<p>i know the adcom wont count the exact number of words, but the directions say an essay of 400-500 words.. mines 560. and i can trim it down, it just, wont sound as good...also if any NU acceptees would be willing to read it just to see if my content matches the prompt, i'd be delighted!</p>
<p>I haven't been accepted yet and don't know if I even will get accepted (an RD applicant), but my guess is that they won't smite you if your essay is a little bit over the word limit. I'm sure that the only major reason why they even have the word limits is because they don't want to have to read ten-page papers for the essays. Multiply that by over 14,000 applicants, and they have a lot more reading than they originally wanted. I'd just be careful not to go too far over the word limit so that they won't notice the extra words (I'm sure that they have a little mental note on how long the essays SHOULD be after reading so many of them).</p>
<p>word limit of 500 words usually means they want it to fit on one page.</p>
<p>bubbletoes, I was recently accepted to Weinberg. My essay was about the same length as yours - 40-50 words over the limit - I don't think that it is necessarily something you have to change, as long as the extra words are crucial to your essay. Remember, if you're going to go over the limit, make sure the words count.</p>
<p>yeah i tweaked it for like 50th time... im down to about 535.. i think ill just leave it at that... make margins a little smaller or something lol</p>
<p>Does the Northwestern App cut off your words as they do in the CommonApp?</p>
<p>Mine is currently at 568 words! Am I too much over? Or should I get it down to 550 or something like that?</p>
<p>Ask yourself, would they want to read those extra sixty words? They're tired and burnt out. If those sixty words are going to make their day, USE EM! If they're going to make them angry at you for making them read more, don't!</p>
<p>I killed myself trying to get one of my essays down to 500 words. It's so not worth it, if you're over don't force yourself to take out something you like, just let them read a few extra words. People act like the adcoms are these exhausted people who absolutely HATE reading essays, when in reality they probably like it for the most part.</p>
<p>Mine's 565, it started at 750 or something, and I cannot get it to be any shorter without ruining it. I think it will be fine as it is.</p>
<p>my essay is like 410 words...maybe thats too short</p>
<p>Mine's about 560 words, too, but if I cut any more, I feel it won't really sufficiently anwer the question. I think that if you're at 600 words or more, it's definitely too long, but otherwise probably OK-- I hope!</p>
<p>roygbiv, I'm sure it's fine as long as it's detailed enough. Being succinct is an important skill! :)</p>
<p>mm mine's at like 650. i'm gonna.. trim it.</p>
<p>I am going to start now.. is that bad? ( I am the ultimate procrastinator)</p>
<p>I'm doing my Why Northwestern one right now...</p>
<p>argh, i have 623 words...which i'm desperately trying to trim down. i know some of it can go, but if i trim it, i lose some of the poetry and imagery, which basically kills the pt of the essay.</p>