You’ve written a great essay, finished editing, and are proud of what you’ve accomplished. It tells the story of you, as a person and scholar, and shows you in a great light. But when you go to put it into the Common App, your essay is over the allotted word count, and won’t fit. What do you do?
The essays you’ll have to write for colleges have a strict word count (generally, some schools use alternate methods, but all restrict your space in some way; Rutgers, for example, counts your letters). This is often a challenge for our students, who either struggle to meet the word count or, more often, struggle to cut their essays to fit it.
In this article, we’ll share tips and tricks for cutting essays to fit into a strict word count, and a few for making sure your essays aren’t too short.
Paring Down
The first thing to be aware of is that strict wordcount edits is one of the final steps when editing an essay. We recommend your essays stay within 20-30 words of the limit if you’re over in draft form, but it’s fine to play with the extra space while drafting. Paying strict attention to your word count while writing can limit your creativity, but you should be tangentially aware of it. If your final draft is more than 100 words over the count, you may need to lose an entire paragraph.
Here’s our quick guide to how much you’ll likely need to cut based on how far you are over the word count:
- 200+ Words over: Long paragraphs, consider reformatting the essay entirely.
- 100+ Words over: Paragraphs, possibly sections of longer paragraphs.
- 50+ Words over: Several sentences, sections of paragraphs.
- 20+ Words over: Sentences.
- Less than 10 words over: Individual words.
Cutting Paragraphs
If you need to cut entire paragraphs, you may need to reconsider the structure of your essay as a whole. Read through each paragraph and determine: a) how it contributes to the essay as a whole, and b) whether it is necessary for the structure of the essay.
Print out a copy of your essay, and read through it, while writing beside each paragraph what the main point is, and how it builds on the story of the essay. If you can’t answer those questions, you can cut that paragraph without hurting the overall story you’re telling.
If you find that some parts of a paragraph are necessary, but most are extraneous, then cut what isn’t needed, and leave the remainder either as a stand-alone paragraph, or fold it into another paragraph where it will fit well.
Cutting Sentences
This is similar in some ways to cutting paragraphs, but on a smaller scale. If you’ve done the exercise with paragraphs, you know what each is saying about your journey through the essay, and how it contributes to the overall message. Now, when reading through a single paragraph, see how each sentence within it contributes to what the paragraph is saying.
Does this sentence add necessary detail, advance the audience’s understanding of what you experienced, or share development you underwent? How does this sentence add to the overall story told by the paragraph?
Sentences which add unnecessary details or repeat information you’ve already stated can be cut. Look for redundancies in detail, language, or phrasing; never say the same thing twice in one paragraph. Repeating information lessens its impact when you have limited verbal real estate.
You may only have to cut one sentence, or you may have to cut several through the essay. Either way, this is an easier way to bring an essay down to word count than cutting individual words, as you remove larger pieces at once.
Cutting Words
Oddly, this is the most difficult of the cutting options, because words affect the flow and tempo of a sentence; a well crafted sentence has a natural flow and cadence, and the reader speaks it aloud in their mind. Removing words can interrupt this flow, like a boulder in a stream, which makes choosing how and where to cut words challenging.
The first thing to look for is redundancies, where several words say the same thing in a sentence. While redundant adjectives can be used to prove a point, unless this is an overarching theme in your essay, these are the first and easiest to cut.
Next, look for places where you use many words which can be rephrased using fewer. This is a difficult concept to grasp just from reading it, so we’ve included some examples below:
- Only then did I realize what I had been missing this entire time.
- Then I realized what I’d been missing the entire time
- Once you learn the lessons of the sea, you can never really forget them.
- The lessons of the sea, once learnt, are unforgettable.
- I saw two roads split apart in front of me, each leading to something I desperately wanted.
- I saw two roads diverge before me, each leading to something I desperately wanted.
This is not a good technique to cut many words, but is instead to make the final push, and take an essay that’s almost at the proper word count down to where it needs to be. This should only be done after cutting sentences or paragraphs, as it isn’t a good way to cut more than 5-10 words from an essay.
A final note: If you are using Google Docs to draft your essay, it will count hyphenated words as a single word, whereas the Common App will count them as two. Be aware of this when trying to cut an essay down to size.
What if You’re Under Word Count?
This depends on how far under word count you are. If you’re within 50 words of the limit, you’re fine not exactly meeting the word count, so long as your essay is solid. Don’t disrupt a strong essay by trying to exactly meet a word count.
If you’re more than 100 words under the limit, you should consider the structure of your essay. Have you said everything that needs to be said? Are details clear without being overwhelming? Does your essay transition naturally from one paragraph to the next? Is there anything unclear or under-explained?
These are all places where adding more detail can help. Your essay should flow naturally, and not leave readers confused at the end of it. Transitions link paragraphs naturally, and shouldn’t be sudden or jarring.
Finally, consider your use of adjectives; can you use more of them to spice up your essay and give it more personality? Adjectives help define the tone and mood of an essay; processions may be somber or lively, victory triumphant or bitter-sweet. Adjectives help convey your emotions and thoughts on what’s being discussed to the reader. Don’t over use them, but including them in key places reinforces the message of the essay.
Final Thoughts
Not every college has strict word count requirements for their essays (notably MIT, though they do ask you to limit excesses of the pen), but the majority do. Making an essay fit within the allotted word count is a challenge, and that’s part of the test colleges set by giving the essays. They want to know you can express yourself, and do it well, and importantly do it concisely. Using a few words to say a lot is a skill, and one that colleges like to see.
If you’re having trouble even starting your essay, check out our article here. We know college essays can be stressful, as they are like nothing else you’ve written before, and unlike anything else you’ll write again. If you want further guidance on college essays, or anything else in the admissions process, schedule a free consultation today. We’re always eager to help students get into the college that’s best for them.
