<p>This is my first go as a parent of a kid applying to college, everyone went on and on about that magical 500 word maximum essay...but on the common app website it states simply minimum 250 words, does that mean it can be as long as we like no matter what within reason of course. My sons is about 800 words and is truly a great great essay he is having a hard time cutting it down and is now deciding whether to continue to try to cut it down or not (i told him to try for another few days) however technically it doesn't call for a max. also when he tries to print it out it does print out entirely. Anyone have a good solid answer to this one? Thank you.</p>
<p>this year I believe is a change in the common app--i think it used to be a 500 word maximum. the status quo has not changed however-800 word essays are quite long and may exceed the tolerance of adcoms.</p>
<p>my essay is around 800 words and I think that's totally acceptable! The point of having a word limit is to make sure that the student doesn't drone on and on... as long as your son's essay is concise and all of his chosen words are important, there's no problem! I doubt anybody is going to count the words anyhow...</p>
<p>I'm not sure that they'd need to count the words--the difference between 500 and 800 is easily noticeable.</p>
<p>Even though commonapp got rid of the maximum, it doesn't necessarily mean that the colleges particularly want essays longer than 500.
I'd stick to that old 500 word guideline. It's one thing if it goes over to around 550 words, but completely different if it spills around 800.</p>
<p>According to current Yale admissions officer at an information session, a rule of thumb is that your essay should fit on a page with normal font/margins.</p>
<p>^Does that one page mean single or double spaced?</p>
<p>One page single spaced. I have also heard the 1 page rule of thumb, which is about 600 words, and I'm aiming for that.</p>
<p>Again you refer to adhering to the old rule, how in the world as a parent and child doing this for the first time would we even know what the OLD RULE IS? This is such a gray area its making me nuts! If it fits and when printed out, the entire thing is counted, it is fair to argue that it is acceptable. If they really wanted a max. then why would they not put that? Why would they even change it to max. 500 words to just now say a minimum?</p>
<p>"Again you refer to adhering to the old rule, how in the world as a parent and child doing this for the first time would we even know what the OLD RULE IS?"</p>
<p>They would not and I don't think colleges will penalize applicants with good essays that are long. When my son applied to the UCs several years ago they had a one-essay prompt. His essay was two very full single spaced pages and he used that essay for USC. He got into all his schools but one UC that was a reach. The essay was very good. If you read the book "College Essays that worked" there are very long essays and shorter ones. The key is the quality of the essay. In this case, they can't possibly expect the thousands of students who don't go to this site, who are public school kids with little guidance, etc. to read their minds on the length of the essay. Also, every other slot in the application has a limit and this one does not completely leading the applicant to believe that there is no word limit. Which, there isn't.</p>
<p>The common app probably removed the 500 word requirement to allow greater flexibility. If an essay is truly fantastic, then I'm sure they won't penalize you for going over a page. However, at the Ivy league level, it's unlikely your essay is significantly better than those of other very qualified applicants. </p>
<p>As for the word limit, most of my friends do not go to collegeconfidential, but are still aware of the general length either from graduates, counselors, websites, or other students.</p>
<p>It strikes me as odd that a student would not try to find out how long colleges want the essay to be. That was the first thing that came to mind when I looked at the essays. Hasn't every English teacher provided you with some guideline for the length of the essay you need write? I don't see how you can begin writing an essay without an idea of how long it should be.</p>