How long is YOUR commonapp essay?

whynotusa · 10-07-2007, 04:36 PM

I've heard that the unspoken length is still around 500, but mine is much more than 500, I want to know how long YOUR essays are. Thanks for any responses.

kingmo1990 · 10-07-2007, 08:32 PM

i don't think that there is that much of a limit to the number of words in your commonapp essay; for supplements, though, i think it's about 500.

mayiplzgovertigo · 10-07-2007, 11:14 PM

naw my common app essay is about a page and a half, doubled space, 12 ft

mayiplzgovertigo · 10-07-2007, 11:18 PM

so long as its not wordy, or has unneccessary material

so long as it really conveys to the adcoms who you really are, i dont think length matters

so long as its not a 150 page biography

DumbOne · 10-08-2007, 08:09 AM

Mine is 2400 words of biography. Feel good about how concise yours is by comparison.

superstresseddd · 10-08-2007, 08:11 AM

do you guys think I should double space my essay?

akiiriah · 10-27-2007, 04:09 AM

...mine is really long so far.

almost 900 words. I'll probably need to cut it down by quite a bit...

debate_addict · 10-27-2007, 04:37 AM

Mine is 700...pretty good in terms of length I believe....and the additional Yale essay is 600....hey, who cares about word count? i highly doubt that it can send your application from the accepted to the rejected pile..

mayiplzgovertigo · 10-28-2007, 12:24 AM

debate: i went to a yale information session and they said that theyre looking for around 500 words for both yale essay and common app

and especialyl for yale, disregarding the word count by a lot (more than 50 words) shows that youre disrgarding their reqest

straight from a yale admission officer's mouth

debate_addict · 10-28-2007, 04:04 AM

I highly doubt that they specifically said that an extra 50 words, and bottom line is, if they are gonna penalize me for extra words, then that school was not for me.

But in spite of what you said, I have seen and talked to the dean of admissions - and so has my counselor, who is very into things. And trust me, I know kids with lengthier essays than mine who got in.

lynn4eva · 10-28-2007, 09:01 AM

well i think it's all about what you convey in your essay. if your essay is 800 words like mine, but would not make any sense if it was cut down..i guess the adcoms have to realize that. i mean yes, it is disregarding their request but some people just have longer stories or longer experiences than others to be able to fit it in 500 words. i've tried to cut down my essay as much as possible, and it's 800 now. if i cut any more of it...i might as well start a new topic cos the adcoms wouldn't understand just where i was getting at

tetrisfan · 10-28-2007, 09:28 AM

Here's the thing. If your essay can absorb the reader, no one's gonna give a damn about its length.

Just don't get inspired by Umberto Eco or someone though

lynn4eva · 10-28-2007, 09:49 AM

actually that's quite true tetrisfan. I made a lot of people read my essay and they all said they couldn't stop reading it...a reaction that hopefully adcoms will do too, and none of them noticed how long it was.

tetrisfan · 10-28-2007, 10:04 AM

^ Ah, you're well fine then

lynn4eva · 10-28-2007, 10:22 AM

^^^ that is great to hear