<p>Title says it.</p>
<p>Probably. Though the Common App won’t cut your essay off, you want to show colleges that you can follow directions. I’d say 530 as a max.</p>
<p>I don’t think so; it’s not like they’re going to be sitting there, counting off the words. I think you should cut out as much unnecessary stuff as possible, but if there’s literally no way to do it without sacrificing material important to the essay, leave it.</p>
<p>Yes that is almost 100 words over.</p>
<p>If they want 500 words maximum then give them that. They have their ways of counting words in programs and though I doubt they’ll do that you should limit your essay to 500 words just in case.</p>