Question about short answer/250 words

College Essays
1

<p>I have a few questions regarding the short answer questions</p>

<li><p>How many words over is acceptable? I currently have 266 (rather than 250), is that too many?</p></li>
<li><p>I know for the long personal statement you are to “show not tell”. For the short answers, should you do the same, or cut straight to the point and be concise without a lot of detail? I mean, I know you can be detailed and be concise at the same time, but do you catch my drift at least a little bit? I’m finding it hard to be extremely showy and get my point across in the 250 word limit.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>1) I'm not quite sure. I'd say that it would be better to have 266 words than to be incomplete, but if you can cut out a few words without sacrificing quality, I would do that.</p>

<p>2) I would think that if your personal narrative "shows" well, it's ok if you can't achieve the same effect in your short answers.</p>

3

<p>1) 266 probably is fine. if you can cut a bit, do it, but I don't think 16 words will hurt.</p>

<p>2) you probably don't need the same "writing skill" in the short answer, but you don't need to try and fit every detail in either.</p>