For secondary essays with no word limit, how long is too long?

[779663]

I'm in the process of writing a secondary essay right now, and I have a lot to say on the issue. They didn't provide a maximum length, so i figure that allows me the freedom to speak about everything that i want to.

I know that being concise is important, so I'm trying my best to avoid going on rants and tangents, I still think the essay may come out quite lengthy (1500 words) maybe.

Is this too long? I think it's a good essay but I don't want it to be held against me that i wrote all of that. Conversely, they may be pleased to see that i have a lot to say on an issue that is important to the school.

What are your thoughts on this?

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[Neurality]

I have a few thoughts on this and I hope it is helpful! Is it a single essay or are there multiple essays?

I think the ~1,500 word count is appropriate if it is a single essay. If there are 4 or more, I would try to limit it to about 500 words and try to touch more on what you want to say through the other essays. If there are only 2 essays, maybe 750-1,000 would be okay. I know the word count for the essays I completed (In which there were 3 or more) were 500 words except for one school which had one essay with a 1,500 word limit.

Either way, I would try to be concise but word it in a way that highlights your strengths and how they align with the mission of the school. Also, keep in mind that committees are reading hundreds of secondaries after as many primaries; so the fewer the word count, the better. Good Luck!

 

[779663]

I have a few thoughts on this and I hope it is helpful! Is it a single essay or are there multiple essays?

I think the ~1,500 word count is appropriate if it is a single essay. If there are 4 or more, I would try to limit it to about 500 words and try to touch more on what you want to say through the other essays. If there are only 2 essays, maybe 750-1,000 would be okay. I know the word count for the essays I completed (In which there were 3 or more) were 500 words except for one school which had one essay with a 1,500 word limit.

Either way, I would try to be concise but word it in a way that highlights your strengths and how they align with the mission of the school. Also, keep in mind that committees are reading hundreds of secondaries after as many primaries; so the fewer the word count, the better. Good Luck!

It's only one essay and the total count turned out to be just under 1,100 words.

 

[DameJulie]

IMHO 500 words is the limit for me to read without having too much pause.