PS 到底怎么写 3 - length

大海王子

Okay
as promised...today this blog will be about document length. I need to
do a literature review for my supervisor this weekend so I will not
have time to blog about anything. However, on Monday, I will talk about
why it is bad to write negatively about your past
experience/company/school/manager/etc...and how to maintain a neutral
tone even if you absolutely have to explain a negative experience.

What about the word limit?
Now
most schools will give you a word limit. If they do, you need to abide
by this word limit. Yes, some schools are more lenient than others. For
example, Harvard allows about 20% overage. However, Stanford allows
zero. So unless you are positive about what the school's policy is,
then stick as close to the word limit as possible. My own personal
inclination is no more than 10%. If you ask my customers, they will
tell you that generally I am EXACTLY on the nose with the word limit.
The reason I do this is because, (rumors around the office last year
was) some schools are now implementing automatic systems. In order to
save the adcom members from too much work, their online systems will
automatically cut off your essay at the word limit so that if it is too
long, it will not even show up when printed. I do not know if they can
get that precise. However, I have definitely seen file size limits,
where you cannot upload the file if it exceeds the limit.

If
there is no indicated word limit, your PS, unless you are Bill Gates or
Bill Clinton, should not exceed 2 pages (roughly around 800 words).
Like any reader, unless your writing skills mirror Tolstoy's, the
reader will get tired, bored, impatient if your PS is too long...EVEN
if it is still full of relevant material. So, for PSes...concision is
KEY.

大海王子

WHY is it so important to be concise or stick to the word limit?
1)
The PS itself is not just to get to know you, it is a test of your
communication skills. It gives the adcom members an idea of how well
you can communicate, your English skills, etc. As a graduate student,
your need to be able to communicate with them on research, participate
in presentations and class discussions, and sometimes, even act as a
liaison with the project partners. They NEED someone that can
communicate.
For MBA students...if you do not understand why
communication is one of the essential elements of business...then you
should not be applying for an MBA. So therefore...I am not going to
explain why MBA adcom committees value communication skills.
Not
being able to abide by the word limit shows that you cannot communicate
with concision. Why is it you cannot, when everyone else can? It shows
that you do not know how to pick what to write, how to pick your focus,
etc. In fact...it could even go as far as to show that you do not know
what you want to say or how to say it. To be honest, I have yet to see
an essay that has been "too-long"..that I have not been able to cut
down. If your essay is too long, generally, there is too much
unnecessary information that is really not useful in your PS. CUT IT
OUT.

2) The word limit in itself is a direction. They school
is telling you to do perform a task. If you cannot do it...it shows
your inability to do so (which implies a flaw or shortcoming), you did
not care about their requests (you are a rebel) and that you cannot
follow directions (and following directions is essential in performing
well as a student and researcher).  Okay okay...so I exaggerate.
However, let me tell you...I have never seen a candidate with a
"too-long" PS get accepted

大海王子

How do I cut the length...

1) Check your descriptions - adjectives and adjective phrases.
Not
all adjective phrases are necessary. For example, Tsinghua University,
the premier technological institute in China. "the premier
technological institute in China" is unnecessary because it is an
obvious statement.

2) Choose your background experiences
carefully. In your PS, you do not need to mention every single detail
of your past experiences. You should mention the big picture, how the
big picture was achieved, and what technology was used. Be clear and
concise.

For example: I developed and applied a land use and
transportation model using floating car data, collected from XXX, to
evaluate the volume of transportation greenhouse gas emissions and
propose potential ways to decrease pollution.

Bad example: I
collected floating car data in XXX from a system implemented by my
university during a previous project started by my adviser. Then I
organized and analyzed the data. Using the information, I developed a
model that captures transportation and land use in C++. The model is
capable of showing greenhouse gas emissions in XXX from cars and public
transportation systems. Being able to model emissions, I showed my
professor different possibilities to decrease air pollution so that we
can contribute to a better environment.

3) You do not need to tell your life story in your PS. Everything in your PS should contribute to one of the 5 elements.
If
you completely changed the course of your career, then you need to be
especially careful of this. If your past experience is something you
completely left behind, is definitely not something that you want to do
in your future, and has not contributed to your development or your
decisions for your future...then only mention it very briefly...because
it is irrelevant. The only reason it should be in there is to show How
you came to the decision to apply to school and that you did not just
have a break in your career with no explanation.

朵拉V

及时雨呀，感谢一下