<p>Yale does say to keep the supplement essay under 500 words. They will read an essay if it goes over but it will not help you. Basically, try to keep it as close to 500 as possible.</p>
<p>For the Common App, I think almost anything is fair game. You don’t want to write a 2,000 word essay. But 600 I think is fine. 700-800 might be pushing it, but if you can’t cut anything out then don’t try to.</p>