<p>I'll read yours speeddemon --> pm me</p>
<p>thanks, messaging...</p>
<p>hey newt, would you mind reading mine too?</p>
<p>actually, my english teacher who reads applications for a local college, and whose daughters BOTH are admissions counselers (one at Notre Dame, the other at Boston College), says that the college actually SCANS the essay to count the words. If you are over, even if just a few words, they put your essay in a completely different "pile", and reject those applicants. no joke, this is completely true.</p>
<p>My opinion is that there is a limit for a reason, which is that's what the colleges want. I know it's really tough to condense writing, but the idea is to make the colleges happy. I say stay, at all cost, under 500.</p>
<p>if its substantive then write away</p>
<p>I really don't think the length matters as long as you don't go super overboard and more importantly it just matters that you make the words count. </p>
<p>I just applied ED to Williams and I was a little worried because my essay was 1200 words (700 over I know!) and the common app limit is 500. The reason I did not cut it was it was a narrative and would have lost a lot of content if I cut it anymore. They accepted me, so it must have been okay.</p>
<p>It was only one and a half pages typed. Maybe Williams is more liberal with the word limit. I don't know, but it is a very selective school and apparently had some leeway with mine.</p>
<p>Just make the words count!</p>
<p>normally it's safe to be like plus 200 words. Everyone in my school writes 600~700 words for the common app essay and they still get in</p>
<p>ok so williams is my top choice, your news is good for me leonesa
what were your stats/ecs?</p>
<p>anyone else up for taking a look at it?</p>
<p>and can anyone give verification to what murmoll said? that idea sounds kind of overboard, and so many people have gotten in with over 500..</p>
<p>You know my stats are below average, but I think they may have taken into consideration the fact that I go to a small school in the rural boonies of Minnesota. </p>
<p>ACT - 31
SAT I - M630 V700
SAT IIs - UShistory - 700
Spanish - 750
Writing - 790
Math IC - 670</p>
<p>Rank - 1/40
GPA - 3.988/4.0 (unweighted)</p>
<p>Taken hardest course load offered, not much offered however (four AP's online since school does not teach any ap classes)</p>
<p>I'm really involved in a lot of things, and yet I have not won any national awards or anything.</p>
<p>I wrote my essay about visiting the city dump of Le</p>
<p>nice newt, that makes me feel better. 1000 down to 800 isn't too bad.</p>
<p>Socko, I'd love to. Drop me a PM</p>
<p>I was accepted at Dartmouth with 1114 words . . . it's really not about quantity it's the other word that stars with "Q"</p>
<p>Quality is the thing that matters the most. This might be an extreme example but there is a famous Harvard application essay written by a person about his attraction to men which is 2400 words long for a 500 word limit essay and it was so good they had to accept him. But on the other hand if the essay isn't good enough to coverup the extra words it might not be positive to your applications. If the essay is too long there is a chance that the essay has redundent material and the admissions officers might find it boring. These people sometimes read hundreds of essays each day so it is best to keep it short. I asked Princeton about this before I applied early and I got this response:
There is no need to exceed the word limit if possible. One of the things we're looking for in the essay questions is good writing, and part of being a good writer is writing to the limits given to you.
But still it's pretty safe to about 650~700 words so just try trimming yours a little bit. It isn't that hard to cut down 100 words.</p>
<p>The Common App says 250-500 words. So is going over ok?</p>
<p>sent essay in pm, newt. thanks :)</p>
<p>hey newt, would you mind reading mine as well?</p>
<p>I will read your essay and tell you what i feel about it. would you like to read mine? It is just under 500 words. I am not sure if it is exactly what college admissions office is looking for, but I tried to make it more creative.</p>
<p>The Significance of the Insignificant</p>
<p>"I am only one, but still I am one. I can not do everything, but still I can do something." - Edward Everett Hale</p>
<p>I steal under the warmth of my bedcovers and almost immediately drift off into a dreamy state of tranquility and bliss. Another arduous day has passed. Today, like any other day, I attended school, helped out at the restaurant, slaved over my physics problems and the other more friendly subjects, chattered and giggled amongst my friends, sang a few tunes to lighten up, and worked with a diligence on my college applications. Today has been a very banal day for me, yet I know that some way or another I have influenced other people and their decisions and situations. Today, I have added one more tiny mark on the infinite vastness of the cosmic picture. My thoughts meander but finally transport me seven years into my past.<br>
My brother and I are lying side by side in the dry, golden Californian grass on the hill in our backyard. We gaze absentmindedly upwards, captivated by the thousands of twinkling, little diamonds sprinkled across the breadth of the night sky and arrested by the mysteries of the millions of billions more hidden too far into space to be seen.
"Do you think there could be alien life somewhere out there?" I ask for the zillionth time. The answer never fails to fascinate me, and it always sparks an interesting conversation.
"Of course, there has to be! The universe is almost infinitely large and is expanding at a rate faster than the speed of light. There are 500 billion galaxies in the universe and each contains billions of stars. About 10% of all stars have planetary systems, and it is thought that 1 in 10,000 of these planets are the right size and distance from their suns. You do the math," answers my smart aleck brother with confidence.<br>
"Do you think there is a plan for us? What if everything happened only by chance?"
This question isn?t so easy to answer. Too bad statistics can?t be quoted to explain everything.<br>
"Well, if there is a God, I think His plan for me is to become an astronomer and work for NASA, find the cure of cancer, and earn a lot of money so I can help feed hungry people," I pronounce, aware of my own overly zealous optimism.
"And I will be the chief Supreme Court justice and a physicist" announces my brother happily.
We return our eyes to gaze fondly at the stars while we whisper our dreams into the night, refusing to acknowledge what statistics clearly stated. We two make an insignificant impact on the boundless expanse of the universe. Clearly, this is one of those things that statistics can?t explain as we are obviously very important individuals!
I momentarily stir awake from my childhood revenue and smile. Tomorrow I'll add another small dent in the cosmic picture, but this one I?ll try and make a little bigger and better than the one I made today.</p>
<p>Please tell me your truthful opinion on this essay. I got deferred from Harvard early action. Could it be my stats or my essays? </p>
<p>My stats are ok, nothing too impressive, or bad.</p>
<p>SAT 1400 ACT 30 and 32
wGPA 4.45 uGPA 4.0
SAT II Writing 780 Math IIC 720 Chemistry 800
good ec and decent recs </p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>send me your essays at <a href="mailto:empress_ella@hotmail.com">empress_ella@hotmail.com</a>, or im me, my aol screenname is MeLlamoLinda and MSN messenger is <a href="mailto:ellalinda@talkcity.com">ellalinda@talkcity.com</a>. I will happily read yours and tell you what I think, but I dont have time to edit.</p>
<p>just emailed you mellamolinda</p>