How Important Are Essay Word Limits? This is a very popular topic in the discussion boards we moderate, so here’s the official Clear Admit stance on MBA essay lengths:
As a rule, candidates should try to stay within +/- 10% of the suggested word limits for their essays. It is important to keep in mind that the admissions person reading your file may also have 10-15 other files to get through in a sitting, so if you consistently extend your answers beyond the suggested limits you are asking them to give you more time than they are devoting to the other applicants. In other words, if you were to ignore the word limits and overshoot by 20% throughout, you are essentially saying that you are 20% more interesting than everyone else who applied. Although there are certainly times where this may be true, it is rarely the case.
Caveat #1: If a school gives you a range (e.g. 250-750 words), you should stay within that range.
Caveat #2: If a school gives you a page limit (e.g. 2 pages), you should stay within that limit – without excessive margin manipulation.
Caveat #3: It is likely a bad idea to consistently fall 10% below the word limits, since this means that you are depriving yourself of additional space in which to communicate elements of your candidacy.
Scheduling Change
Clear Admit’s Alex Brown will be appearing as a panelist at the World MBA Tour in Washington DC this Thursday night (September 22nd) instead of in Philadelphia tonight. The MBA discussion panel, which was originally scheduled as a part of the Philadelphia World MBA Tour, has been moved to the Washington DC event. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience due to this scheduling change.
