<p>I know the received wisdom is to keep the main essay to under 500 words. But what if the applicant is a very fine writer and has produced a powerful essay that is 850 words and that will lose something important in being cut back? If the rest of the application is succinct and strong and the SAT/ACT writing scores and English grades are stellar, can't the extra length be excused? Currently, it runs to 1 1/3 pages. Does anyone have actual hard evidence relating to this issue? Daughter's guidance counselor is very insistant that she cut it back. She hasn't even read the essay but is adamant that 500 words is the absolute limit. That seems kind of ridiculous to us.</p>
<p>I can't give you "evidence" but as a college counselor myself who oversees multiple essays by multiple students, I go with the rule of thumb to not be much more than 10% over the word limit.....so if an essay calls for 500 words....try to be in the ballpark of about 550 or not over one page single space size 12 font. Truly going over 600 is too long. I'm sorry but I have seen many essays and yes, everyone is tied to how great it is at 850 words but they are not asking for an 850 word great essay but they are asking for a 500 word great essay and it is best to keep in that general ballpark even though they are not counting words. But an essay that is 850 words doesn't look like one that is 500-600 words (one page single spaced). The idea is to try to write an essay like they are looking for from the get go. It is hard work to edit down an 850 word essay to a 550 word essay but it can be done....I help many kids do it all the time but I do ask that their first draft attempt not be that long from the get go as that is even harder to cut down but a first draft may go over.....maybe be 650 words that then get cut to about 550 words, give or take. Adcoms have a lot of essays to read. Don't be so sure they will plow through 850 words or not be irritated that directions were not followed. As well, most apps have more than one essay. Even the common app has a long and short essay. </p>
<p>I can't give you hard evidence but my advice is to cut that essay to one page.....under 600 words if they are asking for 500. I don't think it must be 500 as the absolute limit like your GC said, but I do think it should be in the ballpark of what was asked and that it fit on one page in size 12 font.</p>
<p>Why do YOU think that colleges ASK for a 500 word essay? If they did not care the length, they would not have specified. What if every kid wrote a 850 word essay and there are a couple essays for the app and so forth? I'd follow directions and be in the RANGE of what they are asking for, even if not exact, which is not necessary.</p>
<p>PS...to quote Harry Bauld in the excellent book, On Writing the College Application Essay:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Many college essays are bloated with sentences that could be tightened or completely eliminated. When you've got only five hundred words - and often fewer - to nourish readers, every one must count.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>He also recommends that the essays be kept to one page.</p>
<p>but this year COMM APP does not specify essay length.</p>
<p>It is common knowledge that the common app essay is meant to be a one page essay give or take 500 words or so with a min. of 250 words. In fact, I think if you apply online, there may be a character limit. I haven't checked that limit as I prefer paper applications. All my students write an essay that fits on one page.....rarely going over 600 words, and preferably sticking to 550 and under.</p>
<p>I agree with SoozieVt. My H is a clergy so I am the one who gets to read the sermon each week to ensure it is l8 minutes and not more than 20. When it hits 21 minutes, everyone starts to squirm in their seats, even if they've been fascinated moments before. If it reaches 25 minutes, we have to wake everyone up. </p>
<p>Even though each paragraph was great and had "something" to offer, there's such a thing as attention span. To exceed a length requirement by more than 10% has an unfortunate psychology: it implies that the listener is less important than the speaker, and the listener takes insult that his time isn't being valued. This results in hostility towards the speaker.</p>
<p>Trust me, I know it's hard to edit when you love every word you're reading. I sympathize, but here are some practical suggestions if you care to take them:</p>
<p>I have several ways of editing, depending on what is the reason for the length, as follows:</p>
<p>If I feel it makes a solid case and leads logically point-to-point, I'm reluctant to overthrow the logical flow. So I try to see if there's any "froth" in the language use itself. I go through each sentence mercilessly, asking at each phrase, "so what" and if the phrase doesn't prove itself by adding something new to the discussion, out it goes. </p>
<p>If the author offered an Example, somtimes it's not necessary to offer it since the point was already made. INterestingly, there are times when the Example says it all, so the reiteration of the "point being made" can be reduced in length. The reader "got it" in other words, like Tom Cruise, "you got me with 'hello'" so no need to elaborate.</p>
<p>Change a narrative to story or some dialgoue. Screenwriters do this all the time. Don't tell it in the abstract, show it with a specifric; ground your point in the action. If a h.s. student wants to say, "I care deeply about the environment because I believe blah blah..." that passion might all come out just as well to say, "While spending the summer on a community recycling team..." Then the AdCom thinks, "ah she cares deeply about the environment." Nuff said.</p>
<p>The hardest part is when it ALL seems so good. Then I have to chop out a whole subsection. Ouch. I try to pick the one that is the weakest, recognizing that it was good in the first place, but something has to "go" and I don't want to disturb the rest of the text.
