Question about word limit for secondaries

[healingwave]

I am writing a couple of secondaries and I feel that 500 words is a lot for some of the questions they ask. There is a question where I only used 200 words. Is it bad to not get close to the max word limit?

 

[Fluffy123]

I think the correct answer is if you feel you answered the question to the best of your ability, than that is fine. I used 250-350 words for most of my secondaries regardless of word limit (unless it was like 150 in which I downsized) and rarely ever hit the word limit

 

[summergirl]

I always try to hit at least 65% of the word limit. Most of my answers are around 75%-90%. I think the word limit is there to give you an idea of the level of detail they are looking for, but if there's really not much to talk about for a particular question in your case, and you feel you are being detailed enough, then I don't think having a low word count is a problem. I'd still recommend you to hit at least 50% though.

 

[ladyesperance]

I agree with the previous comments. It really depends if you feel like you've fully answered the question. They want to hear your story, but they don't want rambling that doesn't add anything of value. Remember, they are reading through thousands of applications. Interesting and to the point responses are what catches their attention. I would also recommend trying to fulfill half of the word limit, but if you fall short of that and you feel like you've clearly stated your point, then that's okay too 🙂

(I personally wrote about 250-300 words for a 500 word limit response.)