<p>I'm in the process of finalizing my response to the Common App short answer question which asks the applicant to elaborate on one of his or her extracurricular activities. It says to limit responses to 150 words. I currently have 169 words, and I doubt I could cut any more without losing some meaning. Is this close enough to the limit that it will be acceptable or will I be penalized for exceeding the word count?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>i need an answer to this question also…please let me know
thanks</p>
<p>I would like to know this also…mine is 164</p>
<p>Bump. Did anyone submit a lengthier one last year and have it work out?</p>
<p>I think that up to 165 words will be acceptable, just because that’s still within 10% of 150. There’s a point where differences just aren’t noticeable, and I think that being a mere 10-15 words over the maximum is okay. </p>
<p>That said, I would respect the word limits as much as possible. I doubt it’ll make much of a difference, but it’s best to be on the safe side. If the admissions officer who ends up reading your essay is in a bad mood for whatever reason, the fact that you ignored the limit would probably be very annoying. </p>
<p>And, I mean, if you’re asking this question, you clearly know, deep down inside, that you could shorten your essay. What if I just told you that I spoke with 15 admissions officers from various colleges across the country, and they all said that they specifically take note of the word counts and factor that into their admissions decisions. Would you shorten your essay? Yes, you would. So I suggest you just do that.</p>