<p>Mine is 509, should be perfect =) Unlike my cornell one, ugh…</p>
<p>@prudvi: Thanks, that did help. I had mine at 730 but managed to cut it down to 575 relatively easily. I always find it’s harder to write more concisely, though, so (at least in my case) keeping my essay short hasn’t saved me any time!</p>
<p>My general rule would to never go over 500 words. If I were an admissions officer, I’d make the minimum 250. They want to see how eloquent you can be and how well you can present yourself succinctly. I wouldn’t dare go over 550.</p>
<p>when you include your own quote, does admissions include that in the word count or no?</p>
<p>^ I’m not completely sure, but I don’t see why they should. The quote isn’t part of your writing, so I don’t think they count it among the words that you yourself have written.</p>