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soak
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 04:56
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Hi,

So I my application process is coming to an end :lol: and I really like how my essays turned out BUT they are all about a page too long (double spaced). I have passed them on to friends to review and chop down, but most of my friends are stuck on what to cut as well.

My GMAT score is in the lower end of the 80th percentile range :( , so I need my essays to point out all my other strengths. Because of this, I am hesitant to get rid of certain details in my essays. I also do not want to ruin the flow of the essay. Any hints or thoughts on how I can shorten my essays? What details should I definitely leave in and what type of details can I get rid of?

Also, will a school disregard your essays if they are longer than the suggested length? Or will a school stop reading your essays at a certain point if the essays exceed the max. length?

Thanks a ton!
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 06:17
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You can leave the key details in the essay that will answer the main question that is asked in the essay.

For everything else, include the details in the optional essay.
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 06:20
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Thanks for this...one more q

Are there small ways to cheat (expand margins slightly, change font style/size)?
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nink
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 06:29
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soak
Thanks for this...one more q

Are there small ways to cheat (expand margins slightly, change font style/size)?
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Wouldn't really mess with that. Adcoms go through tons of essays. You wanna make sure the format of your essay is esay on their eyes.
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 09:48
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soak
Thanks for this...one more q

Are there small ways to cheat (expand margins slightly, change font style/size)?
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I actually did this for one of my Fuqua essays.

By decreasing the margins by 0.15" on either side, I shortened the essay by three lines! It just so happened that a lot of the lines were quite short due to word choice. The extra 0.3" allowed the whole thing to fit in one page.

I would be VERY careful doing this. It's very easy to change things too much and then it looks obvious and takes from the professional nature of the essays.

In terms of cutting for length, I just went through and asked myself "If I cut out this sentence, will I still get my point across?". If the answer was yes, I cut it. I was able to get quite a few essays from 750+ down to 500 that way.

RF
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Essays need to be shorten...hints? 02 Apr 2009, 11:02
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These tips are really helpful...thanks so much!