Secondaries: Do I have to fill all of the space?

[Sarg's kid]

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Ok, I'm in the midst of wading through a mountain of secondaries and I have begun to ponder on the idea of whether or not they really want to read every available character, or if they would appreciate a concise essay.

Meaning, if I'm allowed 2400 characters, but I can get the job done in, say, 1400 characters, would it be better to submit the short version or go through it and "word it up?"

Hope this makes sense. Good luck all.

 

[bretticus]

If it says 2400, I would personally try for at least 2000. But that's just me. I have no clue how they actually look at these things.

On the other hand, Harvard's "What have you been doing since graduation?" was like 4000. I couldn't even come close, and I figured the extra space was reserved for those who'd been out for a lot longer than three months.

 

[CTtarheel]

shoot for at least 2/3. The word limit is a guideline for how much detail they're expecting, but there's no sense in bs-ing to get to a random number of characters.

 

[ClosetNerd]

I'm only taking as much space as I need to answer the question. But if someone offers you 2,000 characters and you answer it in 200 your probably not giving the type of responce they are hoping for.

 

[63768]

if you can't write more than 1400, stop there. as trite as it is, quality over quantity. of course there's a lower limit, but imagining myself as an adcom reader, i'd rather have someone get to the point than to have someone fluff their essay just to fill up the space.