<p>I thought of a very original way to approach essay 4 about the improv. No, I will not share it. But as the title of this thread reads, the final product is 5 1/2 pages double spaced and there are many formatting procedures which waste a lot of space. Is this alright if it’s formatted in this way?</p>
<p>Give me a moment to go through google and find Ted O’Neill’s gripes with the online-based application. I think it’s fine.</p>
<p>If your formatting does not come out online, I suggest tagging a note to your online essay to say that a more authentic paper-based one is on its way. I remember that one of my friends submitted an art project with text as a response to one of the questions, but she also submitted the plain text online to go along with it.</p>
<p>This is from 2005:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online[/url]”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/02/online</a></p>
<p>As far as I know, the University is doing everything online right now. <em>tears</em></p>
<p>Oh sorry but I just reread my question and it didn’t come out correctly. I meant, is it alright if it’s 5.5 pages in length? I am planning on snail-mailing the thing. Thanks for your help unalove but what do you think about the length?</p>
<p>Sure. I snailed mailed mine at about 2.5 single spaced pages.</p>
<p>I think it’s too long, and I think you should work on making it shorter by doing a re-write while keeping the same theme. JMO.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m inclined to agree with corranged, but at the same time… sigh…</p>
<p>On the essay response page it says:
“Please respond with an essay equivalent to one or two typewritten pages.”?</p>
<p>is that double-spaced?</p>
<p>Yes, I am well aware of what it says on the essay response page, I too, do not know if that’s single or double spaced.</p>
<p>How many words are you?</p>
<p>1,506 words.</p>
<p>The real question is - would it be improved by be tightening it up a bit. If you find that you have repeated yourself - or wandered off on a tangent - the answer is likely yes.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not an essay, it’s a story. So if I take parts out it will lose its value.</p>
<p>Well, I tried to see what I could remove and it turns out I added 16 more words rather than reduced the amount. I deleted all the spaces I had and it’s actually four pages, 3 if I make it into a traditional essay. I think I’m going to keep revising it and I’ll definatley snail mail it. Thanks all for your help! This forum is great! :)</p>
<p>I just did a mini-experiment on the “Post your essay!” thread. I took the essays of applicants whom I know personally (i.e. they were admitted and they decided to attend, it was much easier than I thought to connect online persona with real identity-- a warning to all of you!) and I found that their essays were the following word counts:</p>
<p>1317
986
892
445
797
724</p>
<p>It’s clear that Chicago is willing to forgive that 500-word “limit” and it seems like 800 is the new 500 for uncommon essays. When I read over them, I actually found the 1317 one the easiest to read and the 445 one the most difficult (the 1317-word essay was a short story and the 445 one was more of a philosophical treatise).</p>
<p>It sounds like you are proud of your product and that you can’t imagine it otherwise. If that’s the case, send it in.</p>
<p>"Well, I tried to see what I could remove and it turns out I added 16 more words rather than reduced the amount. "</p>
<p>Sounds like the words were needed, then. My son’s essay was about 1300 words - and he did need all of them.</p>
<p>To enter a short story contest, I had to cut about 200 words from my story. The first time I read through it, I felt as though I needed every one of those words. I left the story for a day, though, and read it with “fresh eyes” the next night. It was much easier to find superfluous adjectives, descriptions that were clever but didn’t really add anything to the story, dialogue that could be condensed… etc. Leave your essay/story for a bit and then revisit it later.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s possible that your story is as short as it could possibly be at 5.5 pages. In that case… send it!</p>