总结高人的PS经验

Use the thesaurus after you have pretty much finalized the document. A few "elegant" word-changes add a lot to the document. But do not overuse the thesaurus. Sometimes, changing a word here or there will also allow you to see new possibilities to phrase your sentences better. All I can say is...REVISE REVISE REVISE...each revision you do will make the essay better. Most great essays have been revised multiple times. Even I offer at least 2 rounds of revisions after the finalized version as part of my services.

Anyway, as always, hope this helps. Feel free to contact me at tinaxue@mit.edu with any questions

PS 到底怎么写 3 - length

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 ad-com

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, and impatient if your PS is too long...EVEN if it is still full of relevant material. So, for

PSes...concision is KEY.

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 ad-com

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 ad-com 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.