ktcan10 Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Hi, fellow forum people. I am in the process of writing, rewriting, completely scrapping, writing, rewriting, etc. my personal statement for CASPA, and I heard a rumor that Microsoft Word and Pages don't have a very "accurate" character count. I was wondering if anybody used an online app or something for Mac that provided a better one? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj10 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I typed my personal statement in Microsoft Word and used it's character counter as a rough estimate. As I approached the character limit, I would copy and paste my narrative into the box on CASPA to see the actual character count and then delete it from my application without saving it. If I remember correctly, the difference between Microsoft Word and CASPA was about 100 characters or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patachok Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Be careful with CASPA though. It allows you to type in a much longer essay than 5000 characters. So, be aware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREEN Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I would just set your limit at 4800 - 4850 to be safe. I think mine was right around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktcan10 Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 Thanks for the advice, guys! Happy applying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoTheEvolution Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 CASPA states that 5,000 characters = about 650 words. A space between words counts as a character!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegro Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Sometimes you also end up with "extra" characters by having spaces at the end of paragraphs or extra returns you're not aware of. Once you copy the essay into CASPA make sure to double check the ends of paragraphs by using the backspace key and make sure there aren't any invisible characters being used up where they don't have to be. Be careful with CASPA though. It allows you to type in a much longer essay than 5000 characters. So, be aware! I think what nj10 meant is that although CASPA will let you type longer than 5,000 characters (and won't save it), there is a little counter at the bottom of the text box that says "characters remaining" which you can use to double check by copying and pasting into CASPA to see where you stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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