ERAS Personal Statement Length 2022-2023 cycle

[WashingtonR]

Did ERAS shrink the Personal Statement page? I kept my PS to 650 words, but it doesn't come close to fitting onto 1 page in ERAS. I can get about 550 words with 4 paragraph breaks in before it pushes to a 2nd page. Yes, I understand how to format in ERAS.

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[DrStephenStrange]

If you're copying straight from a word document, it will do that. It's a weird formating thing, so what you do is copy from word, paste into notepad or any other simple text-only software (mac users), then copy and paste into ERAS.

Edit: or type straight from the ERAS software without copying and pasting.

 

[WashingtonR]

If you're copying straight from a word document, it will do that. It's a weird formating thing, so what you do is copy from word, paste into notepad or any other simple text-only software (mac users), then copy and paste into ERAS.

Edit: or type straight from the ERAS software without copying and pasting.

Unfortunately I've been copying from a simple text program (notepad) all along and I'm still having this problem.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Try transcribing directly into the ERAS box. That is the best way to truly gauge the length.

 

[WashingtonR]

So I tried directly transcribing my essay and it turns out that it doesn't make a difference. My final version, which just barely fits onto 1 page in ERAS, is 570 words split into 6 paragraphs. Paragraph breaks eat up a lot of space. If I wrote one run-on paragraph, I could get ~670 words onto the page, which is still a lot less than the 750 I saw quoted by last year's applicants.

 

[GoSpursGo]

So I tried directly transcribing my essay and it turns out that it doesn't make a difference. My final version, which just barely fits onto 1 page in ERAS, is 570 words split into 6 paragraphs. Paragraph breaks eat up a lot of space. If I wrote one run-on paragraph, I could get ~670 words onto the page, which is still a lot less than the 750 I saw quoted by last year's applicants.

It sounds like this isn't entirely the issue, but 6 paragraphs is way too many 3, maybe 4 tops.