How long are most people's commonapp essays?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>I know the minimum is 250 words, and I've heard the "suggested maximum" is 500, but then I've also heard people say that theirs is between 1,000 and 2,000!!! This is so confusing because with the topic I'm writing on I could go on forever, but I don't want to push the limits--then again I don't want to write too little and look lazy. HELP!!!</p>

2

<p>Bump (10 char)</p>

3

<p>mine is around 300-350 words. I thought it was a bit short, but my counselor said it was good.</p>

4

<p>I went to a presentation about essays this week and an AO from Lewis & Clark college said that they definitely wanted more than 250 words as that really didn't give them enough to go on. Her recommendation was more like 500-700 words.</p>

5

<p>mines around 500-600... still working on it</p>

6

<p>I ended up with about 570 and I think it is quite strong, although this is for a transfer personal statement and not freshman.</p>

7

<p>Oh God, I have like a 1000 words, should I be worried? It's a good powerful essay that talks about business, but I don't think they should mind too much.</p>

8

<p>Mine is between 600-700 words. 1000 words is a little too long, I would cut it down if I were you.</p>

9

<p>Mine's a little over 600 as well.</p>

10

<p>mine is 780. is that too long?</p>

11

<p>Mine are ~600 words.</p>

12

<p>There's no absolute limit, however, remember the essay has 2 purposes. One is to get to know you better, the other is as a writing sample. So make sure you've cut out any unnecessary words, information, etc.</p>

13

<p>309 words.</p>

14

<p>618 words...exactly.</p>

15

<p>mine is 603.</p>

16

<p>mines getting around 900. I think mine really does need to be this long though. I introduce with a story of a crazy incident in my life, and it gets pretty deep of how the effect was and what innovative stuff I envisioned along the way.</p>

17

<p>mine is in the 610-640 range just depending on how verbose i really want it to end up. i think i'm really succint with the essay itself and my readers told me it didn't "feel" like 600 words ... i guess you can have a really really long 600 or a short one. it's all just on how you actually write it. consider it this way: if it's engaging and 1000 words, no problem. but if it's boring and 500, it's going to feel like it's a 1000.</p>

18

<p>593 words......</p>

19

<p>mine's about 750 but I've heard 600 is a good length :-/</p>

20

<p>Mine is 598 I think (cut down from 718); I think that 500-600 words is probably a pretty typical and a decent length.</p>