Words limit of SOP

[IR LeLaH]

Hi everyone! I really need some help. I am currently editing my SOP for a graduate program. According to the requirement of the program, the SOP should be approximately 500 words... My essay is about 570 and I feel like I cannot downsize it anymore. Will it be a problem if I just submit the 570 words SOP? 

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

[Lisa44201]

5-10 words is more or less un-noticeable (unless you submit your apps electronically and they look at the word count); more than that, and you'll stand out for the wrong reasons. Think of it as a test of your ability to follow directions.

[Munashi]

I had a POI tell me that if I was "20 or so" words over, they wouldn't hold it against me.  I cut it down to be precisely 500.  I just didn't want to give anyone a reason to turn me away because of a few extra words (not that they necessarily would, but hey).  Maybe you should write to your program or faculty contact and ask their opinion?

 

I think Lisa^ is right, it is a way to see if you can follow directions.

[TakeruK]

Depends on how the word limit is phrased. If it is a strict limit, then I would not go over by more than 1% (i.e. 5 words in this case). But if it is as you said, "approximately" 500 words, I would read that as "up to 10% variation". I doubt that your words will be literally counted when the limit is "approximate" because anything that is grossly long would be noticeable by people who have read tons of 500 word essays in a row. So, in your shoes, I would maybe pare it down a little, to be closer to 550 words.

 

Note that this is just my personal opinion/interpretation of the word limit -- if you are truly worried then it's probably best to contact the department directly.

[Loric]

Hi everyone! I really need some help. I am currently editing my SOP for a graduate program. According to the requirement of the program, the SOP should be approximately 500 words... My essay is about 570 and I feel like I cannot downsize it anymore. Will it be a problem if I just submit the 570 words SOP? 

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

 

When you're 70 words or more over and you don't have "permission" from the admissions adviser it's very likely you'll have someone on the adcomm who goes..

 

"Did not follow instructions. Eww."

 

And on their little rubric of your SOP they'll mark you down, regardless of if its the greatest thing they ever read.

 

It's entirely possible they wont care, but unlike say.. having one too many letters of reccomendation (which most schools will overlook) submitting writing that's too long is taken a personal offense by many people in academia. You essentially gave them more work to do.

 

Would you be happy if your job was "make 8 widgets" and then someone comes along and says "I need 2 extra widgets.. you get no extra time, no extra money, but do it.."  Once, you might not be upset.. then someone else does it.. then someone else.. then you've got 2x as many widgets to make and no extra time or resources. At that point you start to become hostile toward the people requesting extra widgets.

 

That's what the people reading papers are like. They have been burned by people who turn in things 4-5-10x as long as the requested length. So any noticeable amount over is going to provoke them into rage mode.

[IR LeLaH]

Thank you guys! I contacted the department but they haven't reply. I think I'm going to cut it down to 500..