Candidate Statement Word Count??

Usna1212

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2015
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On the application it says that each statement maximum is 2,500 characters and that it is approximately between 250-500 words. My statement is 2,442 characters with 545 words. Is my word count acceptable?
 
Say what you mean! Mean what you say!
If you're satisfied with your essay, I think you're golden.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Only if you don't think that the admission committee wouldn't benefit from reading a few extra punctuation marks. Nothing shows excitement for your choice like a few !!! Go hit the thesaurus, you could easily turn a couple of those acceptable, commonly used words into multiple syllable masterpieces of the English language that will make your RC search out that dictionary they were issued as a plebe.

In all seriousness, if the system takes it, no one in admissions is going to count the number of words. Chances are, you aren't breaking new ground in your essay either. Given your background (demographics, area of the country, type of school, parent profession/military experience, etc), you will write pretty much the exact same topic/points that the other couple hundred kids like you will write. Your RC will be happier with a 250 word essay that gets the point across rather than a rambling 550 word one. +1 to @tug_boat
 
On the application it says that each statement maximum is 2,500 characters and that it is approximately between 250-500 words. My statement is 2,442 characters with 545 words. Is my word count acceptable?
545 words is okay as the key word is "approximately", but if it says 2500 characters "maximum", you had better not go over that, so it looks like you will be A-OK. And don't think for a minute that they will not know if you go over. They do not count your words, but most word processing programs do it automatically. IMO, it's more about following directions and paying attention to detail that is important.
2+ @tug_boat, keep it pithy, but get your message across.
 
Thank you all for the advice, also my essay about diversity is only 185 words. Is that too short?
 
FalconsRock

It seems ActPrep was responding to character count question. 2500 is the limit.
 
Yes. I was responding to the character count part of the OPs question. Anything over 2500 characters will be cut off. Even if it is mid word.

Since you asked, I have seen complete responses to the diversity question written in 150 words.
 
I added a few sentences to the last paragraph and I got up to 243. I just submitted them and the paragraph I had the essays in disappeared an now it's just one big paragraph???
 
It combines the text sometimes and unncessary indentations , spaces, etc. don't worry about it as long as you said what you needed to say efficiently
 
I added a few sentences to the last paragraph and I got up to 243. I just submitted them and the paragraph I had the essays in disappeared an now it's just one big paragraph???
I had the same thing happen to me. I sent an email to the admissions staff asking about it, and they said it does this for everyone's essays. The woman who responded didn't say whether the board sees the actual paragraphs though. I hope when they review the essays they revert back to the original formatting, or my essays may be rather awkward to read!
 
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