<p>On the Vassar supplement there is a question that asks: HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT VASSAR AND WHAT ASPECTS OF OUR COLLEGE DO YOU FIND APPEALING? </p>
<p>To submit an answer to that question they provide you with a text box on the common app site to write a response. That text box has a 500 character limit on it. As an alternative, they also allow you to upload a document. I've already written, what I think is, a really good 500 character response to the question, but I've looked at what other people have written for this question and I keep finding 500-750 WORD responses.<br>
If you upload a document, does that mean you have no character or word limit at all or do you still have to be within about 100-200 characters of the 500 character limit?</p>
<p>You should try to keep your response at a 500 character limit. Colleges set these character limits for a reason and focus on the content of the response rather than quantity.</p>
<p>I uploaded my own document so I could write a little more but I made seriously sure that my writing was succinct, concise and relevant. I thought it was a really important question basically asking - why Vassar and how will you make the most of its resources? So I allowed myself to tell them exactly that in a few more than 500 characters. But I think if you do go over the limit - make sure you use your excess characters wisely. Good luck!</p>
<p>I dont think you should worry. I wrote a ~500 word essay. It got uploaded fine. And I know some people who got in with even longer essays this year.
Just keep writing a GOOD essay as the focus!
All the best :)</p>
<p>I say stick with it. Write something, print it out, get someone else to stand a few feet away from it and ask them how many characters/words they think it is. 500 characters is about 100 words. </p>
<p>I personally think if it’s over a few words, that’s fine; the adcoms aren’t going to count every character and be like “*** IS THIS THEY CAN’T FOLLOW RULES!!11!!” So don’t worry about that. But 500-750 words when the limit is 100 words is a little excessive to me. If you actually have 500-words worth of stuff to say, good. But if it’s just fluff and you can cut down, CUT DOWN. Try to stick with the limit. The adcoms probably don’t want to read a whole bunch over the limit they set.</p>
<p>IS THERE A WORD LIMIT FOR THE RESPONSE TO THE VASSAR SUPPLEMENT QUESTION?
The response to the Vassar Supplement question (“How did you learn about Vassar and what aspects of our college do you find appealing?”) is typically anywhere from one paragraph to one page long. If you enter the answer to this question directly on the Common Application, there is a 500 character limit. However, there is no character limit if you choose to upload a document instead.</p>
<p>I wrote within the 500 character limit directly on the Common App (instead of uploading a document).
My opinion on it is that you shouldn’t try to write as much as possible, if a 500 characters can answer the question well, then do that.</p>