<p>Princeton states on its website that it requires two essays on any subject, but it doesn't say how long they should be. What's a reasonable length and what constitutes "too long/short?"</p>
<p>Most high school students can’t carry a story past the first 200 words. Most reasonably qualified Princeton applicants won’t need to drag their stories beyond 700 words.</p>
<p>I’ve critiqued a bunch of essays this season, and I always told them not to go beyond 700. That said, i have known excellent essays that are over 1,000 word long, but these are EXTREMELY rare.</p>
<p>The application suggests about 500 and 300 words.</p>
<p>i think my common app one was 700 and the other was 500</p>
<p>If you’re using the Princeton App, then you have one ~500 word essay, and ~300 word essay, and then a question about your last 2 summers (which is kind of another essay since it can be up to 2500 characters - or about 400 words - long).</p>
<p>If you’re using the Common App, then you have a 250+ word essay (which most do 500 words, really) on the actual Common Application, one ~500 word essay on the supplement, and the question about your last 2 summers.</p>
<p>I did the Common App, and my essays were the following lengths – Common App Essay (571 words), Princeton App Essay (479 words), Summers Question/Essay (404 words)</p>
<p>Thanks :).</p>
<p>mines were 500, 564, 461… as long as your story comes across the way you want it, you will be fine with any essay length.</p>
<p>“as long as your story comes across the way you want it, you will be fine with any essay length.”</p>
<p>i agree with fiftyeightsix on this</p>
<p>For the question about your last two summers, do spaces count as characters? Spaces for mine counts for 500 characters, so thats one fifth of the requirement if they are included…</p>
<p>my one was 1000 words for the main common app one. it doesn’t really matter how long it is as long as you can keep the reader engrossed.</p>
<p>I believe spaces count toward the 2500-character limit.</p>
<p>Do not let the word count limit you in any way. As long as you feel the essay best perpetuates your intended meaning then it is fine.</p>
<p>Dragging up an old thread…</p>
<p>Is the question about the summers truly an essay? I found it kind of hard to really… tell a story, I suppose. I basically just told them what I’ve done/been doing, not much fluff to it at all. Is this okay?</p>
<p>My summers essay was very straightforward. I basically said “I did this, I did that.” It was nothing at all like my other essays.</p>
<p>Excellent, thank you. You’re one of the most helpful people I’ve come across! : )</p>