<p>300 characters for writing why yale is too little room...how did you guys manage to keep it that short? what did you guys write about?</p>
<p>I had to try really hard to keep it concise. 300 chars doesn't really give much room for creativity.</p>
<p>What you should do is come up with a concise list of things you want to cover. This list should be chock full of things YALE PRIDES ITSELF ON. Don't try to be quirky - Yale will appreciate that you know it for what it is and have made a decision you believe will be a perfect match.</p>
<p>An example list would be:
- research institution nested in small liberal arts school
- mention my visit there, or maybe legacy/connections (if you have them, but subtly)
- architecture
- residential colleges</p>
<p>This list is even too long. Then, devote one sentence or half a sentence to each objective as you write your statement. Do this on a separate piece of paper; don't worry about the 300 characters at first, but keep them in mind - two or three sentences tops.</p>
<p>Once you're sure you've gotten all your objectives down on paper, do a character count and start manipulating the wording of your statement to fit it in the count. This approach is way better than trying to just write a couple sentences out of your head.</p>
<p>Haha mine was so boring and generic.</p>
<p>300 characters was like 35 words for me. I hate how they limit you on the application since I could probably rant on for paragraphs about how much I love Yale.</p>
<p>i didn't even use all of the characters. it was either make it like 26 characters short and have a clear, concise thought...or lose focus in a third sentence.</p>
<p>Mine was borderline silly... They'd give us more space if they were looking for something dramatic/extremely laudatory/very specific. At least, that's how I justified my teeny attempt. I could write 50 pages about why I love Yale.</p>
<p>Well, since there was that char limit, I basically gave up on <em>flow</em> and eloquence. Each sentence was completely unrelated to the next, but I couldn't waste space actually connecting thoughts. I essentially listed (in complete sentences) what I specifically like about Yale.</p>
<p>ditto over here</p>
<p>I stated my number one reason completely, and I only had room left for something like 'I also love the residential colleges' in the end. It's too short to get in deep detail.</p>
<p>haha... I love how the one "why ___" app question that I REALLY wanted to answer was so short</p>
<p>Ugh. I HATED that!
Initially, I misread and thought it said 300 WORDS so I went ahead and wrote a wonderful essay on everything I love about Yale.
Then the time came to copy-paste the essay into the common app slot, and it just wouldn't work for some reason. I was pretty frustrated until I realized it was 300 CHARACTERS. Then, I was even more frustrated.</p>
<p>I simply wrote two sentences, albeit long and complex ones but two nonetheless.</p>
<p>just be concise, as t26e4 would probably also tell you, since he's the dean of admissions at yale</p>
<p>Hahaha you're almost as bad as neurosurgeon08!</p>
<p>Mine was semi-lame.. I tried to make it nice but always got cut off, so I ended up being very blunt.</p>
<p>honestly, that 300 character essay was my favorite one of the bunch because i could not ramble on about nothing.</p>
<p>I was stuck on like 305... it took SOOO LONG for me to figure out how to cut it down.</p>