<p>I sent a 745 word essay instead of a 500 word essay to Yale.</p>
<p>Would it effect my admission?</p>
<p>While Yale strongly prefers applicants observe their word limits, a current Yale student posted that he didn't know about the word limits last year and was admitted despite a second essay that was over 750 words.</p>
<p>don't sweat it, both my common app essay and supplement essay were 760-777 words and I got accepted EA. If you get rejected, it's not going to be because your essays are a little over a guideline, however strict it may be.</p>
<p>Both of my essays were 700-800. I got in. Unless you write like 1200 words, then it's perfectly fine.</p>
<p>yeah don't sweat it...i did the same thing as the above posters and got in. They're not that anal, I promise.</p>
<p>I also got in with a 2nd essay that was almost 800 words. After I sent it, I found a rather nasty statement on there website that was something to the effect of "going over word limits indicates an inability to follow rules." But it must have been a lot of BS considering how many of us have done it without negative consequences. I would only be worried if the extra words don't contribute much to the essay, or if the essay is just bad in general.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>from: Applying</a> to Yale College | Frequently Asked Questions | Office of Undergraduate Admissions</p>
<p>I think you should have tried to cut it down a little more. I'm sure there was something you could have cut out.</p>
<p>Vadox, this is not the case....a huge number of people got in whose essays are around 750-800 - myself included. Sure, if an essay has a certain thing to say and this can be done in 500 words, I do agree with you that it is best that the word count is down, but some essays require further development, and I am sure that all adcoms would prefer a lengthier but more developed and insightful essay than a short one, which still has room for exploration.</p>
<p>Since this is after the fact, what good is asking the question? Of course you'll get replies from folks who submitted longer essays. But you won't get replies from people whose files were negatively affected by the reader's annoyance will you? </p>
<p>Just let it go. The replies you'd get here are just aspirin. </p>
<p>However, I'd highly discourage you from repeating this when it comes to graduate schools. I recall reading a book about MBA admissions and most of the officers of top schools listed extreme annoyance of people unable to follow simple direction. Best of luck to you, however.</p>