<p>i finished my supplemental essay for ILR, for which the word limit was 500 max. I wrote about two significant life events that gave me an insight into labor relations and leadership, but the essay turned out to be 650 words. honestly how bad is it to go over the 500 word limit? I really dont see how i can trim down 150 words unless i cut out one of my two events, which i really dont want to. If i sent in an essay that was around 600 words, will the admission people heavily frown upon my application?</p>
<p>I want to know too <em>bump</em></p>
<p>The rule of thumb is usually 10% over and under, so I wouldn't go over 550. I can take a look and let you know what you can cut out.</p>
<p>Adding onto the previous comment:
650 is a nice amount bigger than 500, relatively, so you really should try to cut out approx. 100 words. Admissions people won't appreciate your failure to follow instructions in favor of saying as much as you want.
I sympathize with you though - writing less is a lot harder than writing more. Good luck!</p>
<p>Don't go over the amount. I agree with tun in that you shouldn't go over 550. It is extremely important to follow the directions when filling out college applications. If it says 500, they want 500. What if every student submitted 650 word essays? I know it's annoying. I spent a lot of time cutting out paragraphs and whatnot when I was applying to college. But it is extremely important to follow those directions. Remember, the admissions office is reading over 30,000 applications.</p>
<p>I have to agree with CUAmbassador. Make every word count.</p>