<p>any current brown student (or parent, or anyone else non 09) willing to critique it?</p>
<p>You have got to cut that down…admissions officers will be quite annoyed with an essay of that length. Follow the rules stated in the application: 500 words (maybe a little more) MAXIMUM.</p>
<p>I agree with xmobile if the essay is for the supplement. But for the common app essay that would be fine.</p>
<p>If the essay is for the common app, then I do not think you need to be worried…mine was 861 words.</p>
<p>sorry…i forgot to mention that yes, it is for the commonapp</p>
<p>I would not worry too much then. I was told that one page single-spaced is the average essay. 878 words should be a page and a quarter, which is just a little bit longer than a page.</p>
<p>That’s not true. The Browns Admissions officer who I met with said to simply keep it under 2000, he didn’t care about the length.</p>
<p>I think that’s what they’re supposed to say, but I think they would prefer a shorter, more concise essay than one that is repetitive and drags on.</p>
<p>Well, I think it is most important that your essay flows well and is concise. 2000 words, mind you, can be concise if the style, content, etc. is edited correctly. The first potential college essay I wrote was 700 or so words, and it felt like it dragged on even after I cut it down to 500 words. The next one I wrote, and the one I am going with, is 861 words, but since it flows well and doesn’t lose momentum it seems shorter than the original edited 500-word essay.</p>
<p>Just be honest with yourself and get some outside input. If you were a college counselor reading your own essay, would you keep reading the essay if it were not a requirement? Ask yourself this question when you read through essay and see if you can find any throwaway sentences or overdeveloped thoughts.</p>
<p>I agree, brendan. Mine was, um… 906 words. (Yeah, I know.) I did feel a bit uneasy sending it with that length, but I don’t know, I felt like if I cut more out I wouldn’t be able to really say what I wanted to say. And I’ve read that while it may often be better to keep your essay from rambling on, if it’s engaging it’s fine if it’s a little lengthy. So hopefully mine’s engaging enough… although it is maybe a little too lengthy… and if it’s not engaging they might be annoyed… :/</p>
<p>But okay. I’ve sent it in. And I can’t do anything else about it now.</p>
<p>i’m not a current brown student but i’m not applying to brown this year. if you want me to read it: <a href="mailto:srrinath@gmail.com">srrinath@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>asfh09… very good point. It is possible to write a 499 word essay that feels like it never ends, but a 2500 word essay could feel like a breeze to read. I think the only cut-offs that matter in the application process are the crazy “1300 characters” textbox trims that happen on the supplements and non-CA application websites. Those are maddening. Nuking adverbs in order to get the blurb to fit… almost enough to make one NOT go electronic when applying.</p>
<p>YUP.
The 1600-character “Why Brown” question combined with the academic interests was a b-- was really something.</p>
<p>I have a question regarding the essay in the supplement. It says “an academic experience, project, class or book that has influenced or inspired you?”</p>
<p>I wrote an essay for Stanford that is very good. It wanted “an intellectually engaging experience” so I wrote about attending a day of college with my mom. Do you think this would fit the criteria for Brown’s essay?</p>
<p>Intellectually engaging vs. influential and inspirational? Sure.</p>
<p>Nothing like recycling essays, eh?</p>
<p>So you’re saying no?</p>
<p>Haha. No, I’m saying yes. As long as this “intellectually engaging experience” did influence and inspire you, and as long as you say how.</p>
<p>:) sorry I might’ve sounded sarcastic… I do do that sometimes.</p>