<p>Wow. My son is working on an essay!!! Happy Day!</p>
<p>I just read it and it's really very good. BUT it's only 387 words. Do you think that is too short? I'd hate for him to have to add fluff to it because it might lose its punch.</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions.</p>
<p>I don't think it's too short. I think it says the essay should be between 250-500 words. (It's refreshing to read this, too, with so many kids posting that they can't write anything less than 1000 words!)</p>
<p>it probably could use one more "thought"... if it was just written. After it is strenuously edited to remove extraneous words, tightened up, etc, it will probably "lose weight". Beef it up a bit now.</p>
<p>I think that part of being a good writer is being able to express oneself in a concise manner.</p>
<p>Check some of the application instructions for guidelines. We tell students to limit themselves to 250 words for the first two essays and 500 for the third, which is on a topic of the candidate's choice. </p>
<p>To be frank, I'm not happy when I get calls from students saying that they can't fit an essay into one of our text boxes (which allow for them to go over the stated limit by a little bit). We're looking for personal statements, not term papers.</p>
<p>The content is far more important than is hitting the maximum word count.</p>
<p>I bet it's fine. I never wrote a 8-10 page paper that was more than 6 or and 10-12 page paper that was more than 8 in college and my professors were grateful and frequently told me how well I wrote. I think they were grateful to have less to read too. That said, since you have time letting it sit for a few days and giving it another look is probably a good idea too.</p>