<p>is it ok if the word counts are 175-260-550?</p>
<p>i believe if you are a little over is fine, try to cut down your 550 one by just a bit.</p>
<p>er, the UC instructions are that one part should be 600 words, and the other should be 200 words each... so there is nothing to "cut down" -- I think the word counts are suggested guidelines. I would suggest reading reading over the 260-word section to make sure that there is nothing repetitive or redundant - but otherwise I think that as long as the total is about 1,000 words, with one long section and 2 short sections, you are following the format they want.</p>
<p>Given the high volume of applications, I doubt very seriously that anyone is counting words that closely.</p>
<p>i think it's more like 500 250 250, at least that's what i had last yr</p>
<p>This is a direct quote from the instructions:
[quote]
Respond to all three short-answer questions using a total of no more than 1,000 words. That means that two of your answers must be limited to approximately 200 words each. A third question should be given an extended answer of at least 600 words. You may choose which question to answer at more length.
[/quote]
Note the words "approximately" and "at least" - if anything makeme's 550 word section should be increased, but I would hesitate to advise that as the tendency would be to add padding, rather than real content - and I think that no matter what the suggested guideline is, the main focus should be on content, not on trying to fit some arbitrary word count. Cutting out 50 important words in one section and adding in 50 unnecessary words in another is not going to help. The people reading the personal statements are going to focus on the information conveyed. As long as overall length is within the guidelines I don't think there will be any problem.</p>
<p>ummm weird, i used the 500- 250-250 format</p>