<p>My essays, including the supplement, are all way over limit.
Such as my short answer, is 500 when it should be 150 words, would that hurt my chances?</p>
<p>yes. it would.</p>
<p>You probably need to cut them down. Especially the short answer. They really do mean short answer; 500 words is not short-- plus, if you're applying online, that section cuts off at 150 words (or a certain # of characters, I forget). For the other ones, what does "way over limit" mean? 700 words instead of 500? Or 1500?</p>
<p>700
so i think its just the short answer that's a problem
it's actually 450 words</p>
<p>They're both a problem. If the application asks for a 150-word answer, give them a 150-word answer. If the application asks for a 500-word essay, give them a 500-word essay. If you're capable of writing a great 700-word essay, then you're capable of writing a great 500-word essay. The great 500-word essay will be more impressive. It will also demonstrate that you understand how to respond to a simple request.</p>
<p>Of course, they don't have to be 500 words exactly. But the closer to 500 you can get it (while still maintaining the quality) the better. Same goes for the short answer.</p>
<p>Sure, it doesn't have to be 500 words exactly. But it should be 500 words approximately. And you most certainly do not need to sacrifice quality in editing a 700-word essay down to 500 words. Indeed, you're far more likely to improve the quality by having the discipline to cut out the excess.</p>
<p>since i've already sent it, do you think that these essays will hurt my chances? if so, could i and should i resubmit essays?</p>
<p>Nah. Don't resubmit (I don't even know if you can). And don't stress over it. What's done is done. Now comes the wait...</p>
<p>I agree you should not resubmit or get stressed about it. But if you have any more applications to send in, edit down your answers/essays before sending the new ones. And next time you ask for advice, it may be useful to ask before it's too late to do anything about it. :)</p>
<p>The essay required by Common App is 250-500 words, but the Additional Essay on Harvard Supplement does have any restriction on the length. Am I right? If right, is 1,000 words too long?</p>
<p>i definitely struggled with mine a lot and eventually got it from 167 to 149. The last few words are the hardest :(</p>
<p>I'm sending two 500-word ones... I think that's the wisest choice, because then you don't overexhaust them. Just in case.</p>
<p>I agree that the short answer should be edited way down to conform to what is expected. However, I disagree that going over the 500 word limit, even by 100 or 150 words, will be a problem. The thing is, one must absolutely edit and edit until the piece is the best it can be. But, if after that, it's still over by 10% or even 20%, I wouldn't worry. My son, accepted EA, sent in 2 essays, and both were over 500 words--and not just a few words over. AFter very careful editing over a period of time, he concluded that cutting any more would hurt the power of the piece. And we noted that several examples in Harvard's book of accepted essays did go well over the 500 mark. However, in my judgement, going over 700 words is probably too much. (I think my son might have done 1 1/2 spacing rather than double spacing, so that the essay still fit very comfortably on 2 pages.</p>
<p>wait it needs to be double spaced?</p>
<p>No, it doesn't have to be double-spaced.</p>
<p>HELLO! I’ve never posted on here, but have read many comments. Now I don’t know if anyone will actually see this. I was just on google and where you can ask questions, someone asked if anyone could read their college essay. I’m submitting my envelopes & Common App on Monday. I would LOVE it if I would find an adult on here that I could trust to read my essay. I gave it to my college counselor and he corrected three little mistakes. I don’t maybe he doesn’t like me and was too lazy to help me out even though it’s his JOB. You see my topic is dear to me and I think my essay is pretty good BUT it’s over 1500 words. Apparently it has to be 500??? I talk A LOT…in life AND on paper. PLEASE if someone sees this, I need an outside perspective. Someone who has done this before and is willing to help…FAST!!! THANK YOU. email me please!!! <a href="mailto:evashev93@yahoo.com">evashev93@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>This is the wrong place to post that^.</p>
<p>You should get more help here: [College</a> Essays - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/]College”>College Essays - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>I completely understand, but will some schools outright reject me if my essay is 40-50 words over?</p>
<p>no school will outright reject you. Depends on the rest of the application</p>
<p>Oh i am not sure if this was mentioned already, but for the short answer essay on the Common App even if you have under 150 words, if your characters aren’t below the minimum 750 characters it won’t allow you to send your application. SO unless your essay contains a whole lot of Is and As…i think you definitely have to cut that one down.</p>
<p>Yet I also don’t think that admissions officers will be angry because of an extra 50 words. That is as long as those 50 words are the best 50 words they have seen in their life. If your essay is really good and just a little bit over 500 words I don’t think it will harm you too much. But as they say…a concise essay is a well written essay.</p>