Essays

Applying to College
1

<p>How long should your college application essays be? It says a minimum of 250 but that seems awfully short. What should a well written essay look like, word wise?</p>

2

<p>my counselor said to shoot for around 600. but if you ask around on the essays forum you’ll find people who were successful with 450 word essays, and also some who were successful with 900 word essays.</p>

3

<p>The average total suggested here seems to be about 500 words. You go can over a bit if you really feel the need (perhaps up to 600-700 or so), and can go under a bit too (to around 400 words), but should keep the 500 word mark in mind. Obviously, all rules can be broken, but keep in mind you had better be damn amazing or very confident to do so.</p>

<p>Be sure to keep your essay focused, and try not to cover too much or tell your whole life story. Be sure every single sentence in your essay matters.</p>

<p>Here are some threads for more opinions:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/571389-how-long-most-peoples-commonapp-essays.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/571389-how-long-most-peoples-commonapp-essays.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/546447-whats-average-length-good-essay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/546447-whats-average-length-good-essay.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/441042-common-app-essay-word-count.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/441042-common-app-essay-word-count.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/584918-500-word-limit.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/584918-500-word-limit.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/250314-when-essay-too-long.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/250314-when-essay-too-long.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/604843-how-long-long-common-app-essay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/604843-how-long-long-common-app-essay.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/579913-essay-word-limit.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/579913-essay-word-limit.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/426036-common-app-essay-word-limit.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/426036-common-app-essay-word-limit.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/563860-yale-common-application-essay-length.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/563860-yale-common-application-essay-length.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/387361-common-app-essay-length-minimum-250-words-what-about-maximum.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/387361-common-app-essay-length-minimum-250-words-what-about-maximum.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/749713-no-word-limit-common-app-essay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/749713-no-word-limit-common-app-essay.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/585286-common-app-essay-word-length.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/585286-common-app-essay-word-length.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;