How long is TOO long?

Applying to College
1

<p>Roughly how long should the Personal Statement on the Common Application be?
500 words? 1000 words?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>1000 words? Are you kidding? Colleges don't care that much about anyone.
Keep it down to 500 words. Seriously.</p>

3

<p>How quickly and smoothly it reads is probably more important. Anyway, I would say 500 to 700 words.</p>

4

<p>Keep it around 500- the positive from that is then you can use it for other colleges, too.</p>

5

<p>LOL think of it like a book.
The redeeming quality can be that it is short.</p>

6

<p>Shoot for 500, but if you feel that you absolutely cannot cut it down (it would really harm the presentation of the topic), you can go over. I'd say put a definite limit at about 750. (FWIW, my main essay on the Common App was 700 words and it was fine.)</p>

7

<p>thats what she said</p>

8

<p>Uh, well, it really depends, as others said, try to respect the limit of 500, but it won't kill to go over.</p>

<p>A 1000 might be a bit too much, but if it's absolutely necessary (which should rarely be the case) I guess go ahead.</p>