For grad school apps, is it ok to go over a little on the personal statement?

Factual Questions
1

I know there is no universal answer to this, but this is more fact based than opinion based, as people can speak from experience.

I’m applying to graduate programs in international relations, and I’m writing my statements of purpose. It’s turning out to be ridiculously difficult to fit everything into the little space they give me. So, I’m wondering, how bad will it be if I go over, say, fifty words. They don’t actually do a word count, do they?

Anyone have experience with this kind of stuff? Is it definitely going to look bad, even if my essay is tight and all the information is pertinent?

2

Don’t go over. They have the rules for a reason- if you can’t say what you want to say in the alloted space you are probably not being as concise as you could be,

3

Don’t worry about trying to get EVERYTHING in there. You really don’t need to. Leave it out. Write a few sentences that summarize some things that fit in the space.

No one is going to deny your application just because you didn’t write the correct set of words down or you didn’t give sufficient detail.

I remember how I wrote mine (was supposed to be a couple of pages I think). I rambled on about how no one was going to read this document and that it didn’t really matter what I wrote down; it was just another task I was required to do because the “requirements” said so.

It didn’t affect my entrance, or success. I don’t really recommend doing that, I’m just saying; don’t stress about it.

4

I have reviewed thousands of grad school applications in Computer Science. Less is better. Don’t go anywhere close to filling up the space. If you can’t be reasonably concise, that’s a negative. Now this was Computer Science, where terseness is a virtue, but I seriously doubt that even filling up the whole space in your field would be a plus.

5

I have a little to add to what everyone else has said. I’m currently applying to medical school. All of my secondary applications and essays have been online. You simply cannot submit/complete an essay that goes over the limit, the website won’t let you.