Go by character count or word count?

<p>I just finished my supplement to Brown and had barely gotten everything to fit according to the character count on the Common App. I opened up the print preview to find that Brown’s copy has word counts next to the prompts, and many of my responses don’t fit with the word count! Should I change them to fit the word count, or do you think it wouldn’t be a big deal?</p>

<p>lol I just finished uploading my essays into the supplement and was wondering the same thing. Majority of my responses are over the word limit but under the character limit, but I guess as long as the response isn’t cut off then it’s ok.</p>

<p>Gahhh, well I’m glad I’m not alone! I seriously can’t cut anything else out without making myself look illiterate, so I guess I’ll just leave it…unless anybody else has an answer! (Pleeeeze.)</p>

<p>I agree with DMA017. Check the preview to see that your response is not cut off. As for the word count, it really depends how much you exceeded. If it is by one or two words, it doesn’t matter. But if it’s more than 10, I would truncate your piece. Better safe than sorry.</p>

<p>I heard that it was the character limit that mattered. The word limit is more of a general guideline</p>

<p>Alright, I’m just gonna submit it as it is, since nothing’s cut off. Thanks, guys!</p>

<p>I just came across this problem too. I’m over the word limit but under the character limit on all my responses. I’ve already had to redo my answers once after they increased the character limit from what it was over the summer (anyone else realize this?). It’s so annoying, it would be nice if they could just be consistent… </p>

<p>They’re probably reading the PDF version too, so they’ll see the word limits right after the question. I don’t want it to look like we’re disregarding their instructions entirely, when the set of instructions we’re seeing on the Common App was different.</p>