Essay Word Count - How close do you stick to the limit?

For HBS I allowed only one of my essays to be over, and by no more than 5% (just because the school's limits are way too tight). For the rest of my schools, I actually deliberately trimmed to 5-10% less than required length. I was told that being able to express yourself and prioritize well in less space than allowed was appreciated by adcoms and I made it a point to show that. Even in the application forms for schools that had plenty of space, I stayed on the lesser side and not because I didn't have content. I just focused on highlights and impact of what I said.

Think about it. If everyone else is pushing the limit, you may actually stand out by saving a few minutes off of an Adcom's time.

Most schools do not count words but read enough essays to know when you are over. If you're 5% over, they won't notice... but if you get to 10% and certainly 20% they will.

Also, while it might be true that a particularly riveting essay might get a bit of a pass, I'd caution you to really question whether your is good enough to have that impact. Unless you're talking about how you overcame cancer while saving orphans while revolutionizing business as we know it, your story probably isn't good enough for the adcom to overlook gross word-limit violations.

Read through some of the adcom blogs... most of them address this issue and give some form of the advice above.

Thanks guys, that was some good input - especially the fact that some schools wont even let you submit more!

Glad I asked, as the question sounded trivial at first, but in reality it is some to think about and think about early - I much rather not have to cut down 20 words on the due date!

Kudos !

It really depends on the essay. Some were right at the limit, while others had much less. My rough drafts, though, were always above the word limit. But once I cut them down, the essays were just what I wanted.

I wouldn't worry about it too much; you'll do just fine. Just be versatile and don't blindly adhere to some artificial rule. You might be confronted with different essay requirements, so learn to adapt and be creative. LSE, for instance, allows 3 pages for the personal letter, and it only asks two or three general questions. HEC, for one of its MSc programs, asks a number of specific questions and limits you to 1,000 characters a piece. And that's characters as in letters, not words. Even commas, periods, and spaces count on those essays.

Sorry I couldn't provide you with something more substantial or concrete. But the fact that you're asking these questions suggests that you're mentally in good shape for this challenge. I actually found the essays to be the most enjoyable part of the application process (other than finishing, of course). Good luck!

General rule of thumb is no more than 10% over. I don't know of any adcom that actually count but they have a sense of how long the essays should be. Besides potentially annoying the adcom who has to read an over-length essay, going beyond the word counts brings up concerns over following direction, as well as taking unfair advantage over other applicants (who presumably kept to the word count).

In other words: your best bet is to stay under the word counts.