<p>Hi friends,</p>
<p>Quick question on the optional submission: in the prompt, it says "We know that nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of the type of person you are." Does this mean that, if writing an essay, one should try to keep it to under 500 words? </p>
<p>I find myself overly attached to an essay of 646 words! Alas. Thoughts? </p>
<p>Thanks for your time, and Happy Holidays to all!! :)</p>
<p>Generally, we do not have specific word limits but we ask students to be concise because we have over 12,000 applications to read. 646 words is just fine. 750 words is just fine. We just ask applicants to not send mini or full-length novels because we cannot possibly read such lengthy essays for every applicant (especially since every application is read at least twice by two different admission officers).</p>
<p>We always caution students to print-preview your app before submitting it because the Common App does have space limitations and can truncate parts that it things are too long.</p>
<p>Thank you so much!! It really does make this process a whole lot less stressful to know that you are here as a fantastic resource for last minute panicky questions like this! Thanks!!</p>
<p>646! geez! i’ve got 250. haha now your making me worried</p>
<p>nelli2, happy to help. That’s what we’re here for.</p>
<p>Eagles<em>for</em>Life, length (or lack thereof) is in no way correlated to strength of essay. Some short essays are brilliant. Others are underdeveloped. Some longer essays are also brilliant. Others are verbose and rambling. That’s why proof reading is so important. Make sure your essay says what you want it to say and doesn’t leave the reader who doesn’t know you wondering what the point of what you wrote is. Maybe have someone else (a friend or teacher) read it to make sure they understand it’s point and they think it’s fully developed (not overdeveloped or underdeveloped).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>