<p>Limits are a huge problem for me. Most people keep telling me I should cut my essays down, but I'm the type of writer that likes to overload on adjectives. My essays aren't pretentious or verbose (at least, I don't think so) but I feel like eliminating a lot of the descriptive language will just make them too sparse.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Is it better to be succinct or really paint a picture?</p>
<p>
[quote]
This may sound like a pretty dumb question to most, but generally how long are people's common app. essays?
[/quote]
The unwritten rule is around 500 - 600 words. Although you can find special cases of some people writing up 1,000 word essays and getting into decent colleges. When you read your essay, just put yourself in the adcoms shoes and think, after reading 200 essays today, do I really want to read this? </p>
<p>
[quote]
Is it better to be succinct or really paint a picture?
[/quote]
Write your essay in your own style. Don't limit yourself. That's how you become original and set yourself apart from other essays. That put aside, there are ALWAYS words that you can cut out. Try leaving it alone for a couple of days and re-reading it.</p>
<p>AAAAAH. So I've finished one essay-ish and several short responses, but I need at least one other common-app like essay and I can't think of any topics that aren't trite or cliche to write about. :/ Help?</p>
<p>I wish the "invisible" word limit wasn't there. How ironic...</p>
<p>How about 700-800ish? I have a ~1000 word essay that I'm going to edit through, and I know generally from past experiences that I can cut out about 200 words...</p>
<p>I heard the best way to cut down on your essay is to **delete it completely<a href="no%20cheating!">/B</a> and rewrite it from memory. Therefore, you only write down the most important things and cut off hundreds of words.</p>
<p>^good advice! i'll keep that in mind.
so r u guys doing the ED ones right now basically (talking abt the specific essays..) or just all of them right now?
haha..coz, i'm shooting for the christmas break to get done w/ everything in a blast....it might be ferocious..but hopefully it'll be gone in a flash! haha.</p>
<p>@cafesimone: Haha, actually I did do that -- it went from a 10-time rewritten over 100-word intro paragraph to a entirely new essay that has too much</p>
<p>i'm not doing ED cuz I'm also applying to UCs (berkeley definitely is one of my top choices)...can't do ED/EA with the ivies if the UCs don't have that system.</p>
<p>I actually love writing essays, but there is this one topic i feel i need to write about and I just can't! it sounds cheap or superficial every time I try it... any advice?</p>
<p>And one other question: do I have to write seperate essays for each school? or if one school has a 'topic of your choice' essay can I send one that I sent to an other school? Because in that case I would only have to write about 3 essays instead of 6+.</p>
<p>^If you are using the Common App, you can send the same essay to all of your schools. For schools that aren't using the common app and have their own application, if their essay topic is generic, then of course you can use the same one. You can't be penalized. </p>
<p>What's your topic? This is the most common advice you'll hear on this forum: it's not the topic that matters. Great writers can make pet deaths and mission trip experiences (two of the most cliche college essays) into great stories. It's your voice and writing style that the adcoms will watch out for. Since you love writing essays, I feel as if you have your own special style and that you are a good writer. Just go for it!</p>
<p>Im trying to think of the perfect topic to write about for my common app, but every-time i think of something i dismiss it as being too dull and common. My heads clogged.</p>
<p>Kudos, Ace, that's some REALLY good advice: Ace's</a> Great advice from earlier in the thread.</p>
<p>I'll add some guidance on the common application essay topics - topics that are broad almost to the point of paralyzing. As an admissions reader, I know that you cannot fit your entire identity into that essay; defining yourself in 500 words is impossible. It's ok to leave things out because you can't fit everything in. Acknowledging that, however, doesn't preclude you from giving important insight into your depth of thought or your personality's cornerstones. </p>
<p>If you are having trouble finding a topic, or having trouble refining a topic to capture you in the allotted space, try a different approach. First, define the quality you want to convey in your essay. Do you want an admissions reader to understand the way you use cold hard logic to approach works of art? Do you want them to understand that you solve problems by circumventing the complications? Would you like your reader to appreciate that you seek to meet people in their emotional space instead of your own? Once you've identified a portion of the pith of your identity, then look for the story that will evince that to a reader. </p>
<p>Basically, instead of searching for a topic, try searching for a message. Once you have the message, it may be easier to mold the topic around that message.</p>
<p>i'm doing pretty well actually. i have 3 completed ones. and i'm working on 2 back-ups and i'll decide later which ones i want... but it's not too bad... not bad at all</p>
<p>I should have heard of this sooner.. Thank you so much Dan!!!</p>
<p>i'm frustrated b/c i can't think of the right way to describe "myself" and its such personal, so for me in particular it doesn't feel right to talk about personal things.</p>
<p>Yes hopeful my S is having the same problem. He likes writing essays but dislikes writing about himself. So he procrastinates.</p>
<p>1150 words of ridiculousness. This is an excerpt from the middle:</p>
<p>"And then were on the highway, were passing into New York, were in Manhattan. Thanks again, relativity. Really sticking by me through the hard times. What is usually the most boring, monotonous drive in recorded history you managed to shorten into the time my microwave takes to melt an ice cube. Which is like 6 seconds probably. I havent tried. Would that make the microwave explode, since its all water?"</p>
<p>What am I doing.</p>
<p>cafesimone:</p>
<p>thx for the info :-)</p>
<p>my topic is how i am an american but grew up in switzerland. I want to show how I know both cultures and am sort of caught between the two countries. Everything I have tried sounds really superficial and clich</p>
<p>I think that's a unique topic, many people I know try to write about growing up in America as an international. </p>
<p>Have you ever gone to America? Why don't you start your essay off with how strange it was, even though you are American. Be sure to grab the reader's attention with the first few lines so they will keep reading. Don't just write "summarizing" statements such as "I feel so blah blah" or "It's made me a better person." Describe funny events that happened to you while growing up in Switzerland. It's so simple trying to show your personality through a conversation, for example. Good luck!!</p>
<p>areyouseriousss, even though I feel like an expert giving other people advice, I can't seem to work on my own essay, which also sounds like mindless babble. What should we do :(</p>
<p>thx. I'll try that with a conversation.</p>
<p>well, do you know what you want to write about, cafesimone?</p>