<p>I have threeo questions:
1. Is the "college essay", as it is referred to, the essay that is required for the Common App? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
2. The Common App essay word limit is 500 words. However, many of the other supplements are much higher than that. For example, the supplement for Stanford is 2000 characters. Is this large gap normal? And should I max out the supplement word count as well?
3. What is the difference between a Personal Statement as opposed to the other two essays?
Sorry, I know these questions are common knowledge :(</p>
<p>nverqrui -</p>
<p>Never be sorry for asking a question! Except to CCers, this information is hardly common knowledge!</p>
<p>1) The “College Essay” that is so infamous is indeed the common app essay. It’s also known as the personal statement and has a 500 word limit. </p>
<p>2) There’s a very large range of word limits, minimums, and suggestions for college essays. It’s very normal. However, a 2000 character essay is roughly 300-400 words. You should come close to the limit because the better essays tend to be the ones that are less rushed. Having said that, if you write an impeccable 1300 character essay for Stanford, by all means go for it!</p>
<p>3) The personal statement is when you either choose one of five topics or write on anything you want. This is THE essay. It represents you and shows what you’re passionate about. I’m not sure what the other “two” essays are, though. If you mean the extracurricular essay than that is a much shorter essay (1000 characters or about 160 words) where you describe in detail one of your extracirriculars. </p>
<p>Supplemental essays are just essays that each individual college requires. Sometimes, these are more important than the common app essay. Each college has their own rules on the supplemental essay. Some have none, some have 1 and some have many! </p>
<p>So, to sum up, THE college essay is the same as the common app essay which is the same as the personal statement. </p>
<p>If you need anything else, just ask!</p>
<p>Best regards,
- Mike</p>
<p>Wow, thanks a lot! That really cleared things up for me 
I just have one more question. Your answer actually made me remember the extracurricular essay. Everyone here seems to really care about the personal statement. However, I haven’t seen much about the extracurricular essay. Is the extracurricular essay as important? Do the two essays have the same weight, or is the personal statement more important?</p>
<p>nverqrui -</p>
<p>No problem!</p>
<p>As for your next question, the personal statement is more important. HOWEVER, the extracurricular essay is still very, very important. The problem is, like you noticed, most people don’t care about it. They seem to think its just a few sentences that you can piece together and not worry about, but in reality it is a short essay! Colleges have to deal with so many bad ones that a good EC essay is a big plus. </p>
<p>Anything else, just ask!</p>
<p>Best regards,
- Mike</p>