But then I have to smooth the new absence with a segue phrase or sentence so the logic still stands up for the entire piece.</p>
<p>I know it feels like conducting surgery on yourself to edit something wonderful, so I sympathize.</p>
<p>That said, As a minority voice, I have read on rare occasion from some who applied to elites with 800 words and got accepted, but I'd never risk it and you don't know what else their application offered to excuse that length!</p>
<p>EDIT: If you agree and want to take out as much as 150 words here, first decide if you think the writing style is "tight" already. If so, then don't fuss swith every line, instead seek out a subsection first. If you can let that subsection go, you won't have to tear apart every other line of the essay.</p>
<p>Often, however, I do a little bit of each kind of editing. What I wrote above, as the "so what" test on each phrase, can actually come LAST in your sequence. That's because it usually eliminates very few actual words in number; but it does make the piece sound crisper and smarter.</p>
<p>If you can't do this surgery, ask an English teacher or someone to read and say, "if I had to cut out something, what could I eliminate?" A third party will see it right away.</p>
<p>^^^excellent wise and specific advice from paying3tuitions! Nobody ever said it was easy to trim, but trim you must. If you can't see where to trim, ask another party to point it out.</p>
<p>Don't forget that in many cases the application may be filed online, and the essay portion may automatically truncate to the maximum words allowed (even though the entire essay may be shown to the applicant...until printed out).</p>
<p>So can anyone say what the character or word limit is for the common app? There's no stated limit - just a 250 word minimum. But presumably the on-line version will cut off the essay at some point, and it would be great to know what that point is. </p>
<p>Soozievt - I'd guess there are lots of kids out there who don't read CC and will assume there's no limit. Was the wording of the common app changed this year? I'm curious how a typical applicant would know the essay is meant to be a single page.</p>
<p>Paying3 - those are excellent editing guidelines.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for great feedback. Actually, this essay is the main one for the common application, which specifies only that it be at least 250 words. No maximum guideline is given. Our guidance conselor just says 500 words is the general rule of thumb. Problem is that my daughter already cut this essay back from 1,000 words. She first used it last winter to apply for a very prestigious summer internship. This essay was the primary written part of the application and consequently we have a lot of faith in it. It's just so hard to abandon it and have her start a new one from scratch while all those supplements are waiting . . .</p>
<p>Paying3 -- I've printed your post and given it to daughter. One of the best pieces of writing coaching I've ever seen.</p>
<p>justaMom - we have printed it out and all of the essay is intact. Also couldn't help noticing that in the short essay sections with word limits where she scrupulously stayed within the guidelines there is much unused white space. Just for fun she tried writing longer than the guidelines and that also seems to print just fine. The common application has lots of quirks.</p>
<p>Mammall....I have no doubt that your D's 850 word essay is very good.....for an 850 word essay. She need NOT start from scratch on a new essay. I have worked on umpteen essays with students and it is a matter of editing it down, as paying3tuitions gave some excellent examples of ways to do that. She should not abandon it. As you say, there are all the supplemental essays. A college does not want to read an 850 word personal essay, a short activity essay (which on the common app, really shouldn't go much beyond 170 words or so) and a couple more long essays. Unless they ask for 1000 words or some number like that....and have no word limit mentioned.....a "long" essay prompt is meant to be one page single spaced size 12 font and that usually means it can't go over 600 words (better if 500-550) and a "short" essay would be the 250 type and the ones like the common app activity essay should be more like 150-175 words.</p>
<p>This is REALLY risky and I'd want to hear from others that it's not crazy, but what if she published a 500-ish word main essay, and then submitted the other 500 words in a supplementary essay called, "Snip-Snip: Things I Cut"</p>
<p>Nah, I think I might just try it for a place a barely wanted to attend...am just throwing it out there. Probably a bad idea.</p>
<p>rainmama...I don't know what a "typical" applicant would know but anyone looking to apply to college ought to read up on it even a little bit....buy a book....read CC, lol....ask around....and a typical personal essay is meant to be a one page essay of approximately 500 words but need not be exact but needs to be in the ballpark. 850 is not in THAT ballpark. If they ask for 150 words, I wouldn't go much over 175. A 250 word essay for a 150 word prompt is not in the ballpark.</p>
<p>If a typical applicant doesn't know....then they don't. I'd have to compare their admissions results, lol. I think putting together a really good application that also follows the directions and guidelines will yield better results overall than someone who is "typical" and has not read a thing about how to do a good application to college. I mean, I have read people writing things like, "I got done all my applications this weekend" and I'm sure that is possible....doesn't mean they were done well. :) Same idea.</p>
<p>Let me add that I have seen many good essays that start at 850 words, but they COULD be cut to 600 and fit on one page and ultimately the essay was even better in the end. Read Bauld's book and he truly goes over that. It doesn't mean that the cuts parts were not ALSO really really good. But the essay is meant to be a one pager and so decisions have to be made as to what sections or sentences could go and still leave a very good but shorter and tighter essay. It doesn't mean that what you are cutting is not good stuff!!!!!!!!!!!
