This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

4000 characters with or without spaces for PS?!?!

//

From http://www.ucas.com/apply08/personalstatement (scroll down)

"How to provide your personal statement

You can enter up to 4,000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines). You do not have to use all the space provided. When you save text, the system will tell you how many characters are still available or if you have used too many characters. You can preview your statement after you have saved it.

You will not be able to change the presentation of your personal statement by using features such as bold, italic or underlined text or foreign characters, for example, Nöel. If you use these types of formatting or foreign characters, they will be removed from the text when you paste it onto your application and save it.

We recommend that you prepare your personal statement offline using a word-processing package and copy and paste this into the Apply system. This is because Apply will time-out after 35 minutes of inactivity. When you enter your personal statement directly into Apply, you must save it to prevent your work being lost."

Reply 2

recneps

10

ambiguous

??? Is it 4000 characters with or without spaces for your PS???

Replies much appreciated.

Including spaces. If you write it in microsoft word then you can do regular word counts to see how much you've written (Tools... word count). Ideally you should be aiming to use most of the space (at least 3500) but obviously you cant go over that limit of 4000.

Reply 3

falls_whisper

14

Mine is under 4000 characters (by about only 100 though) but because it exceeds the number of lines, I can't actually tick the box 'complete section'. I can save it fine and see it's all there on the 'all my details' page, but if the section's not completed, I don't know if I'll be able to send it at all...

:frown:

Reply 4

yellow96

15

Then remove some of the lines. There's no need for paragraphs becuase the Universities view the Statements in a different way to the way that we set out, and even if you're applying for English they won't be bothered about a lack of paragraphs.

Thelfo

Then remove some of the lines. There's no need for paragraphs becuase the Universities view the Statements in a different way to the way that we set out, and even if you're applying for English they won't be bothered about a lack of paragraphs.

That isn't true - formatting (ie blank lines) IS preserved on the version of the PS that universities see. The version that shows on Track removes blank lines - but only applicants can view track.

Reply 6

Profesh

20

What a bloody stupid question.

Reply 7

yellow96

15

PQ

That isn't true - formatting (ie blank lines) IS preserved on the version of the PS that universities see. The version that shows on Track removes blank lines - but only applicants can view track.

Nevermind then, just my college lying to me (which doesn't surprise me, considering the fuss I was making about those paragraphs).

Reply 8

laura k

Beware when using word count on Word, about 10 characters are automatically added when you transefre iot to UCAS for some reson

Reply 9

Ms Kooky

2

falls_whisper

Mine is under 4000 characters (by about only 100 though) but because it exceeds the number of lines, I can't actually tick the box 'complete section'. I can save it fine and see it's all there on the 'all my details' page, but if the section's not completed, I don't know if I'll be able to send it at all...

:frown:

A tip for reducing the number of lines - sometimes you'll only be a couple of words onto a new line, which actually means you only have to cut about two words out of that paragraph to save you a whole line on your PS. So it can be a lot easier to shorten than it sounds. :smile:

Reply 10

theshape

laura k

Beware when using word count on Word, about 10 characters are automatically added when you transefre iot to UCAS for some reson

Yeah i noticed this. When i copied my personal statement into the form it said it was around 20 characters longer than it said in Word. Anyone know why this is?

Reply 11

markdr

2

How desirable is it to leave a blank line between each paragraph? It looks kind of messy with no blank line there, but I'm 45 / 47 lines so I can't really afford to put 6 odd blank lines in.

theshape

Yeah i noticed this. When i copied my personal statement into the form it said it was around 20 characters longer than it said in Word. Anyone know why this is?

I noticed that too, very odd indeed.

Reply 12

blondyyy

4

markdr

How desirable is it to leave a blank line between each paragraph? It looks kind of messy with no blank line there, but I'm 45 / 47 lines so I can't really afford to put 6 odd blank lines in.

I noticed that too, very odd indeed.

When you press enter for a new line it counts as two characters rather than one.

Reply 13

Shelly_x

15

falls_whisper

Mine is under 4000 characters (by about only 100 though) but because it exceeds the number of lines, I can't actually tick the box 'complete section'. I can save it fine and see it's all there on the 'all my details' page, but if the section's not completed, I don't know if I'll be able to send it at all...

:frown:

Do you mean the box isn't coming up to complete it? 'Cos you have to 'preview' it to complete the section :smile:

Ignore me if not :biggrin:

Reply 14

jelly1000

21

markdr

How desirable is it to leave a blank line between each paragraph? It looks kind of messy with no blank line there, but I'm 45 / 47 lines so I can't really afford to put 6 odd blank lines in.

I noticed that too, very odd indeed.

I squished mine up all together last year and it was fine- got 5/5 offers.