I’m currently writing my “What activity are you most proud of and why” essay for Columbia and I’m 20 words over the limit. The essay is supposed to be 150 words max, but I have 170. I have tried to cut it down, but I can’t do it without losing quality. Do you guys think this I could just leave it?
The Common App usually won’t let you submit the essay if you exceed the limit. Paste it in and see if it’s really a strict limit - I know, for example, that a Yale essay says to limit yourself to “approximately 100 words” but the space allows up to 125.
Unfortunately, you can’t submit if you’ve gone over the word limit - even by a single word.