<p>Oh dear</p>
<p>So for Yale, the Why Yale essay is only 500 characters. My response goes over 197 characters....but I really think if I were to cut it down, it would lose its meaning/mood. Any advice? Should I stick to its requirements? Would they look down on it?</p>
<p>The common app will probably cut you off at 500 characters, so yes, it would be best to cut it down.</p>
<p>Hm. I agree with fhg, buuut...I'm doing it too so I know that it's a 500 character limit...But why are you worried if your response is over 197?</p>
<p>OP probably means over 500 BY 197</p>
<p>Yes, the Common App WILL cut you off. It happened to me. So... uh... you better cut some stuff.</p>
<p>In retrospect, it's almost 40% more than what Yale asked you to write</p>
<p>so even if you wouldn't get cut off, that's a LOT lol. short and sweet is probably what they're looking for anyway.</p>
<p>The OP is not referring to anything with the Common App. In the Yale app, there's a simple question: "Why Yale" and they want an extremely concise answer in 500 characters (not 500 words).</p>
<p>To the OP: you should consider why Yale is asking its applicants for this seemingly trivial exercise. They want to know IF you can succeed in the task as much as WHAT you produce in the task. If you submit almost 700 characters -- you'll be failing one of the primary goals of the question, no? Would they look down on it? You can guarantee that.</p>
<p>Cut it down -- good luck to you.</p>
<p>The supplement will stop you from entering even 501 characters.</p>
<p>smoda: that was smart of the Yale webmaster!</p>
<p>It was also convenient. As you enter your text, there is a continual update of number of characters remaining.</p>