"Can my UT-Austin Essay A and Short Answers Be Longer Than 700 and 300 Words?"
A Mighty big kitty www.kevinwithcats.com
Yes. You can submit MUCH MORE than 750 words for Essay A and more than 300 for each Short Answer on Apply Texas.
I am very aware that my blog posts suggest 750 words for Essay A and 350 words for the Short Answers, and that this suggestion does not align with UT’s suggested 500-700 words or 250-300 word recommendations, respectively. Why UT doesn’t just impose hard word limits like Common App is beyond my comprehension, but so are many things about UT’s supposedly student-centered process.
I’ve gotten this question more than in previous years and I’m not sure why. I confirmed with a UT counselor that reviewers don’t see the word count nor is there any “penalty” or punishment for going over. There isn’t a mechanism in holistic review to “penalize” someone. Counselors and viewers are trained to read what you submit, and since they read your application in 10-12 minutes and sometimes read a few dozen each day. If you’ve got 800 or 900 worth of words to say for Essay A, no big deal.
See, it lets you put in way more than 700 words.
Your UT-Austin essays can be longer than the RECOMMENDED word limits. Neither Apply Texas nor the Coalition Application have hard word limits. Recommended, suggested, and “please keep” does not amount to a strict word limit maximum.
The new “Go Apply Texas” portal that has gone live for Fall 2022 applicants and onward allows up to 500 words for the short answers and around 1,500 words for Essay A, which is an even higher word limit than the previous Apply Texas portal.
Students who are submitting EXACTLY 700 or 300 words are not doing themselves any favors. I know this process has a lot of stress and anxiety, but one place you don’t have to worry is whether your essays for Apply Texas fit perfectly in some word limit because, again to stress, there is no firm word limit maximum.
To further confuse things, Coalition Application “recommends” 550 words, which doesn’t align with anything in particular.
To reiterate, YES you can submit more than 500-750 words on Essay A if you need the extra word space.
No, UT will not deny your application.
No, your reader won’t know how many words you’ve submitted.
No, you won’t be penalized.
If your essays fit into the Apply Texas boxes and it doesn’t cut off your words, it submits. If it fits, you can submit.
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Should your essay exceed the word limit recommendations?
It depends.
Do you have 750-800 words worth of critical, necessary, and interesting content that you need to communicate? If not, then write more concisely, economically, and directly to make your same points in less words.
If your essay is interesting, informative, captures your reader’s attention, and writes concisely, then sure, go for 700-750. What’s in common with my clients’ essays regardless of themes and content is they’re all concise, detailed, and highlight specific experiences unique to that student.
I suggest no more than 850 words for Essay A for no other reason than it probably isn’t necessary to communicate your thoughts in 900 or 950 words. For the short answers, my clients and I work with 350-400 words or so. My clients and I use 750-850 and 350-400 because every word and sentence they’re writing contributes something new.
The Common Application, however, does have a hard word limit maximum of 650, so if you use your Apply Texas Essay A for the Common App, be sure to shorten to 650 or less words. Common App won’t accept one word over 650. Apply Texas and Coalition do.
The reason there is a suggested word limit is because most students essays and applications are not very good. I detail why most applications are poor in this popular post.
You want to avoid wasting your reader’s time writing rambling essays (most essays are rambling, general, vague, cliched, and unclear). I can’t tell you the number of 800 word essays I read during my time at UT where they could have communicated the same in 400 words.
The problem is, fundamentally, that students, even ones with perfect academics and stellar resumes, don’t know or can’t see that their essays aren’t very good.
Some even uploaded digital essays that were 1000+ words, most of which were of poor quality and not needing the additional space.I rolled my eyes, assigned a score reflective of their essay quality, and moved on. Most applications are read in 12 minutes or less, so reviewers don’t have time to even reflect on or ask themselves about the length of a given essay.
Until UT-Austin and Apply Texas impose hard word limits, I suggest using the words you feel are necessary to communicate your points. Fault falls on the university and Apply Texas for these discrepancies.
Again, there are no hard word limits. You can submit up to 800 words on Essay A and 400 on each of the Short Answers.