<p>My third essay (open-ended) is only 450 words long...
Will I get penalized if I submit this essay?
If yes, then at least how long should it be?
500~550 words enough??</p>
<p>i believe it should be around 600 words</p>
<p>The application says one essay should be at least 600 words...so I wouldn't make it shorter than about 550, especially considering (for the online app, anyway) there's a word counter right underneath the essay when you submit it.</p>
<p>What if you come to about 1100-1150 words total? Will they penalize you?</p>
<p>Yeah...</p>
<p>It says that you CANNOT go over 1000 words in total. But you can have like 198 words for one, 201 words for another, and 601 words for the long one.</p>
<p>As long as the total word count is less than 1000.</p>