<p>On the common app it says that the essay should be a minimum of 250 words, but what do you think is the most it could be? Mine right now is hovering at 710 words...is that too much?? i feel like it would hurt my essay to cut it down though...thanks for the advice!!</p>
<p>It’s 500 words. </p>
<p>Although I’m sure many write a little more than 500, 500 is a reasonable number. Most people waste words with unecessary detail [like exact dates, or repetitive description.]</p>
<p>Chances are, you can cut down the essay without harming it.</p>
<p>are you sure its only 500 words?
some people say the common app essay does not have a specific length</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>It doesn’t. 500 is only what people say it should be. Mine is a little above 600. As long as it gets the point across, is well written, and is concise as possible, it’s okay if it’s a little over 500 words. </p>
<p>I’m sure you can cut down 710 words to 650 or less without weakening the content if you try.</p>
<p>Forget words. Think of it this way: one to two pages, reasonable font, reasonable margins. If you go beyond that, you increase the chance that the reader will skim–and you’re probably not being succinct enough.</p>
<p>What I dislike about CC essay advice is that 500 word “limit” everyone seems to slap onto college essays. I’ve read plenty of college essays both from friends who got accepted into HYPS schools and the successful college essays books that are over 700 words. Don’t worry about how many words. Keep it concise, but don’t kill your message by trying to make your essay conform to CC’s advice. Just make sure you get your point across succinctly if possible.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>Agreed with TheAscendancy. My friend who got into HYPS, I read his essay and it was about 900 words. There is no limit! Just get your point across within a reasonable amount of words. Don’t worry. 500 is too little imo. :P</p>
<p>umm my essay is kind of creative in its format… i have about 10 paragraphs each connected to the other with a single theme, and each about 100-120 words. so I have 1000+ words in my essay… is that bad? i mean the length doesnt seem cumbersome to me, and since it’s broken into lots of short paragraphs, it doesn’t seem that long. Should I try to get it under 1000?</p>
<p>If it does not hurt the overall format, feel, message of the essay.</p>
<p>yah. i read somewhere someone did an actual newspaper kind of format. </p>
<p>i would say to cut it down a little bit from 1000 words. i’m pretty sure there are extraneous adjectives and phrases in the essay that can be cut down. i found that in my paper, so it is possible. let the paper cool down and then come back later.</p>
<p>General piece of essay advice #1: Write a draft, read it aloud to catch any obvious errors (i.e. verb tenses, typos), then let it sit for a few days to a week. Then read it again trying to eliminate unnecessary and/or repetitive words and phrases. Give it to your mom/best friend/English teacher/guidance counselor (whoever you think will really help you edit) and take their comments into consideration. Then let it sit again, and then repeat the editing and then sitting for as long as necessary.</p>
<p>General piece of essay advice #2: 500-800 words.</p>
<p>General piece of essay advice #3: A long essay that flows is better than an essay that screams I-was-shortened-to-fit-an-abstract-word-limit-and-now-I’m-choppy.</p>
<p>500 words isn’t too little. For most people/colleges, that’s the average. It depends on the question you’re answering. If you’re describing someone who has impacted you, it might be a little longer. If you’re doing the literary/historical figure, the length of that could definitely vary. But I agree with teenage_cliche. 500-800 words is probably the best length. Mine is about 650-700.</p>