<p>I just started my UIUC essays today. They want all essays to be 300 words or less.</p>
<p>I typed up a draft, which was actually quite good, hit word count, and got 336. Then I screwed around with it and tried to make it shorter (and better), 331. Then I got mad and deleted a bunch of stuff, but then it didn't sound right. It actually sounded quite terrible. And it was still at 312.</p>
<p>Are they going to be mad if I have 330 words in a 300 max word essay?</p>
<p>How many words over is typically okay?</p>