<p>to be quite honest, as long as you’re not egregiously over 500 words, i don’t it will matter. a yale admissions officer isn’t going to go “OMG*** this essay is 528 words…AUTOREJECTION.”</p>
<p>I have a family friend who was a former admissions officer at Columbia, and she assured me that they won’t mind. my yale supplement is around 550 words, but i think it’s damn good, and the extra 50 words is basically one more sentence. i doubt they’ll mind</p>