<p>For the Vassar supplement - "HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT VASSAR AND WHAT ASPECTS OF OUR COLLEGE DO YOU FIND APPEALING?" - there is a box for your response that has only 500 characters available. I just wrote my response and it came out to be about 1300 characters. However, they also give you the option to upload your own document. Does this mean it's okay to go over the character limit if I upload my word document?</p>
<p>I feel like I can't express everything I want to say if I reduce what I wrote to 500 characters or less :(</p>
<p>First of all, I don’t know. For a definitive answer, you should call the Admissions Office.</p>
<p>That doesn’t stop me from throwing in my 2 cents. Take it from someone who’s incredibly long-winded: pithy and succinct will serve you well. See? There. I couldn’t help myself and said PITHY and SUCCINCT. That’s not good. </p>
<p>Imagine how powerful your statement could be if you could compress all your passion and feeling into less than half the verbiage you’re using now. Instead of calling the Admission Office and looking for a relief valve, I think you may be better served by exercising the discipline it takes to put it all together and deliver one single (<<– look at that: ONE and SINGLE!) knockout punch of a statement.</p>
<p>It will be excruciating to do this. But you don’t want to write like I do. I’m totally out-of-control and way too verbose for people to read…basically mass-producing invitations for people to dismiss my written word. This is good for you and you will immediately feel satisfied with your final product once you go through the purging process. Give it a sincere try. Put together the best 500 character response you can come up with and I bet you’ll like it better than your 1300 character response…and avoid having to make that phone call.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^funny and well said. </p>
<p>On the other hand, foregoing an opportunity to provide additional information could be like skipping the extra credit question on a major exam. Less is not always better.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, guys.</p>
<p>I think I’m just going to go ahead and do my best to cut it down. The 500 character maximum is there for a reason, right?</p>
<p>Hopefully I can come up with something that is just as good :)</p>
<p>While what D’yer said is (can be) true, I don’t think they care if it’s more. You notice that on the Common App, you can upload a separate document. Also, if you look at the PDF for the supplement from Vassar’s website (<a href=“http://admissions.vassar.edu/pdf/freshmanapp-10-11/Supplement%2010-11.pdf[/url]”>http://admissions.vassar.edu/pdf/freshmanapp-10-11/Supplement%2010-11.pdf</a>) you notice there is no mention of a limit on length. Yes, being succinct can be desirable, but under the circumstances you want to be able to say as much as you can and not cut yourself off short.</p>
<p>Of course people who make it easy on themselves by uploading longer, more exhaustive responses will be throwing their novels up against a vast pool of applicants who managed to keep their responses succinct…many of whom made their point(s) forcefully at the same time.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree: if you need training wheels to complete the race, then by all means you should use them. But if you don’t need them, you might not want to create the wrong impression by putting them on. Yes, your answer may stand out. Just not necessarily in the way you might hope.</p>
<p>A wholly valid point. And while a truly excellent writer may be able to stand out in 500 words, and keeping things succinct is undoubtedly a good idea, the question was does jesslivinglife HAVE to keep things to that limit, and the answer (it would appear) is no.</p>
<p>Whether one does or not is up to the individual.</p>
<p>I went well over the 500 CHARACTER limit last year (i did approx. 100-200 words, a paragraph) and got in. i know people who’ve written 500 words and still get in.</p>