<p>I'm applying ED to NYU Stern and I have just finished my final editing of my common app essay. It is 975 words but I don't feel like any words are wasted. Does it need to be shortened? Thanks</p>
<p>Definitely not! As long as you feel that none of those words are superfluous, you’re good to go :)</p>
<p>Okay good. I’m glad because I’ve heard a lot of people say they had 500-600 word essays. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>costanza, I advise you to think about the length of your Common App essay. Admissions officers may take it in a negative fashion that you do not follow instructions. Sure, if you go over 100 or even 200 words but to basically double the number of words/ pages they have to read may not reflect positively on you as a candidate. </p>
<p>They want you to be concise with the number of words allowed (or at least in the ballpark) for the task at hand. Not only are you showing that you do not follow instructions well, you are giving them more work when they have tons of essays to read. Imagine if everyone doubled the length of their essay. Take it from someone who used to read the essays for Bachelors’ and Masters’ applications. The essays were the main reading after recommendation letters. The rest was just a matter of calculating/ considering the statistics.</p>
<p>The essay part was the most work and I always felt a little turned off by an especially long essay, UNLESS it was extremely well written, but I do not remember reading any excellent essays that were particularly long. The most effective ones tended to adhere to the page limit or were not unduly long.</p>
<p>Finally, I see the word limit as a way to show that you can be concise and succinct in describing some important aspects of yourself.</p>
<p>I think you take a chance in going so far past the limit. And the chances are this will reflect more negatively on your application.</p>
<p>here’s the thing: WHERE THE HECK ON THE COMMON APP DOES IT MENTION A PREFERRED LENGTH OF ESSAY???!!!</p>
<p>my essay is currently around 820 words</p>
<p>there is no word limit for the common app essay. however, most people and schools suggest around 500 words or one page single spaced. you don’t want to bore the person reading your essay. unless you really need to write that much, you should try to shorten it a bit.</p>
<p>There is no common app word limit?</p>
<p>no word limit. trust me, as long as you’re not repeating yourself or saying unnecessary things, you are fine! :)</p>
<p>I agree with evolving. If it takes 900+ words, it better be one superb essay. Have someone qualified review it. Every single iota that is important to you may, in fact, reflect an inability to self-edit.</p>
<p>Here’s how I see it - as your essay gets longer, you get to talk about more aspects of yourself. Sure. But as your essay gets shorter, guess what gets cut? The parts you view as least important. What’s left? The parts that you feel are the most important, and consequently, are the strongest indication of the kind of applicant you are.</p>
<p>The recommended word limit is not for nothing. When I was writing my app essays, one of the schools I applied to said that we could go over the limit if we wanted, but the best essays tend to stay within the limit because whatever is said within the limit is tends to be richer and more powerful than what had to be cut to keep it under the limit.</p>
<p>Hands down, I agree with gt the most. If THOUSANDS of college applicants can keep it at around 500 - 700 words, surely you can as well.</p>
<p>Okay I worked on it yesterday and am just checking with my English teacher to make sure it hasn’t lost its “pizazz” since I was really happy with it before. Thanks all :)</p>