Is the Word Count Flexible?

<p>I have already written an essay for a school and I believe it is quite good, however it is 900 words in length. If I could get it down to maybe 800 words, would it be appropriate for the common app 500 word essay? Thanks for the help!</p>

<p>[Common</a> Application sets 500-word limit on main essay - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/common-application-sets-500-word-limit-on-main-essay/2011/06/02/AGZg7WHH_blog.html]Common”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/common-application-sets-500-word-limit-on-main-essay/2011/06/02/AGZg7WHH_blog.html)</p>

<p>The Washington Post article says that the limit was imposed because essays became long AND poorly written.</p>

<p>If you haven’t had an English teacher look at it yet, give it to them to review. Try to find things you can cut out without losing meaning. It’s much harder to write a great essay in less space, which is why they’re restarting the limit. You want every word of your essay to count, or else you’ll lose the reader’s attention and they’ll skim your essay.</p>

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<p>^I posted that on another thread that you asked on :P</p>

<p>800 words still seems like alot for an essay that has a 500 word limit. I am sure that you can edit that down to try and get it to at least 600 words. Editing is the difficult part but most of the time students use too many words that don’t add to the story. See if you can cut some of the adjectives and adverbs first and then see if it diminishes the story. It probably doesn’t.</p>

<p>I think it should be at the most 600 words. If you need some advice on what to cut, I’m willing to help. (:</p>