The Application Eessay: Does Word-Limit Really Count?

Applying to College
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<p>I'm currently writing one of my essays and... let's just say its over the 500 word mark (its actually like 700~). I mean, I can cut it down if i really wanted to, but i think it would work better as it is.</p>

<p>How much do people really adhere to this "limit". I've read some of the "Best Harvard Admissions Essays... etc etc" books and it seems that literally 5/6 of them are wayyyyyyyyyyyy over the 500 word limit- and yet they are all "successful". Neone care to explain this paradox/comment?</p>

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<p>Well if you are doing online application (like common app) it'll cut it for you.. i did all online application so it didn't allow me to go over any word limits. (i took a long time cutting stuff down)</p>

<p>I say follow the rules.. better safe than sorry right?</p>

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<p>If you are a stron writer, don't worry too much about it. My essay was over 500 words and I don't think it did me any damage (although no one can ever be sure.) If I were you, I would attempt to cut it down to 600-650 words. Btw, the common app allows an enormous number of characters and deos not cut off the essay or otherwise impose a word count until this huge number of characters has been reached.</p>

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<p>But what if you use the Common App online??? I heard if your essay is over the word limit, it will automatically cut down!!! Dunno if this is true.......</p>

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<p>yea, online, as said before, cuts down on your essay if you're over the limit, also, they have the word limit for a reason, it's so you don't take so much time on your app so that they can give each application the same amount of attention. Also, failing to adhere to the word limit [even loosely] is the same as failing to adhere to instructions which can come off as pretty bad so I would personally say drop it to the 550.</p>

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<p>Ya...you're definitely not following directions if you already have about 700 words out of the 500 word limit. That is BAD...</p>

<p>If you can't say what you want in 500 words, tweak it so you can. Can't? Don't write about what you're writing about. Obviously it's too much of a load for a 500 word essay.</p>

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<p>Remember the adcoms are only spending a few minutes reading your essay. They are reading a lot of applications and no one wants to read something that goes on and on unless it is a really great story. A long boring story will not get you into the admit pile.</p>

<p>You have written your essay. </p>

<p>Walk away from it for a few days.</p>

<p>Look at it again, </p>

<p>You will probably be able to pick out some extraneous stuff to edit out.</p>

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<p>But I know a bunch of people who use Common App online and their essays are about 700 words and they got into Ivies and top LACs. Could you explain that to me???</p>

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<p>They sent a paper copy and nobody bothered to actually count the words?</p>

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<p>If the essay is good...which means there is nothing extra at all- 700 words may not be all that bad. </p>

<p>The problem is that generally, a 700 word CAN be trimmed somewhat.</p>

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<p>the 500 word limit also imposes you to be a concise writer, getting your point across easily without dragging on and on</p>

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<p>loser: I'm happy for the people you know. Maybe colleges care about essay length, maybe they really don't.
But if I were some kid who thought she had a solid application and got rejected, I wouldn't want to have to wonder if it was partly because of something silly like not following instructions for essay length.</p>

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<p>

<a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/faq/applying.html#12%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/admit/faq/applying.html#12&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I was right where you were, and I thought there was no way I could cut it down any more. But after looking at it again, I went from 714 to 587, and I'm still trying to cut it down even more.</p>

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<p>BTW, the common app online does NOT cut off your essay at 500 words.</p>

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<p>my common app essay last year was around 800some words i believe. (i tried to cut it down, and talked it over with my english teacher. we decided that if i tried to minimize or cut out any one part of the essay than i'd loose the full impact.) the common app only has restrictions on the characters (they cut it at 2000). so needless to say it was under the 2,000 character limit so i was fine and am going to a great school in a few weeks. i wouldn't worry too much if it's around 700ish.</p>

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<h2>@Ray192: I said that they used the common app ONLINE. </h2>

<p>@techiedork: Wow, your essay is around 800 words but still below 2000 characters. That means average number of characters in 1 word of your essay is <3!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I can't believe this....</p>

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<p>MY essay is 550 words but 2800 characters....and im plan on applying on-line with common app..will my essay be cut off?</p>

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<p>loser: at first glance I though you said that you said his essay is love, but then I realized that you meant less than three, but yeah, that's kind of hard to believe.</p>