<p>I know the 500 characters limit was debated about 100 million times, but here's what Vassar has to say:</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>Hopefully people will see this next year, as it's a little late this year.</p>
<p>It is a little frustrating that what they wanted wasn’t more transparent. I’m one of the kids that crammed it all down to 500 characters when I absolutely had more to say that 500 characters worth of stuff. </p>
<p>It’s partially my own fault, don’t get me wrong – I coulda emailed someone, or even poked around on these here forums – but I feel like I shouldn’t have to do more than just read the prompt to understand what Vassar wanted.</p>
<p>^Look at it the other way. Suppose you are an adcom, and after much deliberation, you have set the limit to 500 char. Now being the kind soul you are, you also added an uploading option for the essay. Sitting in the decisions room, you realize how applicants are misusing your generosity to write 1000 word odes to Vassar. Then you chance upon an essay that abides by your limit; a thing of beauty in your eyes. In your excitement, you read how brilliantly that applicant has conveyed his love for the college in such a short space. You instantly throw that app into the accept pile. <em>Ba-Dum-Tss</em></p>
<p>I wrote a page double-spaced, about 325 words.</p>
<p>When I visited, the adcom sort of talked about the Why Vassar as if it were slightly long - as in, I didn’t see how it could fit in 500 characters. That’s really short.</p>
<p>I think they will give you some benefit of the doubt if you squeezed it into 500 characters. It’s vague, and I’m sure lots of good applicants think that they are constrained to the ~75 words that 500 characters would allow. I agree: if you articulate yourself well in the 500-character space, then you are at least subconsciously impressing the adcom reading your app.</p>
<p>I also applied to Swarthmore, which gives 2000 characters and the option to upload a document, and the consensus on that forum is that you can go over 2000 if you upload a document. So I did the same for Vassar.</p>
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