So I know there is no official word count for the supplement and I also know not to send a 1000 word essay either but I was just wondering if there was some sort of unofficial word count. Would something like 850 words be too much? I wouldn’t want my supplement to have the opposite effect!
Thank you! This forum is always helpful!
There is no unofficial word count. While an 850 word essay will not be automatically rejected, my guess, being as this is the beginning of September, is that the essay is not yet as tight, polished, and edited as it could be.
oh no, of course not! I still have a whole lot of polishing to do! I was just wondering if 850 words would potentially be too much?
The Common App has a word limit of 650 words. I’d carefully consider if you have a really good reason for waxing poetic 200 words beyond the limit of a similar type of essay.
yes, that was my concern. It is only a first draft and I may very well be deleting a few bits of it. Would you recommend the same word limit as the common app?
As an unofficial back-of-your mind thing, yes. As a hard limit, no. If your essay in its final, best form is 660 words, so be it. 
Unless things have changed from last year, the Common Application WILL NOT let you type the 651st word of your Common Application Personal Statement essay. So, your Personal Statement must be 650 words or less, as the program cuts you off. That’s not true for Harvard’s supplemental essay. You can submit an essay of any length for the supplement, but keep in mind: Admissions Officers are busy people. They have a quota of applications to read everyday and if your supplemental essay is 1000 words or 2000 words, the AO’s are just going to skim it.