<p>read the title</p>
<p>yes. my essay is ~700 words long for the common app. everyone who i had read it over told me not to try to cut it short. the important part is saying what you need to say and making perfect sense.</p>
<p>I think 32 words is okay. But 700 seems pretty over the top to me.</p>
<p>I don't know--It seems people make it out as impossible to follow word limits. You don't have to get rid of what you're trying to say--you just need word economy. I was able to craft what I think so far are pretty solid essays, all at the exact word limit. Sometimes, I have 500 and 800 word versions of the exact same essay without losing any content--it's all about how concrete/economic I'm being. Furthermore, I think it's kind of unfair if a person (I don't think you count, since it's only 32 words) goes over the word limit because they get more room than the people that actually do what was asked of them. Sorry if I'm rambling--exceeding word limits is a bit of a pet peeve with me.</p>
<p>my guidance counselor told me that in all her years of doing admissions, her co-workers and she never even attempted to count words.</p>
<p>My teachers told me that the readers would only notice if you went over the word limit if it was over by a lot. However, I am pretty sure they never count words. Thirty-two words is fine.</p>