<p>So I wrote my main college essay. My main school (Vanderbilt) had no word count so my final essay ended up being 1,167 words. Now I wanted to use this essay in the common app till i learned it says 250-500 words. I tried to see if my essay fit, and it did (5,987 characters out of 6,000). I tried cutting it down and am now down to 850 words (4,500 characters). Would a college care if you went above the word count on the common app? and how much is too much?</p>
<p>bump......</p>
<p>I think that the common app might cut the essay to 500 words at the time of sending. I am not 100% sure about this though. I would not recommend going over 500 words on the common app.</p>
<p>they wont cut it down at 500 words, but 6,000 characters that im sure of</p>
<p>350 extra words is a lot of extra words. Trim it down, you really want a tired admissions officer, after reading hundreds of other essays, pull out yours and seeing that the length is nearly double the maximum? ****ing off the admission officers is never a good thing. Only send it in if you think it's a masterpiece that simply can't be cut down, and get the approval of a good English teacher in your school (or counselor, whomever you prefer).</p>
<p>i agree with ray. and just so u kno, it won't truncate your essay based on word count, but it will for character count. try print previewing it, and if it all fits, then ur good because that is what colleges seee.</p>
<p>Take a look at the sticky thread posted right on this page for a full discussion:</p>