Secondary Essays with low word limits . . .

[87138]

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For schools' secondaries that have limits of 250 words or so (not very long at all) for essays, how is everyone structuring them? Are you just jumping right into the topic, or are you trying to do some sort of abbreviated introduction?

For example, for the "ethical/moral dilemma" essay that I believe appears on both Pitt and UMich, are you just diving in with "When I was 14 . . . " or are you setting it up with some BS about ethics and morals and such?

 

[146233]

Jump to the point, man. They set a low word limit in part to save themselves reading and in part to force you to be concise. Don't put fluff in it - would you do that in an interview? Just answer the question and move on. Good luck.

 

[gujuDoc]

Jump to the point, man. They set a low word limit in part to save themselves reading and in part to force you to be concise. Don't put fluff in it - would you do that in an interview? Just answer the question and move on. Good luck.

+1. I completely agree with this advice.

 

[TheRealMD]

People should realize that secondary essays are not gases that expand to fill their container. 😛

 

[87138]

People should realize that secondary essays are not gases that expand to fill their container. 😛

Haha, gotcha. I've been approaching these types of essays in a concise manner, but then suddenly had a "what if this isn't formal enough since there's no thorough beginning/middle/end in a nice package" and then realized it's only 250 freakin' words.

 

[gujuDoc]

Haha, gotcha. I've been approaching these types of essays in a concise manner, but then suddenly had a "what if this isn't formal enough since there's no thorough beginning/middle/end in a nice package" and then realized it's only 250 freakin' words.

Think of the difference between a series of questions like this and a personal statement as being similar between the difference between a short answer question and essay question on a test.

The former will require a few lines of info in neat sentences while the latter will require a full out essay with intro, middle, and end.