How strict are HBS & Kellogg recommendation letter lengths?

Question

Long story short, I applied to 1 very selective program last year that had the standard 2 questions with a 1,000 word limit total. This year, I am applying to more schools but using the same recommenders who will submit essentially the same letters.

Very annoyingly, HBS and Kellogg have the same 2 questions as basically every school but with completely different word counts than the other schools (550 total). My question is, how strict are HBS and Kellogg about these lower word counts and should I ask my recommenders to spend their valuable free time trimming their work? I hate to do this, because I would hate for them to chop valuable information (and waste their time)....

I would prefer to tell them it's okay to submit the 1,000 word versions they are using for every other school, but if it could hurt my application of course I will ask them. I feel like they can't fault the applicant based on the length of letter submitted. Is there a rule of thumb for this? Maybe I could ask them to trim a bit but not to the extreme of 550 words vs. 1000...perhaps to around ~700.

Appreciate any and all thoughts!

kodiakiron · Answer

I would say that you should get the essays as short as you can without damaging the story. That will allow you to cut the fat out and your essay will be better regardless.

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checkersandeggs · Answer

lmao thank you, but I'm not asking about my personal essays. I agree with you on that, but I'm asking about recc. letter length which is not my editing.

unraveled · Answer

It's usually preferable to submit letters without exceeding word limit - either you or your recommenders, doesn't matter. If you have seen their letter and you are sure that it can be shortened then help them to shorten.

Whether there are 700 words or 1000 it would violate the word limit condition. So, why not 1000 word letter then, which does your work better.

Also, take advice from applicants from previous years in respective B-School threads.

freedom128 · Answer

Just follow the guidelines and you will have peace of mind. You can exceed a little bit (50 words max), but not more than that

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How strict are HBS & Kellogg recommendation letter lengths?

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