<p>?................................</p>
<p>1/ one:</p>
<p>Kurt Vonnegut!</p>
<p>However many words it takes for you to compellingly say why you want the major. I think mine was one long-ish paragraph.</p>
<p>precise and concise. say, 350? You should cut all the fluff. nobody wants to read sentences like "I like engineering because it's fun."</p>
<p>Instead, you can write something like:
"My passion for mechanical engineering was sparked when I first saw a cargo ship being loaded; I wondered how the crane could be so precise yet so powerful."</p>
<p>doesn't the requirement say "one-page"? I don't think 350 words can fit a page.</p>
<p>one page =double or single spaced?</p>
<p>If they say one page, write one page. Why are you even asking about word count?</p>
<p>"If they say one page, write one page. Why are you even asking about word count?"
On the CMU supplement on the online version of the Common App, the same prompt is given, except there's only a text box. I think people are wondering how many words is necessary because a text box is ambiguous in that you can fit as much as you can.</p>
<p>My particular essay is nearly 500 words. I followed UVA's guideline of having a page be approximately 500 words. I'm not sure if this follows for CMU, but I think it's a reasonable explanation. Anyone know if this is acceptable?</p>
<p>I have half a page so far and i cant think of anything else to write!!! ahhhhh! lol</p>
<p>talk about trends in your field.</p>
<p>are you also supposed to write about the second choice in the essay?</p>
<p>Yes -- look at the instructions.</p>
<p>the limit is 3500 characters
that came out to like 650 words for me
not bad considering i applied to 4 schools</p>
<p>The limit, as stated above, was 3500 characters. I do remember that I doubled that number, and as far as I know it was harmless. That said, follow the instructions, don't be wordy to get specifically to 3500, but don't be too concise, write what you need to, if its in the ballpark its fine.</p>