<p>I'm writing my UIUC app and one of my essays is currently 395 words even thought they say "please limit your response to approximately 300 words". I should be able to trim it down to like 325ish, but it would definitely take away the strength of the essay. So exactly how far can I go over this approximate word count?</p>
<p>ten percent is the rule of thumb. You’re almost 33% over. Cut it down – you’re not a special case. 325 would be very good</p>
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<p>Hate to say it, but I think you’ve got this wrong. Cutting unnecessary words usually makes ones writing stronger.</p>
<p>Go through your essay and highlight every adjective and adverb - yep, every one! And then go through and figure out which ones you can eliminate.</p>
<p>Then do a search for every occurrence of the word “and” - and figure out if you really need what’s on both sides of it.</p>
<p>Tighten and reorganize . . . and your essay will improve.</p>