<p>Hey everyone. I am applying to Penn as a transfer student for next fall, along with a few other schools. Penn is my top choice and in the "general" CA essay I decided to say why I wanted to go to penn, because there is not much room on the supplement. With information about why I want to transfer and why I want to go to penn, my essay is about 1250 words. Is this way too long?</p>
<p>What is the limit prescribed? Mine was 664 words and it seemed to work, but it all depends on the topic/person. There’s not really a hard and fast rule, but I think you should be able to substantively address your reasons for transferring and desired objectives in no more than 750-900 words.</p>
<p>There is no limit, it just says a minimum of 250 words. But for the penn supplement, the max is one page and I talked about some extracurriculars I would like to be involved in and I have no room for academics. I want the admissions committee to really get a good picture of why I want to go to penn, so I stated why i changed my major, what i am looking for in a school, and what penn and philly have to offer. I cut it down so much from about 1650 words and I think its very concise. At this point, it is mostly just content of why I want to go to penn and i think its important. After a lot of editing, it reads pretty well, so I don’t think admissions will have a problem reading it, I just don’t want them to be annoyed right away at its length. What do you think?</p>
<p>my cornell is 1400 words, and i am NOT cutting it down because I think its great and has a bunch of reasons why cornell is perfect for me. </p>
<p>in all honesty if u can write 1650 words on why u wanna transfer to a college that is a good sign. </p>
<p>Just let this essay be a chance for u to express urself and whatever comes out shud be sufficient</p>
<p>Again, there’s no hard rule about it, but keep in mind the adcoms spend very little time on each application and don’t have time (or particularly want) to read novellas. Yes, it may mean you’re really keen on going to Cornell or school , but keep in mind it will likely be given a superficial reading simply by virtue of its length. A single page, double spaced is about 275 words (assuming 12pt Times New Roman font, 1" side margins and 1.25" header/footer), so 1250 words is more than 4.5 pages of text. I’d be happy to read it and let you know if I think something can go.</p>
<p>IMHO, you really shouldn’t need more than 900 words to satisfy the prompt and articulate your reasons for transferring and your desired objectives.</p>
<p>^have a point, but transfer processes only have about 2000 applicants for penn (MUCH less than freshman aplicants) so wouldn’t adcoms have time?</p>
<p>I have a friend who wrote a why cornell and hit 1300 words and got in as well as a Penn applicant who hit 1300 and got into Jerome Fischer at Penn. I read both and they were great! </p>
<p>but I guess it is whatever float ur boat, I am keeping my length since no length was specified and I love the school</p>
<p>Remember, the main essay for the freshman common app is supposed to be around 500 words. Like Wayward, my “Why Transfer” essay was around 600 words. I don’t think longer is necessarily better.</p>
<p>^ I agree. but if you have a well written, cohesive essay that then i dont think it could huty</p>
<p>I used the following rules:</p>
<p>If limit is specified, use as many words as you can within the limit.</p>
<p>If limit is unspecified, fit your essay on two 1"-margined pages of 1.5-spaced text in 12pt font.</p>
<p>Guy, is it possibe to use CA essay prompt for specific colleges. and then changing it when submitting to another college. How is it done. Arent we supposed to make it general to all?</p>
<p>thanks everyone! i think i am going to try to cut it down as much as possible. for my other schools i think i might just make a general essay and keep it around 750 words. also, what should the format be for the essays? i think i might do 1.5 spacing and 11 font. is that readable? also, penn’s supplement says “name some academic communities and social communities that you would like to join, etc. etc” do not exceed one page. should i keep it single spaced? i edited it alot and was able to 1.5 space it, but idk if cutting it and spacing it will make me look lazy and as if i didn’t have enough to talk about…any opinions?</p>
<p>to ssss, i am making some of mine general, some not. i have some safety schools that i think ill get into so i’m not too concerned about making a specific essay. but for schools like penn, i am making it specific so they know why i want to go there. i haven’t done anything electronically yet so i don’t know how the essay submission works, but ill try to find out soon and let you know!</p>
<p>i would follow drek’s advice. you wanna keep these readers intrigued and make your essay to the point. going on and on can hurt. i have not seen the essay so i cannot say specifically. if you’d like to send it over i would be happy to make some suggestions. whenever i have talked to admission officers, they have stressed on keeping the essay under at least 1000 words</p>