<p>common app essay has reached 650 words, do I need to cut or am I fine?? how strict is that accursed word limit.</p>
<p>If every one of those 650 words is necessary, keep them. Otherwise go through and edit many, many times, taking out words you could do without (i.e. “that”) or try to rephrase things. The word limit shouldn’t be too strict, but it’s always nice to keep your prose tight.</p>
<p>Damn commonapp and their accursed “guideline”, it has done nothing but confuse me. Some say adhere to the word limit and other say it’s just a guideline. Who is right??</p>
<p>Its just a guideline, so I think you should be fine.</p>