<p>I am working on the Cornell supplement, specifically the question geared toward prospective engineers. The prompt asks me to write about an idea I have or about my interest in engineering. The maximum is 500 words. Would I be okay if mine is around 580? Or do they usually expect no more than 500 when they say so?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Mine was about 520ish. 580 might be stretching it a bit, but I don’t think they actually count it out, it’s probably just there to prevent applicants from writing them novels.</p>
<p>Mine was 570 and I’ve heard of other people who got in with 700+. I would, at the very least, try to keep it under 2 pages double spaced in 12 pt font.</p>
<p>Wow, quick responses. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>And I’m guessing you guys talked a lot about things specific to Cornell, and why you liked Cornell? Did you include things such as their faculty, facilities, programs, etc.?</p>
<p>I did not add anything specific about Cornell in my essay. It depends on how you approach the question. I presented it in a way that displayed my interest in the major rather than my interest in Cornell (I was accepted btw).</p>
<p>I would say give or take 50. I mean if the instructions say 500 it would at least be nice to stay within the range, and make it easier for the adcoms to read through it. Usually 1/3-1/4 talking about Cornell is sufficient, but of course the essay shouldnt be that formulaic.</p>
<p>They won’t literally start counting your words in your essay but don’t be redundant.</p>
<p>im sure there are words you can cut out or sentences you can simplify. maybe you cant see this because youre so close to your essay that you cant find these redundancies. have someone else read it, a close friend, your parents, another trusted adult…going over isnt terrible but it isnt preferred either. keep in mind that adcoms need to read 30,000+ essays, and your essays are read over a couple of times, so just dont write any novels</p>
<p>Great, thanks guys. I’ll certainly have it edited. And I’ll trim off some of the excess stuff.</p>
<p>Hmmm mine is 773, I cut it down from 1000+ already… my engineering idea is just really weird so I kind of need everything I have now. It fits on one page though by changing margins to .5 instead of 1.</p>
<p>People keep saying (on this thread and others regarding essay lengths) that the an essay should, say, 1 page double spaced. Do you need to submit essays double-spaced?</p>
<p>Oh good. I’m awfully relieved. I’m writing a short response question which has an interesting questions, but a maximum of 250! (Eugene Lang)</p>
<p>I was trying to make it shorter by pulling things from it, but it didn’t make any sense with bits and pieces missing here and there.</p>
<p>Goodie!</p>