<p>Just wondering, since some of my essays came out to be a little over or under. (280 words instead of 250 for one of the longer ones, 108 for one of the shorter ones). Thank you!</p>
<p>Sorry for the title!</p>
<p>Make sure that EVERY SENTENCE matters. Will the admissons officers be bored by the end, or will they be asking for more? Did you choose to cover a topic you cannot fully explain in the word limit, or is the topic to brief to be wrote upon? Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Expect that the last 5 words of your 280 word essay to be cut off. You will know for sure when you submit. If it is too long it won’t validate.</p>
<p>MITChris replied recently to this same question. Look at this reply. While he doesn’t tell you exactly what you should do, it’s easy to read between the lines.</p>
<p>15% under is no big deal. 15% over will probably get cut off.</p>
<p>At the end of the application it asks you to check the PDF</p>
<p>download it and see if the words go off the page</p>
<p>@Jonluca, that is incorrect. The words shrink and they seem to fit. You can not trust the PDF.</p>
<p>According to this quote by Matt McGann, Director of admissions:</p>
<p>“I strongly suggest you validate your application and view the PDF preview well in advance of the deadline. If one of your essays is too long, or if your formatting doesn’t look right, you will want to know this with plenty of time to spare. If your application VALIDATES and looks good on the PDF preview, you are all set.”</p>
<p>According to my own experience, Matt is correct. You must validate in order to trust what you see on the PDF. Until you validate, words will NOT get cut off. The words shrink and look as if they fit on the PDF. There is a little bit of leeway, about 25 words over the limit. But 15% over the limit is too long, some of the words will get cut.</p>
<p>Ah ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. </p>
<p>Mine was only slightly above the word count, so maybe it was within the margin of error. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>No problem! Last year so many people helped me on this board when I was applying to MIT. I’m so happy to be able to pay it forward.</p>