<p>Heck, my friends get paranoid when they are ONE word over the word limit!</p>
<p>lol keep this on the downlow, but my essay is like 200 words over the limit.</p>
<p>how long do essays have to be? (generally)</p>
<p>"how long do the essays have to be?"</p>
<p>no specific length. but princeton really URGES applicants to observe the 500 word limit. it is because "part of the essay writing process is to allow the admission committee officers to discern and analyze the applicants' writing abilities." </p>
<p>in other words, they are testing our ability to concisely and descriptively convey our thoughts and reflections. they look at writing style AND content.</p>
<p>so i guess its best to keep with the limit</p>
<p>guys, have u not read the instructions carefully...
there is no 500 word limit....
it says write in about 500 words....let me emphasize the word "about"..
"about" does not mean "upto", so chill out dudes, my essay is 526 words. and i think it is exactly what princeton wants. trying to make the essay short just for fitting into the limit (which actually does not exist) is stupid. Prevent redundancies but don't worry +/- 50 or even 100 in the word limit</p>
<p>and RBTrix must be joking and being sarcastic...otherwise it is not the extra words which will keep him from going to Princeton</p>
<p>ya, just don't write like 3 full pages of boring crap. length in itself is not a plus.</p>
<p>Thank you everybody. I was having this ink problem too.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t make the difference, especially after thousands of applications. Minor details rarely reject people.</p>