<p>For the common apps, the long essay should be 250 to 500 words.
The space they provide accepts up to 6,000 characters (approx. 1,300 words).</p>
<p>Are they really strict about the word limits? I have an 800 word essay I want to put. Would that be acceptable or should I just try to shorten it?</p>
<p>Also, the "additional information" section: can I submit an essay or is that space more for describing "extenuating situation" or what not? And no word limits on this section?</p>
<p>Let me hear you guys' input and how someone of you who turned it in dealt with this. I appreciate it guys.</p>
<p>To err on the side of caution, I would shorten it. My essay was over the limit by about 50 to 100 words, I think. The limit I imposed was that the essay should fit on one page (the CA gives you only one page for the essay anyway) when you print preview the app. That's a good limit, I think. If your essay is longer than 6,000 characters (meaning you need to use the additional information section), it's probably a sign you've gone way over the limit, and you ought to cut down a lot.</p>
<p>I used the additional information space to mention anything unusual about my app or explain stuff that wouldn't hurt to be explained (e.g. why I took the courses I took). I also expanded a bit on my ECs in there.</p>
<p>My long essay was about 800 words as well and my counselor and English teacher approved it. It did end up fitting on one page when I printed it out. You can check yours in the print preview section if you're applying online.</p>
<p>Well I stretched the work limit a bit too, 650 words I think. Maybe some of it was a bit too wordy, but my essay encompassed quite a lot and I genuinely think that it was never going to be less than 500 words. I guess you have to look at whether it actually needs to be that long. On the Yale FAQ someone asks a question along your lines and they respond by saying that they will read the whole thing, but they dont consider you to be helping your case by going over limits (they dont say it will necessarily hurt them either ;)</p>
<p>Regarding extra information, i think the consensus it it's not really the place for an essay, but having said that I wrote around 500 words in it. Basically I used it as a place to actually explain my extra-curriculars becuase in england things like 'work experience' mean different things, and I wanted to clarify what exactly my 'maths mentoring' was. What i wrote definitely was not an essay, more 2 paragraphs on my community work, one on work experience and a further on my field hockey. I felt that I wanted to clarify what i did in a bit more detail, especially as things in england are a little different.</p>