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Current Student
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 370
Location: New York, Paris
Schools: Wharton '11
Followers: 2
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Does anyone know if the word counts are hard and fast or is +/- 10%?
Thanks!
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Director
Joined: 28 Dec 2005
Posts: 923
Followers: 1
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Yes, a 10% variance is considered ok. One is not recommended to go past 10% of word limits.
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Senior Manager
Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 278
Schools: MIT
Followers: 4
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I would check with the school. Some are more ok with going over by 10% than others. At HBS, I was told by an adcom that after 20 words past the limit, the reader would just cut you off and stop reading. But some other schools seem to be fine with the 10% rule.
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Current Student
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 370
Location: New York, Paris
Schools: Wharton '11
Followers: 2
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Thanks for info. HBS seems to be pretty strict... Great to know, many of my HBS essays are around +10%... Some more work to do!
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Director
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
Posts: 524
Schools: Harvard '11
Followers: 8
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I'm personally sticking within all the word limits. Why take a chance?
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Senior Manager
Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 278
Schools: MIT
Followers: 4
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msday86 wrote: I'm personally sticking within all the word limits. Why take a chance? Agreed. All my essays were/will be exactly at the word limit or a few under.
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SVP
Joined: 05 Aug 2007
Posts: 1502
Schools: NYU Stern '11
Followers: 15
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I am going to assume a "recommended" limit allows a little more flexibility with the number of words you may use. Columbia prescribes a 750 word limit for their goals essay, for instance. I'm going to be around 780 words - so I think any reasonable admissions committee should be alright with that.
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Current Student
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 370
Location: New York, Paris
Schools: Wharton '11
Followers: 2
Kudos [?]:
6
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I think that I will play it safe and stick to the limit. Thanks for the advice guys!
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Manager
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 171
Followers: 1
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Yeah even if the schools allow for a +/-10%, when you're trying to make your essays as perfect as possible why do it?To keep within the limits I always say (to myself) why would the adcom take me when I cannot even squeeze my essays into their requirements.
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Director
Joined: 28 Dec 2005
Posts: 923
Followers: 1
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Agreed, but don't spend an inordinate amount of time on the small stuff. If it is 503 words for a 500 word limit, that's really alright. There is no need to spend another 2 hours trying to bring it down to 500 words.
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Manager
Joined: 31 Oct 2007
Posts: 242
Followers: 1
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hsampath wrote: Agreed, but don't spend an inordinate amount of time on the small stuff. If it is 503 words for a 500 word limit, that's really alright. There is no need to spend another 2 hours trying to bring it down to 500 words. Agreed. They are not going to count your words anyway, but they do have a good idea of what a 500 word essay looks like on paper. If you are close to their visual expectations, the exact number of words is not relevant. I personally try to hem myself into the limit, but only because I think it provides discipline and helps me produce better essays.
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