500 words or 1000 characters? Is a space a character?

<p>Are we supposed to keep it under 500 words and under 1000 characters? Also, are spaces counted as characters? How can you see the print preview to know whether or not your essay was cut off?</p>

<p>For the common app, the 500 word limit is for the essay and the 1000 character limit applies to the EC short answer. Spaces are counted as characters. You upload your essay to the app and it will not be cut off if it is more than 500 words, however your short answer will be if it exceeds 1000 characters. Click on preview near the top of the page in the common app to check if your answer was cut off.</p>

<p>a space is considered a character</p>