<p>Hi, so I just finished my personal essay, but it's over Johns Hopkins limit. The essay is about 350 words/(or 1800 characters), but it's about a very important part of my life. I'm trying to cut it down, but I'm wondering is Hopkins strict about this limit, or are they okay if it's a little bit longer as long as a good story is told?
thanks :)</p>
<p>On the essays that worked part, some essays that were accepted had more than the required amount. It won’t look good if you can’t follow orders though. I had a great essay but had to cut the irrelevant parts to get it to the right amount.</p>
<p>Many schools have added word limits or lowered them in recent years. (I am not sure if JHU has) So, some of the ‘essays that worked’ might have been adhering to nonexistent word limits (which i doubt but could be the case nonetheless) or longer word limits. </p>
<p>I’m led to believe that the pdf they print out will not have a word count on it, so you might get away with going a little over, but 100 words above a 250 word limit will certainly be noticed.</p>
<p>Agreed with BBLank212, 100 is too much, 50 is not terrible, but it better be relevant :)</p>
<p>I read somewhere on CC that exceeding the word count limit tells the admission officers that you have a problem following orders. I would say to take the advice from Galaxialto gave, find the irrelevant parts and cut it down. Give yourself the best chance of getting in.</p>
<p>The problem is, it was all very relevant hahaha, but I did manage to cut it down to just under 300 so it should be okay.</p>
<p>If you wouldn’t mind, if you send it to me, I’ll try to abridge it for you. Or not. Try to take groups of words and try using a single word that codes for the phrase you had. There is no paper that REQUIRES 300 words. If you have something in there just to add emotion, but is not relevant, cut it. 99.9% of papers are not emotional to adcoms.</p>
<p>I ended up writing a different essay because I thought this one might be too personal (about my relationship with my brother and how he has affected me, I figured it might be a bit much). So no more problems, but thank you Galaxialto!</p>
<p>Hi Everyone,
If I’m at 252 for one essay and 257 for the other should I still cut down both to 250?
Thanks!</p>
<p>the admins will get agitated for reading more than they should, just warning you.</p>
<p>@awkytown
You’ve probably already submitted your supplement, but if you haven’t, I think a few words over the limit should be fine. Admissions officers won’t have any way of knowing you’ve exceeded the word count unless it’s completely obvious you went over 250 words. Although if you wanted to cut, 2 or 7 words shouldn’t be that difficult…
My second essay was 262 words :)</p>