<p>How big of a deal is it if the essay is slightly under 200? I wrote and sent it in a while ago. It's not a tough read, a lot of the words are short, a few numbers, mostly informational, and impact observations are not very deep. A lot of it is elaborating on awards and stuff I won I couldn't fit into 100 char for describing activities. Is this a big deal? The essay's not really that condensible, and the extra ~50 words amounts to 2-3 lines on the common app. Should I worry or do anything about it?</p>
<p>bump................</p>
<p>By slightly, how much do you mean?</p>
<p>If it's 50 or so words I doubt they would care. The more concise the better. As long as you feel you've stated everything that you needed to it's OK.</p>
<p>bump........</p>
<p>bump...................</p>
<p>come on, do u think the admission counselor will sit there and count every single word on every single application?
just let it go..</p>
<p>I agree with clocks, I definitely wouldn't worry about it at all. They really couldn't care less; the common application is more of a formality, as long as you don't go WAY over (which you did not), you will be fine.</p>
<p>One of my ignorant friends had told it *had * to be less than 150 words, so I painstakingly cut mine's down to exactly 150...</p>
<p>When I saw the format of the activity section on the Common App, I felt incredibly stupid... As long as you don't write a dissertation on why you love swimming, you should be fine!</p>
<p>"had told me that"-- that's what I meant to write</p>