How long should the extra-curricular essay be?

<p>I've heard that the extra-curricular/activities essay should only be about a paragraph, but the CommonApp says up to 1000 characters. Can anyone tell me roughly how many words 1000 characters is? </p>

<p>Also for the second essay, if I were to chose the topic about a national issue and my experience with it, is talking about a club I participated in and promoted the issue a good idea? for example my work with Students Against Destructive Decisions and my fight to stop drunk driving.</p>

<p>1000 characters is about 150-180 words, depending on how long your words are.</p>

<p>Thank you!!</p>