<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>My Yale essay is about 850 words long (down from 1020 words). I can't cut anymore without compromising quality. What should I do...should I just submit it as it is? Did anyone talk to an adcom about this problem? Will they actually read the extra 300 words or no? Any feedback will be appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>its got to be cut down. the range is 250-500 which means that anything along 530 is acceptable but not more. 850 is way to long for sure.</p>
<p>Does it fit on one page? Then I think it's fine (that's what my counselor said).</p>
<p>doesn't it have to be double spaced?? So, maybe 2 pages double spaced size 12 font...is that the limit? Right now, it's 2 and 1/2 pages double spaced.</p>
<p>Also, where does it say 250-500 words...cos that's waaaay too short. A normal paragraph is about 200 words.</p>
<p>It doesn't have to be double spaced. Mine is 800 words and I cannot cut it down. I emailed my yale rep and he said its fine. </p>
<p>Man, everyone thinks these word limits are the strictest things ever. They are not.</p>
<p>I would be <em>very</em> surprised if it really was impossible to cut it down to 500 words without compromising quality. I thought the same thing about one of my short answer questions which was originally about 50% longer than it was supposed to be. Cutting it down to 250 words made it MUCH better. Maybe some parts aren't entirely necessary. Adcoms only have so much time per app, and according to the adcoms I've talked to more stuff to read just means more time to really think over the app, and can hurt you. I mean if you were an adcom, wouldn't a short, but well done essay be REALLY refreshing? If it's 800 words it better be amazing. An extra 300 words in one app might not be a big deal... but if everyone does an extra 300 words it starts to add up. I'd say do your best to cut out as much as possible to try to get closer to the 500 word limit.</p>
<p>your essay topic may be too broad...</p>
<p>my essay was 650, but i painfully chopped out sentences to make it 530ish. The result was a better, more focused essay that has less wordy language and is easy to read.</p>
<p>of course, it may be that you chose an interesting topic...in that case any length is fine if it keeps their attention.</p>
<p>it doesn't have to be double spaced. Usually keeping it on one page (so they don't have to flip) is a good idea.</p>
<p>My completed essays are both about 550 words, and that was after I removed about 100 words each that were simply irrelevant.</p>
<p>580, yea or nay? i think its fine, they cant really like TELL that its 80 words longer than it should be.....or can they</p>
<p>I heard that they scan your essays and then count the words. If you are over the 500 word limit, they cut out random words to make it fit in the limit. And if your essay doesn't make sense or if there are grammar errors, you are automatically rejected.</p>
<p>why do i doubt that?</p>
<p>that is so not true. lol I just know it isn't. Everyone on here has to ahve more than 500 words. I know I do. My essays aren't 700 or 800, but they're over 500. That would suck. Where'd you hear that from?</p>
<p>That's absolutely stupid.</p>
<p>ummmmyeah a little unrealistic if u ask me.....they reject u if u have some gramatical errors, and they cut out extra words if its a little long? how do they do that? do they cut out the "the" "a" and "and"s? or do they change "as if" to "like" or something? too many variables man, i dont think that makes sense at all</p>
<p>Oh my god you guys...Are you THAT stressed to NOT understand my sarcasm? Hahahaha</p>
<p>are you kidding
that is such crap</p>
<p>haha sorry, its a little tough to decipher what is sarcasm and what is not when the board is filled with kids who are really like serious and what not. goooood thing u werent serious</p>
<p>lol
yea, like the panel has the time to sit and count the words in 36000 essays. haha. its pretty funny just to think about it,... 506, 507, ...should we count this hyphinated word as two words? ok, thats 509.... oh goody! we get to chop out 9 words!! Let's do pronouns first! hehe, look at this sentence, "_ loved _ bike, _ used to watch _ ride _ in _ neon-colored outfit." haha, what a REJECT...</p>