<p>I am stressing out because my daughter is stressing out over her essay. She is convinced that it needs to be over 600 words even though the common app states a minimum of 250 words. I believe that sometimes less is more. Would another parent be willing to take a quick read to let me know their thoughts on the length? Please keep in mind that she's an average student and not applying to any ivy league schools. I can't believe the gpa's and sat scores on this site. My daugher is not one of them. BTW..... The essay is 408 words. </p>
<p>Any other opinions out there would be great. </p>
<p>Don’t panic. Admissions officers won’t be counting words. 500-600 words is fairly typical, I believe, but it’s better to have 400 really excellent, concise words than 600 words of fluff. Tell her to use as many words as she needs to tell her story and no more.</p>
<p>And an admissions counselor will really appreciate a concise essay - that one, in fact, may be the more memorable because she was cognizant of the reader’s time!</p>
<p>If it’s a nice essay, shorter is much better. Most kids are way too verbose. I think the Common App. used to say around 500 words. She’s close enough to that. I’m surprised they don’t give a maximum length - I do know that if you submit on line there is a maximum character length that will be accepted.</p>
<p>When I was in college I did very well regularly handing in 6 page papers when the directions called for 8 to 10.</p>
<p>I would give them the word count they request. Admissions people don’t have the time to read overly long essays. Kids tend to be “wordy.” It’s a skill to convey your thoughts in a brief, concise, clear way and be engaging at the same time.</p>
<p>Last year, I had my D write her first draft using as many words as she liked. I then had her go back and edit herself. I then when to work and edited again (without rewriting or altering her “voice” in any way). It worked pretty well. </p>
<p>Many on CC have very high GPA’s/scores. Don’t fret. There are plenty here who have average kids! :)</p>
<p>Some online applications limit the amount of characters an applicant can enter, thereby eliminating essays that go too far beyond the limit. Your daughter should try to follow instructions but since fighting her on it will only create conflict, just let her put it in the application. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t then she will have to cut it down. Be very careful about insisting on anything during the college applications process… it has to be her decision what to send in because she will be the one who is either accepted or rejected.</p>
<p>He is quite bright but hates to write just for the sake of writing.
His essays were no longer than the minimum required and he did not write any optional essays. We tried to promote more length and content but he would not budge and our feeling was that the schools will know what they are getting.</p>
<p>Needless to say, he got into every school he applied to!!! Obviously they looked past his mediocre essays and focused on the rest of his app/grades/Ec’s.</p>