<p>Unlike most other colleges and the word limits that they put on their essays, UMich says "maximum 500 words" for their "Why UMich?" essay, rather than "approx. 500". If I have about 550, would it do any harm to me?</p>
<p>50 more words isn’t much so i would say that it shouldn’t hurt. You do, however, want to try to stay at or below 500 words as much as possible.</p>
<p>I know students who wrote 600 words for the long essay and 350 words for the short essay and were accepted. Kids, do not sweat the small stuff in life. Nobody cares if the essay runs 100 words over as long as those words are needed. Keep the essay as concise and to the point as possible and do not worry if you should exceed the “approximate” length recommended by the university.</p>