Cut off extracurricular short answer??

[homerslippers]

<p>The Common App recommends 150 words or fewer for "elaborate on an extracurricular activity."</p>

<p>I have a little over 200. </p>

<p>When I do a print preview, I can't see my whole answer...can colleges see it??
Btw, I also have a book that says I can go a little over, but if I get cut off, then ?? </p>

<p>Preferably someone in the HS graduating class of '09 should answer, who went significantly over 150, since you've done it already and pretty recently.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[absent]

<p>Trim your answer down to 150 words. “A book” is not as reliable as the technical help from the Common App website itself:</p>

<p>[Common</a> App Support Center](<a href=“http://s3.parature.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5524]Common”>http://s3.parature.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5524)

There is a word limit for the short answer essay.
We strongly advise all students to follow the short answer essay instructions by limiting the response to 150 words. Since the online system cannot enforce a word count for technological reasons, the Common App has imposed a 1000-character count maximum and a four-line limit, but that does not precisely correspond to 150 words, since words vary in length.</p>

<p>Please do not add any special formatting or unnecessary spaces since these will be counted in the character count.

</p>

<p>If you are indeed under the limit but are still being cut off, read the following:

After printing my application in PDF, some fields I have filled in on the application are blank, and others are not displaying the entire text.</p>

<p>The PDF version of your application may not display some of your answers correctly. As long as they are saved to your application properly, they will be saved in the institution’s database properly, even if they are not displaying correctly (or at all) on the PDF. You may want to check the pages of your application carefully before you submit it to ensure that your answers were saved properly.

</p>

[homerslippers]

<p>Thanks, absent. It sure looks like I’ll have to trim it.</p>

<p>Has it changed though? Michele Hernandez’s book has essays that go on and on and on and on…and she’s an admissions officer turned private counselor!</p>

[absent]

<p>

Has it changed though? Michele Hernandez’s book has essays that go on and on and on and on…and she’s an admissions officer turned private counselor!

</p>

<p>The essays are different from the “150 word short answer.” While the short answer has a word maximum, the personal essay section of the common app only has a word minimum—meaning you can go on and on for quite a while (not that you necessarily should).</p>

[homerslippers]

<p>Oh, I know it’s different–these ones were specifically for the one with the 150 word MAX, though, which she said to disregard, and they still went on and on and on…</p>

<p>I’m not saying I disagree, the limit seems to be pretty clear, at least now.
Just saying what I read…which led to a lot of wasted time, it seems.</p>

[chsowlflax17]

<p>Probably not too much wasted time. One of the best ways to write is to write exactly how much you think you need, then edit it down and down until it’s of a mroe manageable size. Because 95% of the time your first draft has stuff you don’t need, and that actually detracts from what you’re saying. your final draft should be extremely clear and still be able to get your point across.</p>

[jack1232]

<p>Even you keep within the limit, some words in the Honor and Activity sections were still cut-off when you do print/preview. Did this appect your application? What college sees?</p>