Length of SOP...

[MsDemeanor]

I have always believed that a SOP should be only one page in length. I offerred to help a friend and she brought me THREE pages. Granted, she has to explain a career change (She got a degree in history and the went into research science) as well as the usual stuff. It seems to be really well written with pertinent examples put in the right places, and she connected that history work better than I would have imagined possible to her current degree. There aren't a lot of "howevers, hence, thus etc" to be pruned. I'm not totally sure what to do to shorten it. Then I wondered if it should be.

Has anyone on TM turned in an SOP that long? What were the results?

Seems to me a bad idea, as I can't imagine any Adcom wanting to read that much. What do you guys think?

[ritwik]

Well ... some universities give a word limit right out and its generally not as high so that three pages can be covered so if the case with your university is so, then you would certainly have some problem. Problem in more when they ask you to submit the essay online as the software wont accept a bigger sop.

In case, university does not put a limit on the words or pages, you are not violating any rule technically but then as you pointed out that the adcom would read something that long. But as far as I know, if your other record is such that you would manage to make adcom your fan, they wouldn't mind reading it, but still i would strongly discourage it. I think two page sop should be enough if you want to write a long version ... i used teo versions ... one single page and one two page and used it according to the university's specifications.

[cridamour]

If it's three pages single-spaced, it's way too much, if it's double, then it's OK, depending on the specifications of the university. The word limit I came across was generally 1000 words or so. Double-spaced this is just over 3 pages (more or less 300 words per page). Make sure to send it in double-spaced, don't try to make it look less lengthy by putting it in a smaller font or single-spacing it, it'll only make adcom dizzy and they might not even read through it if they have bad eyes.
So, main advice: check the department sites of the universities your friend is applying to for their specifications, they usually have clear rules. If it says three pages (which I've also come across), I guess this will mean three pages double-spaced, since that is generally how all academic work is presented.

[MsDemeanor]

Good adivce... and now I'm so annoyed! She showed me the application and RIGHT ON IT it says one page double spaced. So, she has a lot of revising to do!!!! Always best to read the instructions first. I really wasted my time on that one, as I still have my own SOP to write.

[cridamour]

Yup, same here... But there's still some time left... If you start adding up ideas for the SOP at least, the writing will be easier and won't require that much time. Besides, with all your inside knowledge, I'm sure you know what ad coms are looking for! Good luck!

[Econ]

I have always believed that a SOP should be only one page in length. I offerred to help a friend and she brought me THREE pages. Granted, she has to explain a career change (She got a degree in history and the went into research science) as well as the usual stuff. It seems to be really well written with pertinent examples put in the right places, and she connected that history work better than I would have imagined possible to her current degree. There aren't a lot of "howevers, hence, thus etc" to be pruned. I'm not totally sure what to do to shorten it. Then I wondered if it should be.

Has anyone on TM turned in an SOP that long? What were the results?

Seems to me a bad idea, as I can't imagine any Adcom wanting to read that much. What do you guys think?

my sop was around 2+ pages, a little long I think, but that caused no problems. As long as you have smt to say, length should be of no concern

[MsDemeanor]

Yes, ostensibly, I should be able to write a perfect SOP ha ha ha ha
In spite of that I am struggling away..oh well, I get to turn it in by June 10th so I had better make it snappy...