<p>okay so i wrote a really good essay that i am using for USC. the only problem is that they say "Please write an essay, approximately 500-700 words (typically one page) in length on one of the following topics." and mine is 1,029 words. And i don't really know how to cut it down because i feel that every part of the essay is there for a reason, and shouldn't be taken out. and also when i tried to paste it into the text box where the essay is supposed to go, it let the whole thing in, soo...what should i do?</p>
<p>Have a teacher, GC, sibling, and/or friend (proficient in writing) read it. You may be too “invested” in the essay to be objective. I think going 50% over the limit is a little excessive.</p>
<p>I would be happy to edit it for you. I am not a student and will edit for content. Having a stranger who doesn’t know you may be as important as having your sister (as mentioned before) edit it. After all, the ADCOM doesn’t know you either. PM me if you want.</p>
<p>Have your favorite English teacher suggest some cuts. USC has asked for 500-700 words. Submitting an essay of 1,029 words shows them that:</p>
<p>1) You are unable to follow directions.
2) You feel that you are better qualified to determine how long an admissions essay should be than the admissions commitee at USC.</p>
<p>Those are not the impressions you want to make if you hope to be admitted.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>to shave off a couple lines (if not more), read every word, and if a word (usually adjectives) is not absolutely necessary, or a phrase can be shortened, do it. Trust me, the biggest problem high schoolers have in essays is using big words to sound more eloquent (which, doesn’t usually work btw ;)).</p>
<p>Have someone else look over the essay for you to ensure that it is concise. But don’t cut anything that’s integral to what the essay is trying to say just to get it under 700 words; the admissions staff don’t count words, and they will read everything that you write. Just don’t **** them off with something that’s ridiculously long.</p>
<p>EDIT! Often, even when you feel that nothing can be cut, editing to reduce the word count results in a stronger piece of writing.
(If I remember correctly from last year, my son’s USC essay was one of the first he wrote and was in the 500-700 word range. He then had to severely cut that essay to fit the word count requirements for some other colleges. It is quite an interesting exercise!)
Look at it as a challenge. And if you save your original, you can always go back to it and start over if you don’t like the changes you’ve made.</p>
<p>Okay so I got it to 770. Do you guys think that’s okay? They did say APPROXIMATELY 500-700 words…</p>
<p>Good. A 50% word count miss would have been excessive.</p>
<p>My son and I attended an info session at another private school and the Admissions Office made the following point: Admissions counselors at this school read 100-125 applications a day, each with 2 Common App essays and the additional supplemental essay. That’s 300 - 375 essays a day! No matter how compelling you think your essay may be, it’s unlikely that a reader is going to be enchanted with the idea of reading an extra long one, especially if it’s number 283 of that day. Have some consideration for your audience.</p>
<p>While I thought that comment was a bit whiny, after all they’re the ones asking for a supplemental essay, it did make the point of being concise. Get in, say what you want to say and then get out.</p>
<p>I don’t know the workload of admissions office counselors at USC and I disagree a bit with alamemom’s suggestion as to how harshly an overrun will be looked upon. But I suspect that if they see it’s a long essay they’ll read the first page and then just stop, which may have the effect of not fully getting your personality across to the reader. You’re much better off with the 770 word essay. Good Luck.</p>
<p>I would take another go at it, and try to focus on the verbs you use… Strong (active) verbs make for strong sentences. </p>
<p>I agree with Alamemon’s post - I know people reviewing resumes (a bit different I concede) that will simply not look at the second page… They argue that if Steve Jobs can get a one-page resume, so can you… Similarly, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people just stop reading at 500+ words…</p>
<p>I should add that they are some great essay editing services online that can really help improve your prose. Disclosure: I am not an editor for any of these sites myself, but have friends that are…</p>
<p>Just google it or ping me if you are interested in more specific info! I don’t want to spam! :)</p>
<p>Steve Jobs’ resume only needs to be 6 words long: I co-founded and run Apple Computer.</p>
<p>I’m all in favor of brevity, but mere mortals need extra time to explain to strangers just how wonderful they are.</p>