(I can't tell you how much I have to repeat that comment to my students. I am in the middle of editing something at the moment for a student and JUST wrote that what I am cutting is good in and of itself but makes it too long and is not necessary to get the idea across and it is not supposed to be this long.)</p>
<p>Since the original "gem" was in response to a different prompt question from last winter, perhaps looking at the two prompt questions and comparing tghem willl help guide where to cut.
Ask yourself, "what are they really asking here?" </p>
<p>Another thought, Perhaps it's impossible to cut it back and still feel good about it.
Sometimes my H decides it will take less time to write a whole new one, compared to chopping back an old one. Some ideas are very large and can't squish into a small box. If you can't edit it within one day, then perhaps set it aside and try a brand new one. It could work out better that way.</p>
<p>Again, my heart is with you. She sounds like quite a writer!!!</p>
<p>I also have had students who have had a 1000 word version for a prompt that asks for a 1000 word essay and a 500 word version of the same essay they have used for another school that wants a one page essay on the same prompt. I have students at this very moment working on a 250 word version of one of their 500 word essays on the same prompt and are not starting over. This can be done with ANY essay.</p>
<p>soozie - It's good to house an in-house college counselor here at CC :) I'm absolutely with you on the idea that good editing will result in a better essay. I'm just a little baffled by how non-specific the common app is. </p>
<p>I'd like to hear more about why you prefer paper apps; that's certainly my inclination, though my techie son thinks I'm crazy. I found Michelle Hernandez quite convincing on this topic, but I wondered if her advice is out of date. If you've answered this question before, please tell me and I'll go search for it. Thanks!</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm just a little baffled by how non-specific the common app is.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>They want these questions to serve as a launching pad, an open-ended question that lets the student show off his/her true colors. </p>
<p>If you ask someone specifically, "How was the doctor's appointment" that generates quite a different answer than, "How did your day go today?" College ap questions are more like the latter question. If you ask the second question, the respondant doesn't even necessarily have to include the dr's appointment in the day; it's much more choice for the student. Even the choosing tells the committees something about the student. </p>
<p>Mostly, though, it's designed to give the widest possible range for replies. There's no one right answer to those questions, obviously.</p>
<p>So, decide what you want the AdComs to know about you, then divide up all the questions on the application so by the end of it, they can picture you. One app asks for something in a big essay, another lets you wedge it in during a short paragraph. Either way, by the end of it, each college should have the whole picture she wants to portray.</p>
<p>That's why you can hardly ever copy even one short answer from app to app. It is SO time consuming. Ugh. They each ask it a slightly different way.</p>
<p>So don't just answer the questions; USE the questions as opportunities to say what you want to say about yourself. My S looked over each app and even wrote down, On college X, I'll get in the summer job on the short answer #2 and use the supplementary essay for leadership themes. But on college B, they ask specifically about "leadership" on their short answer #1, so that gives me a chance to write about what I learned from the summer job in a bigger, better essay for supplement... </p>
<p>Don't just write out the answers, app by app. Pre-organize it so each app says it all. Shoehorn in what you want to say to some of the questions. Make a plan ahead of time. That was his approach, anyway.</p>
<p>Down to 610 words and fitting on a single page with 1-inch borders and 12 pt font. Thank you everyone for the support on this. Some beautiful passages had to go and that was sheer pain for her but worth it. Now - Do we have your blessings on one page, 610 words? </p>
<p>Paying3 - absolutely understand your point on adapting each application to fit in the important aspects but now the common app is "frozen" after the first submission and you can't then change the long essay or short piece on activities or additional information sections to submit to subsequent schools. So I guess what you're recommending is simply printing out the whole application for each school and mailing it rather than online submission? How ingenious! But what about the schools who strongly urge the applicant to apply online?</p>
<p>I'm in a hurry, sorry....but want to give your D my "blessing" and let Paying3tuitions do the honors as her husband blesses many people in his work ;-). Sounds great...bravo....I know how hard it is to cut. </p>
<p>My kids used all paper apps....so do most kids I work with .......go with that and make it work for you.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>I'll answer from the point of view of one of my earlier occupations, being a magazine editor. Every writer benefits from having an editor. And every editor can always find words to chop out. I consider a writer a really good, concise writer if I can only chop out 10 percent of the words on my first pass in manuscript editing. If the convention of the form is to write about 500 words, there are surely words that can be profitably removed from an 850-word essay. That's just meeting the reader's expectations.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If a h.s. student wants to say, "I care deeply about the environment because I believe blah blah..."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The HS student should not do it, period. Remember, the idea is show, not tell.</p>
<p>soozievt: the old CA prompt did say 500 words, but I've attended a couple of college info sessions and they said approx. 600 words on this year's CA. What's the real skinny?</p>