How much essay is too much?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>The Common Application's generic essay section strongly suggests staying very close to the 500-word mark. I'm wondering what the community's take on this is--how long does an essay have to be for a Harvard admissions officer to simply stop reading, or automatically file the applicant in a more negative light?</p>

<p>I ask this because my current essay's still hovering around the 800 department, and its construction is such that cutting even a couple of sentences really will lessen the product as a whole. In addition, I've attached a 500-600 word section on my extracirriculars.</p>

<p>I don't want to skimp, but neither do I want to overwhelm. A happy medium would be wonderful, although finding it will take some doing.</p>

2

<p>i actually want to know the answer to this, too</p>

3

<p>If it's a good essay, going over won't be a problem. If it's a bad essay, you'll annoy the reader. Problem is, "good" and "bad" are pretty subjective, so you're safer staying within the limit.</p>

<p>If you're over the limit and have typos, or if you ramble, you hurt yourself badly.</p>

4

<p>my school says that you don't want to go over 575 words. at the very most, you should stay within two pages double spaced.</p>