>>10853132When I applied they had a page limit I think, but it really differs from school to school. All of their applications are different, it's fucking annoying as shit, but it's just a hoop to jump through
>>10854027The personal statement is really not that big of a deal unless it stands out as being a potential red flag. Most are extremely generic (mine was too), which isnt bad in its own way since it doesnt stand out. If you use ridiculous assertive language about your abilities or greatness or just overall sell yourself as something an undergrad looking to enter grad school is not, it's super fucking obvious. Be humble overall, and talk about what your intentions are: for me it was "im just fucking curious and love this subject and have always wanted to be at the research level".
Letters of rec are really the sellers. If you get 3 strong letters of rec from good undergrad professors, especially the dean of your department, you're pretty much set as long as everything else is good. If someone who writes your letter went to that institution and people know them, you're basically in as long as they vouch for you.
What a lot of people dont realize is that this is a job. You dont even have to be "smart", someone who shows up and is able to follow directions can get a PhD as long as they complete the work (which is still hard/tedious). That's honestly more important than a lot of things, so work experience also helps. I had 7 years of retail experience on my CV, i know for a fact that helped me.
