<p>678 words too long for the 500 word personal statement? It would be really weird if I cut it down though, because of how it's structured. About 3/4 of a page. </p>
<p>Any opinions?</p>
<p>trimming is one of the hardest process. You just think that your essay is godly and cutting will make it redundant. There are many ways to cut an essay. You should consider reading "on writing the college essay", it has really good tips on cutting.</p>
<p>If you're planning to send it online, 678 words won't fit on the common application. The essay will automatically be truncated, that is, the last part will not be received by schools.</p>
<p>Theinfocenter is right: trimming is one of the hardest processes, but it is also often the most important process. What I typically see when kids give me essays to read that are way over the word limit is that:
(1) they haven't focused enough. They're trying to do too much in the essay or tell more than one story. Go back and see what is the most important thing you want to convey and slice out everything that doesn't add to that.<br>
(2) they are taking too long to set up the essay topic - their introductions are too long usually. See if there is a spot a few paragraphs or lines down from your current beginning that is the real beginning, cut everything before that.
(3) they are throwing in extraneous words to try to make themselves sound smarter or more interesting. Edit anything that isn't absolutely necessary. </p>
<p>Last tip: Try reading your essay out loud to see which parts feel like they're taking too long to say --- cut there too. </p>
<p>I have yet to see an essay that truly needed to be longer than 550 words or so once all of the above were addressed.</p>
<p>Good luck --- you'll get there.</p>