<p>Hey All,</p>
<p>I'm currently polishing my Columbia essay and I was wondering if you are penalized for going approx. 50 words over the 500 word limit. Also, has anyone gotten into Columbia with an essay over 500 words?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I don't think it matters as long as your essay is strong</p>
<p>mine was around 550.</p>
<p>the general rule of thumb is, the essay's overage needs to be proportional to quality. the better the essay, the more forgiving they are. but 700 words of crap and i think they'd reject anyone just for being a tool.</p>
<p>thanks! It's nice to know that there's some leniency with the essay. :)</p>
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the general rule of thumb is, the essay's overage needs to be proportional to quality. the better the essay, the more forgiving they are. but 700 words of crap and i think they'd reject anyone just for being a tool.
[/quote]
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<p>mine was approx. 760 words.....i wouldnt say it was that awesome really...but it was much easier when applying by paper was the only option since you couldnt really tell...its not like they're going to sit there and count words...as long as it fit on the page, you were fine....but now with it online it would be alot easier for them to recognize overages.</p>
<p>I thought they scanned everything into the computer system, including the paper applications?</p>
<p>Errr my essay is 661 words and thats after a lot of cutting down. I might be able to cut it down to around 640 words at most. Would that be fine? </p>
<p>To the ED acceptees> How long were your essays? Thanks</p>
<p>Mine was 611.</p>
<p>anywhere in the 550's should be fine. over 600, im not so sure.</p>
<p>Well I still got in ED lol.</p>
<p>i dont know about columbia specifically, but my college guidance counselor told me he has spoken to multiple ad com members who said its fine if your main essay is over the limit just so that youre concise and its interesting to read. the head of princeton u admissions explicitly said if it was under around 750 they dont care. so i wouldnt worry.</p>