<p>Ask yourself this: if you were on the admissions committee, would you accept an applicant LACKING THE ABILITY to edit an apparent final draft of an essay down from 600 plus words to 500 words or below… particularly when the original instructions stated the essay should be between 250 and 500 words?</p>
<p>I am a S applying to college this year. The early draft of his essay was way too long, so I’ve been monitoring this discussion on several threads. However, his GC (at one of the toughest prep schools around) feels that it is so unique and strong that even at 1100 words she doesn’t think he should cut a word. She herself worked in admissions and feels the length thing isn’t an issue if it’s good. My S will have to send in the application on paper just to make sure the admissions person will see the whole thing. So, for what it’s worth…</p>
<p>i’d play it safe. unless you KNOW you’re an amazing writer (regional/national writing awards, scholarships for essays, publications, etc.) that’d probably be the best advice since i’ve heard that “part of the task is to see if a student can condense it into 500 words”</p>
<p>plus most adcoms have been working for several years, if not even decades, so they know what parts of an essay are essential and what parts are not, so if they even find the smallest bit of fluff…</p>