<p>I had no intention of being snooty or snobbish by saying that my teacher cried (tears of joy...) when she read my personal statement/main essay. I simply wanted to emphasize that it is not the end of the world if your personal statement is too long. Mine was over 200 words over the limit. You just have to make sure that it is very, very good.</p>
<p>To beeish: still reading Harry Potter and thinking it's overwhelming at that?</p>
<p>Don't know if the question is basically answered or not, but I'll repeat what I heard from one of the regional admissions directors at an orientation event--she basically stated that while maybe 100 words over the limit would be acceptable, i.e. 600-ish words, don't try to go too far...and I think some schools put it well: there are PLENTY of people who get accepted with essays that are cut, 500-ish words, so no need to feel like you need to publish a novel as a personal essay! In any event, good luck!</p>
<p>If universities are anything like newsrooms, I'd say the most impressive feat would be to write as clearly and concisely as you can.</p>
<p>Uh Oh. My personal statement is 920 words long... if I cut anything out.. things won't fit well in the end... I wrote almost 100% more than what they asked for.
:(</p>
<p>well they did say that they "prefer" it to be the way that they want it to be..</p>
<p>I didn't mean to say that harry potter is over whelming, its ridiculously easy to read, i was just talking about its sheer volume... war and peace would be in the same category, although slightly better reading... and quality jeesus</p>
<p>they did say "prefer" but keep in mind this, and I actually take this piece of advice from another website: writing over the word limit also tells the adcom that you are--pretty much--deliberately not respecting the guidelines the adcom has set...I think someone else said it, as much as you believe there is nothing to cut...there typically is, trust me, I've been through it too! I had a Harvard MBA rip my essay apart and it basically shrunk from a 1,000 word essay to my finalized 502 word essay :) There's hope! LOL I'm not saying you'll be rejected otherwise, just saying, do your best, and be honest! Every essay should honestly have at least 10 drafts...and this is coming from someone who's been through it and is now a Columbia SEAS Class of 2013 student :P</p>