<p>How "hard" are these limits? How far over them are you allowed to go while still being "acceptable?" Right now, I'm looking at 700 words on a 500 limit. eek.</p>
<p>haha i was worried about 520 on a 500 word limit, i personally wouldnt go much higher than 550.. but thats just my opinion</p>
<p>Maybe the word limit is a secret test. A test to see if you can <em>follow simple directions</em>.</p>
<p>I'd say you can't go more than 525.</p>
<p>Depends on the school I guess, but my counselor said that as long as it fits on one page (single spaced) it's fine.</p>
<p>There was an extensive discussion on this on the old board(which I believe you can still search on). There really wasn't a consensus on it... some said they sent a 1000 word essay(when limit was 500) and were accepted and others said they heard that admissions officers strongly disapproved when the limit was broken. Most said that if it fit on the page and was well written it was okay.</p>
<p>okie, i decimated the 100 word limit with 200 too :( </p>
<p>miT doesnt give me enough literary freedom. I use too many transitions.</p>
<p>you can definately not go over 10% of the stated limit... those are the strict boudaries for most essay questions... so 550 word, i would keep it within 520 though</p>
<p>peace out</p>
<p>Keep it under 600 I'd say. They won't notice its really long unless its in that area, and at that point they'll start getting irritated probably. On the short answer, I wouldn't make it any bigger than you should.</p>
<p>bah, bunch of conformists, oh well, time to email mit.</p>