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Updated October 31, 2026

Application character counter

Paste your text to count characters with spaces, the way the application services count them. The AMCAS personal statement allows 5,300 characters including spaces (2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide), AACOMAS also 5,300, TMDSAS and CASPA 5,000, PTCAS 4,500 and ERAS 28,000. Pick your field and the counter shows what is left. AACOMAS, CASPA and PTCAS say carriage returns count too, so this counter counts every line break.

Characters with spaces
264
Left
5,036
Words
50
No line breaks
262

AMCAS Personal Comments Essay: 5,300 characters. Including spaces. 2 line breaks, each counted as one character. 214 without any spaces. Source: 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide.

Under the limit? Next, make every line count.

Get notes on your essay with Essay Coach

Each limit comes from the service's own page, linked under the counter and in the table below, checked October 31, 2026. Nothing you type leaves this page. Confetto is not affiliated with the AAMC, AACOM, TMDSAS, Liaison, PTCAS or OTCAS.

Character limits by application

Every number is the service's own. AMCAS and ERAS limits are from the 2027 guides, TMDSAS from its Entry Year 2027 application guide, and the Liaison help centers (AACOMAS, CASPA, PTCAS, OTCAS) print no cycle year on these pages.

FieldLimit
AMCAS Personal Comments Essay5,300
AMCAS Work/Activities description700
AMCAS Most Meaningful Experience summary1,325
AMCAS MD-PhD Essay3,000
AMCAS Significant Research Experience Essay10,000
AACOMAS Personal statement5,300
TMDSAS Personal statement5,000
TMDSAS Personal characteristics essay2,500
TMDSAS Optional essay2,500
TMDSAS Activity description (leadership, research, service and most others)500
TMDSAS Employment description300
CASPA Personal statement (essay)5,000
PTCAS Essay4,500
OTCAS Personal statement (uploaded document)None set
ERAS Personal statement28,000
ERAS Experience description750
ERAS Most meaningful experience reflection300

Tap a number for its source. AMCAS also lets you mark up to three Work/Activities entries as Most Meaningful, and each one gets the extra 1,325 characters on top of its 700. For what goes in each AMCAS field, see our AMCAS Work and Activities guide and the AMCAS personal statement character limit.

How the services count, and how this counter does

  • Spaces count everywhere. AMCAS and TMDSAS give their limits including spaces, and ERAS counts letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation marks.
  • Line breaks: the AACOMAS, CASPA and PTCAS help centers say characters include spaces, carriage returns and punctuation. This counter counts each line break as one character, like those counters, and also shows the count without them. AMCAS, TMDSAS and ERAS don't say how a line break counts, so if you're within about 20 characters of the limit, check the count in the application's own field.
  • Going over: AMCAS shows an error message, and AACOMAS, CASPA and PTCAS won't save an essay past the limit.
  • Plain text: medical schools receive AMCAS text as plain text, so bold, italics and bullets don't carry over. The 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide also asks for English (United States) characters, so this counter flags curly quotes, dashes and other characters a word processor adds, and can straighten the quotes for you.
  • Most emoji and accented letters count as one character here, but some (flags, combined emoji) count as two or more. If a service's own field shows a different number, go by the service.

Over the limit? Where to cut first

Our order, from the edits that cost the least meaning to the most:

  • Logistics the rest of the application already holds: hours, dates, titles and lists of activities.
  • A closing line that names the lesson a scene already shows.
  • The weaker of two stories that make the same point.
  • Long phrases ("in order to" becomes "to") and filler such as "really" and "very". Double spaces after periods count too.

Writing for PA, PT or residency instead? See the PA school personal statement and residency personal statement guides.

Questions people ask

Do spaces count in the AMCAS character limit?

Yes. The 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide gives every limit including spaces: 5,300 for the Personal Comments Essay, 700 for each Work/Activities description and 1,325 more for each Most Meaningful Experience. AMCAS shows an error if you go over.

Do line breaks count as characters?

On AACOMAS, CASPA and PTCAS, yes. Their help centers say characters include spaces, carriage returns and punctuation. This counter counts each line break as one character, like those counters do. AMCAS, TMDSAS and ERAS don't say, so if you're within about 20 characters of the limit, check the count in the application's own field.

How many words is 5,300 characters?

The services count characters, not words. By our arithmetic, 5,300 characters is about 883 words if your words average six characters with the space after each, and about 964 at five and a half.

Why does my word processor show a different count?

Editors differ on line breaks, and some leave them out. This counter shows the count with and without line breaks. Curly quotes and dashes from a word processor also count, and AMCAS asks for English (United States) characters, so the counter flags them.

What is the OTCAS personal statement limit?

The OTCAS help center gives no character limit. You write the statement to its prompt and upload it as a document, and some programs set their own length, so check each program's page.

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