help with my personal statement. I hadn't thought about asking what could be removed. Thanks :h:

I'll find her next week.

Reply 3

Plagioclase

21

Original post by pineneedles

I've nearly finished my personal statement and I'm really happy with it, but I've written a bit too much. I've also left out something important in my draft which I'd forgotten about. I've been looking through it and taking out any unnecessary words, but everything I have in it now is important. Any suggestions?

Firstly, make sure that everything you've written is genuinely important. Explaining to admissions staff why you want to study your subject and what you've done to further your interest in it is important, unrelated extracurricular activities or attempting to come up with links between your A Level subjects and your degree choice isn't. After that, waffling is the first thing you need to get rid of, don't use two words when one word would suffice - you don't get extra points for using fancy words. If you've still got too many characters, If you've still got too many characters, you're probably going to have to start selecting things to take out. I originally mentioned two books and two lectures in my personal statement but in the end decided that one of them was perhaps less relevant to my interests than the others so I removed one of the lectures. The most important thing is that you're explaining what you've taken and learned from the things you've mentioned in your personal statement rather than simply trying to list lots of stuff.