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<p>Is there any difference?</p>
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<p>^ Whoops, I missed that when I first read your post.</p>
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<p>I hate to be the one to say this, but, it doesn’t surprise me that this came from a parent and not a student. The majority of teenagers are better at browsing around websites than adults. If a student takes the time to do his research, he will read that the 500 word limit applies to both essays. Then it is up to him if he wants to ignore the request or not.</p>
<p>^ I agree. The information is on the Yale website. I’d expect all serious applicants to have a read through the admissions pages on their website and, accordingly, they’d soon stumble upon it.</p>
<p>I really don’t think there is an excuse, unless you’ve no internet access.</p>
<p>I nevertheless find it presumptuous bordering on arrogant for Yale to prescribe a preference for an essay length in the Common App, which is supposed to equally meet the needs of however many hundred schools use it. What if Yale says “we want less than 500,” Stanford says “we prefer 600,” and Chicago says “at least 800?” Such an approach would be completely untenable and undermine the intent of “common.”</p>
<p>Yale–and any other school–is perfectly free to ask for whatever supplemental essays they desire, and of whatever length. But they ought to keep their idiosyncratic preferences for the length of Common App essays to themselves.</p>
<p>^I hardly find it presumptuous and/or arrogant. They’re not incorrect in saying that “concise writing is often the best writing.”</p>
<p>If Stanford and Chicago said they wanted an 800 word essay, yes, that might prose a problem. But they don’t. </p>
<p>500 words is the standard target, most schools just don’t mind if it goes longer.</p>
<p>Remember that they are reading hundreds of essays. One page single spaced is the golden rule. That should take you really close to 500 words.</p>
<p>^I see what you mean about how the one paged, single-spaced essay is desired. But I just cut mine, one is 563, one is 544, and both are about 5/6 of a page single spaced. So, will the Yale admissions officers look at the length, say “hm, that’s about right,” and move on, leaaving me free? Or will they count or realize somehow that I “ignored their request?” I’m fairly concerned…</p>
<p>^ great rule of thumb, and as long as you’re not over 600, most people shouldn’t notice…
on the other hand, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that common app was supposed to be ~500, period. I don’t remember whether I read this on their website(which i would assume in the interest of fairness would contain nothing that wasn’t on the paper version) but I’m pretty sure its in the description along with the topic choices.</p>
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<p>If it fits on one page, it probably won’t be too obvious. Sure they might see that you went over 500, and they may take that into consideration, but at least it’s less “in your face” than a 900 word epic.</p>
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<p>A brief essay is not necessarily concise. Likewise, an essay over 500 words is not necessarily verbose. </p>
<p>I’m not suggesting anyone should ignore Yale’s guidelines, but I think ultimately the quality of the writing is going to be more important than whether an essay is 400 or 500 or XXX words long.</p>
<p>^I agree. I think I’m going to call it quits with the cutting…with every letter I delete, a little piece of me dies on the inside.</p>
<p>if you’ve been cutting it for a while, you aren’t applying ea, which means you have time, put it away, or give it to someone else to cut. After you read it enough times, the words just flow together and it feels as though none of them can leave. Give yourself a break. But don’t rule out cutting more.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Come to think of it, I’ve got a pretty ruthless friend might be just what my essay needs…</p>
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<p>I agree with that 100%. I think most people would. However, many individuals are biased and believe that their writing is so eloquent that the rules don’t apply to them. It’s often hard for applicants to make objective decisions about their own essays.</p>
<p>I personally don’t know if my essays are weak, average, or above average, but I do know that I followed the guidelines that Yale set. I figured that was the way to maximize my chances.</p>
<p>The issue is not about the relative value of concision v. verbosity. I write professionally, have edited the work of a lot of people, and also learn a lot when professional editors have a go at my work. I find that I can typically shorten the writing of college-aged writers by about 20-25% without any loss of content, and almost invariably increase the clarity.</p>
<p>My issue with Yale is their presuming to call the shots on what is intended to be a more universal format. </p>
<p>Perhaps having turned Yale down for graduate school, and then subsequently having lectured there on occasion, means I no longer bow down and tremble before the wizard.</p>
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<p>A good point. That’s probably an issue for a fair number of applicants. Much of what passes for “quality writing” in a high school English class, after all, isn’t very good.</p>
<p>my yale supp is 1 and 2/3 pgs. is that too long?</p>
<p>^ Go by word count rather than length. <500 is preferable.</p>