Does it look bad if you write less than the word limit on Common App supplements

seiclan
Mon, 22 Aug 2005 10:57:35 +0000

My senior D has just completed the common application and is working on the supplements for various colleges. Some schools have a minor short additional essay but Boston University has two extra essays. The supplement states to answer essay number 1 (what experiences have led her to choose her field of study) in no more than 500 words. She has about 180 words so far and is at a loss for what else to put in. Does she need to “pad” this to closer to 500 words or is the college just putting an upper limit?