<p>First off, congrats to everyone who got accepted ED today! I visited right after the ED deadline and that really confirmed that I want to go to W & M. If it was a Dec 1 deadline instead of Nov. 1, I would have gone for it.</p>
<p>Anywho, here’s the supplemental essay question that you ED people already filled out:</p>
<p>“Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extracurricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colorful? Provide us with some limited measure of your personality. We know that nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of The Type of Person You Are. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as Show and Tell by proxy and with an attitude.”</p>
<p>Now is that subtle mention about “500 words or less” a word limit or is it just intended to give me a ballpark estimate of what they’re looking for? I’ve answered other college essays that say something along the lines of “500 words or less” so I’m wondering how this W & M one should be interpreted. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>In general, when they give a limit like 500 words, they will want you to stay around there. 510 or so is ok… but anywhere around 540+ I would try to avoid. It doesn’t have to be 500 words either. 350 or so would suffice as well. This should be applied to any school you apply too. Remember, they are not looking for quantity, but quality. Just think of how many essays they read each day.</p>
<p>Also tape a buck and twenty five cents to the essay if you really want to impress them…</p>
<p>Go over. Don’t worry. Don’t push over 700. Anything below that is fine.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to inchoative… that isn’t true.</p>
<p>Er, okay. Mine was a little over 700.</p>
<p>Really? Well, I could be wrong… but I would generally advise not to go 200 words over…</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think you even really have to write an ESSAY.</p>
<p>When I visited this past summer, the admission reps talked about someone writing theirs completely in binary code about their love of computers. Someone else just included a CD-ROM with a bunch of info about them.</p>
<p>Mine was in that same vein of being “somewhat unique.” After all, they said anything goes!</p>
<p>Well I wrote an essay around 350-400 words and it worked for me. But being original is always a plus!</p>
<p>I went to an information session at W&M and they said it’s fine to go over, just don’t write a book. I’d say if you stay under 650 or 700 you should be fine.</p>
<p>Basically, it isn’t a question that’s designed to be answered in twelve million words. Don’t stress if you’re at 520 words, but it’s in your best interest to keep it somewhat succint. They get thousands of applications and when you’re processing applications, a whole long narrative is likely not going to catch and hold your interest as well as someone who manages to give a window into their world. They aren’t looking for your life story, they’re trying to get a feel for you. Some people probably have a sophisticated enough idea/ability to pull off something longer that works, but generally I think you need to keep yourself somewhere around the limit if you want to use the optional essay to its full potential. It’s not like once you get 501, they stop reading. But it’s much easier to lose interest, not really the feeling you want to convey.</p>