<p>i went to a writing center workshop and the presenter told us the 1st essay should be about 750 words and the second should be about 250!!!! 250! thats like a paragraph! I mean how are you suppose to write about overcoming difficulties in your life with just a paragraph? should i just list my accomplishments? is that what they want you to do?</p>
<p>I can see why the writing center advised you to write longer for the prompt regarding your major, because that is what they're most interested to hear. But it is also important to show what your accomplishments and talents are to evaluate your wide range of strengths.</p>
<p>But the bottom line is, YOU should choose which one is longer, shorter, or even equal lengths. But I've found that when writing both of the essays, I know from the beginning which one will be longer. For example, I don't have much to brag about, except for my passion for my major. That is why my essay for Prompt 1 will be around 700 words. I suggest you map out an outline before you write, to see which topic is more engaging to you.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Pskate: thanks for the feedback.
but that only leaves you with about 300 words to write your second prompt. I feel like I can't talk about anything except list all my accomplishments. and nobody wants to read that. (truthfully). I WAS thinking of writing about a hardship i overcame in college but seriously how can you go into details with that word limit?</p>
<p>Your presenter was wrong if he was establishing definitive guidelines. You can split the word count between the two essays in any way you want so long as they add up to about a thousand words.</p>
<p>cardinal: please pm me your email address so i can send you my essay?
Oh yeah, one more question. if my first essay is about 700 words should i cut it down just so I can write more for the second? but that will only be about 300 words or so. its still too short for an indepth essay!</p>
<p>Just another FYI. The 2 essays do not need to add up to roughly 1000 words. It is a 1000-word maximum ( going slightly over isn't a big deal ). The allocation for the essays are as you wish as long as you make sure they are both over 250 words each. </p>
<p>Taken directly from the Application:
"Respond to both questions, using a maximum of 1,000 words total. You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words. Stay within the word limit as closely as you can. A little over — 1,012 words, for example — is fine. "</p>
<p>I have talked to a UCLA transfer rep on this subject. Some applicants can convey a better message with 250 words. The rep told me admissions for UCLA has no bias against essays with a smaller word count, it is the content that they look for.</p>
<p>Ah yes, I didn't mean they had to add up to 1,000. I meant that was the limit. In any case, in all my years going over essays in tutoring labs and tutoring privately, I have never seen an applicant use less than seven hundred words.</p>
<p>would it hurt me in anyway if i only use 950 words (600 for first and 350 for second)?
planning on transferring to ucla as a math major.</p>
<p>Oh come on KingInc!! Are you really serious?</p>
<p>Seriously dude...</p>
<p>lol, im just wondering whether they want precisely 1,000 words or less than 1,000 as long as I get close to it...</p>
<p>I guess I have the same problem too... lol</p>
<p>Do they actually mean the max is 1,012 words??? (a little bit over 1,000 is fine, like 1,012)</p>
<p>So is 1,020 words acceptable or not???</p>
<p>I heard up to 1100 words is acceptable.</p>
<p>yes, that is what I heard, too. You should try to hit close to 1,000 but I think 100 above or below is OK.</p>
<p>Last year I wrote 550 for prompt #1 and about 530 for prompt #2 and got accepted to everywhere I applied including Cal.</p>
<p>The word count is really a trivial matter I'd say, they just need to set some boundaries, definitely the content of the essay outweighs the word count greatly.</p>
<p>so am i gonna be cool with 950?</p>
<p>KingInc,</p>
<p>I'm sorry to inform you but 950 is an auto-reject.</p>
<p>you guys, word count's not the problem. Its how you're suppose to write a good essay with only 400 or so words. When we applied as freshmen, most of the students used 500 words to write the third way. thats acceptable. but now since the "intended major" one should take up more space, then the second essay would have to be really short</p>