<p>Wait, there is a 500-word limit!?</p>
<p>I don't see that written anywhere, except that the long essay needs tobe longer than 250 words...</p>
<p>Traditionally, college essays were limited to 500 words at the upper end...however, since the common app doesn't specify this year, maybe it does not matter how long your essay is...assuming you don't make it into a research paper ;)</p>
<p>okay, thanks.</p>
<p>hopefully it's okay with around 2 pages....</p>
<p>how do you get to the comm app essay? i've been to the website and registered but i can't find the app.</p>
<p>Common app essay is on the left hand side in the "Writing Samples" section (gray box in the navbar).</p>
<p>I was also wondering the same thing about word limit myself. I emailed the Common App people, and they recommended 500 words (it is "advisable), but also stated essays of a "reasonable length" are fine. IMO about three quarters of a page (single spaced, no extra spacing for paras) is "reasonable". That comes out to be about 600 by my guess. On the other hand, I don't think college adcoms will care too much if it's under a page and has some spacing (say 1.15x or smtg, so it doesn't look like 800 words). Take this with a grain of salt, however, as I am not an admin officer by any means. Could some admin officers comment on this?</p>
<p>sphoenixee</p>
<p>to be honest, I think that as long as the essay captures the attention of the reader it doesn't matter what length it is. a 1000-word essay that can sustain my interest would feel like a 500-word essay anytime.</p>