<p>Does anyone know how long this should be? The max is 3000 characters but that's like 500 words!</p>
<p>Mine is 150.</p>
<p>Around 200, I'd think.</p>
<p>Mine was 389 words, 3 paragraphs, 1 page. (admitted ED)</p>
<p>Mine was 99 words (admitted ED also), but that was all that it took for me to respond to the prompt.</p>
<p>I think use as many (or as few) words as you want to fully respond to the prompt, but don't ramble. It's just a short answer question. Use 200-300 words as a rough guideline; 500 words is like your common app essay. Also, keep in mind that the admissions counselors only have so much time to read your application, so the longer your answer to the academic school question, the less time they'll spend on the rest of your application.</p>
<p>On the print-out version, the same space is available for that as the "why rice" essay, so I used 200 words as a rough guideline and ended up with 214. I don't think it's meant to be a full essay, if that helps at all.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice! Mine is about 200 words right now.</p>
<p>I agree with silentsailor. I went with whatever fit in those lines, which amounted to about 200 words (at least with my handwriting).</p>
<p>How about the diversity essay? I heard somewhere it should be between 2-3 pages. I currently have 676 words, so about 2 pages.</p>
<p>Yes the application says "Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three double-spaced pages."
Mine's 572 words</p>
<p>My short answers were both around 200 words, and my perspectives essay was about 550 words, but it's really well written and cohesive as is. I think as long as you're getting your point across, the length shouldn't matter a whole lot.</p>