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Essay word count

Share tips as you apply, write essays, interview...
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by hitmis » Sat Nov 27, 2010 7:18 am
Hi everyone.

Although most schools publish a word count, since we upload documents that contain our essays, there is actually no text box enforcing word counts.

So my question is by how many words is it acceptable to overshoot the max limit ?

Say the Kenan Flagler ones are 500 words, the Haas is 750, so while a 50 word overshoot for KF would seem too much, it wouldn't for Haas. What's the thumb rule ?
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by Ttronn » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:13 pm
I've heard that anything under a 10% overshoot is considered acceptable unless it explicitly states the passage will not be read past the 500th word etc. Personally, I tend to err on the side of caution and consider a 5% overshoot to be the max. Remember conciseness is valued.
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by Kaneisha Grayson » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:33 am
Hi Hitmis,

Feel free to go a little bit over the word limit if you must. 10% seems a bit much to me, but I don't think it would be detrimental to your application.

I have a video called Kaneisha's Word Count Weight Loss Program: Whip Those Wordy Essays Into Shape! (https://theartofapplying.com/word-count- ... istration/) that would probably be pretty helpful to you in writing more concisely.

I also currently offer word count essay editing as a service: https://theartofapplying.com/word-count- ... -coaching/

Good luck!

Kaneisha
Kaneisha Grayson, Harvard MBA + MPA '10
Founder, The Art of Applying®: get into the graduate school of your dreams and get money to pay for it
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by hitmis » Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:16 pm
Thanks everyone.

Thanks Kaneisha. I did attend your fantastic webinar on word count. I would recommend it to everyone. I use techniques you showed!
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