ApplyTexas Essays

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

Hi CollegeConfidential,

How long were your essays on the ApplyTX? There’s a character limit, but did anyone actually hit that limit?
Also, should I write all 3 essays (C is required, but both A & B)?

Thanks :)>-

2

500-600 word essays did not hit the limit. There is a thread called 3 essays or something like that addressing your other question. It is just a few threads down

3

@gettingschooled thanks! I was just wondering length-wise because I wrote 650 word essays and my friend decided to rip out 1500 word essays for topics C and A…

4

1,500 words and 650 words can yield similar quality depending on the writer. Focus on quality whatever the length. If your friend’s 1,500 words are entertaining, they won’t mind. If they are not, they will quit reading.

5

Pretty sure Apply Texas will cut off the 1500 word essay. If the word limit is 650, the rest of the essay will get cut off and they won’t read to the end of the essay because it won’t be there!

6

I just completed mine on topic C, ended up taking the whole 120 lines, about 1500 words. I might cut it some though, depending on what people say.

7

It is a common myth that submitting more than the two required essays will improve your chances. The computer-based system UT Admissions uses for application review has only two fields for essay scores. Therefore, any third (or fourth, or fifth) essay you submit will go unscored.

Quantity is not a substitute for quality, and UT is looking for quality. In my experience as an application reviewer, writing more than two essays dilutes the quality of all your essays. High school students on the whole do not have college-level writing skills (even though they may think they do), and the additional time/effort you would take writing additional essays would be much better spent re-writing and polishing the two essays actually required.

8

I actually talked to the director of UT admissions for the Houston area today. Initially had a different question but asked about if I should send all three essays since they score only two. Her answer was yes. That they will read all three to get a better picture of the applicant, since they don’t do interviews. She said they will then score the required essay and the one they think is better of the other two. So sounds like it doesn’t hurt to submit three and likely helps. She did emphasize writing quality essays.