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Tips on cutting it down to size (overlimit essays)

October 6, 2011 by EssaySnark 14 Comments

We had a great question in the comments to a post last week asking how to cut down an overlimit essay (can’t believe nobody’s asked us this before).

Here’s some advice:

This probably won’t help any of you much, but starting your essays from OUTLINES can be a huge time-saver in the end. If you know what your main points are ahead of time, you can write to those and more likely stay on target, both in terms of messaging, and in length. When our clients do a good job with their outlines, they usually do a good job on the essays themselves, and they don’t end up with bloated monsters.

But, sometimes not.

Once you’ve got your drafts out on the page and you’ve recognized that they are in fact monsters, then you need to take a serious look at what you’re trying to say. Many people are repetitive and redundant and duplicative (get it?) in how they write. They do what’s sometimes called “throat-clearing”: they write a sentence or two of rambly introductory I’m-gonna-tell-you-something-here stuff, and then after a bit of that, they finally come out and say it. Sometimes it’s a rambly whole paragraph.

Here’s an example:

XYZ Business School will help me in achieving my career goals because of the curriculum and the clubs. I want to get involved with the Consulting Club and the Wine Club while I’m on campus.

The first sentence says nothing new. It doesn’t help the reader know anything about the candidate. It could be written by any candidate to any school. It adds no value. The second sentence (is very sucky please do not copy EssaySnark’s lame-o sentence into your essay) has the details of two specific club names. It has (marginal) value. When looking for what to cut vs. keep, always veer towards the specifics.

Try this: One at a time, examine every single sentence, and ask if it’s got:
a) NEW INFORMATION that is:
b) OFFERING CONCRETE DETAILS which are:
c) CRITICAL TO THE STORY.

If not — if it doesn’t meet all three criteria — then that might be an opportunity to tighten.

The first sentence in a paragraph is often superfluous. We frequently see lead-in sentences that are very generic; usually the second sentence in a paragraph has good details, but frequently it’s repetitive to the first one, which is a more vague or generalized idea that doesn’t have anything tangible or specific. Look to those first sentences and make sure they are packing a punch.

Another trick is to cut the sentence, then re-read the paragraph: Does it lose anything? Is the meaning still clear? If so, then maybe you can just leave the sentence out.

Finally, you should never submit an essay immediately after a heavy editing session. Always sleep on it, then come back and re-read, to make sure that you didn’t butcher the meaning with your last round of revision.

Sometimes when Brave Supplicants wrestle with the monster they end up mangling it but it still lives and breathes. More than once, we’ve seen essays deteriorate in the “final edit” stage, so be careful!


You may also be interested in:

  • 3 ways to make your writing appear unprofessional
  • Writing essays? Just. Be. You.
  • Reduce the Fluff Factor

Filed Under: word limits, writing tips

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We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

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Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Here's what others have said about this:

  1. Cheetarah1980 says

    October 9, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    I got 400 words down to 300 because of this advice. Now I actually have the 100 words I need to reflect on what I've learned. Thank you kindly!

    Reply
  2. essaysnark says

    October 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    Great to hear, Cheetarah1980! Sounds like you're gonna have a much more focused essay. Nice job!

    Reply
  3. d says

    February 8, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    Very helpful!

    Reply
  4. eve276 says

    August 25, 2015 at 9:30 am

    I need to cut an analytical essay down from 1000 words to 600 I cant din anything to cut out because its all important!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      August 25, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      https://youtu.be/Jne9t8sHpUc

      Reply
  5. Larry says

    October 27, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    I’ve finally trimmed my 800 words essay to 392 and am still struggling to bring it down to 300. After all the editing and removing, my essay seems to have lost its original spark.

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      October 27, 2015 at 8:57 pm

      Yes, it really can be a struggle – but also keep in mind that if the school has set a word count that’s so low, then they’re not looking for a broad/expansive answer. Being very tightly focused in what you say and narrowing in on literally one single answer to the question often can result in a more powerful and compelling essay.

      But no, it’s not easy!!!!

      Reply
  6. Michelle says

    June 20, 2016 at 12:51 am

    Thanks sooooooooo much for this! Got down from 1400 to 1000 words, so I can breathe in my speech 🙂

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      June 20, 2016 at 12:37 pm

      Yay! Breathing is good!!! 😉 Best of luck on delivering the speech, we hope it goes great for you!

      EssaySnark

      Reply
  7. Help!!! says

    May 10, 2018 at 9:28 am

    Elaborate about cutting down superfluous sentences.

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      May 10, 2018 at 3:47 pm

      Hey there! Can you please elaborate on what you need elaborated on? 🙂

      ‘Cuz this post seems kinda specific on how to do it. What more can we, uh, Help!!! you with to explain it? 😀

      EssaySnark

      Reply
  8. Smithk967 says

    May 29, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    Its really a great and useful piece of information. Im glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing. ccdcddbbdgkedcee

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    April 25, 2019 at 12:44 am

    I\’m trying to get a paper down from 2,378 words to 2,200 words. However, It seems like no matter how much I cut and edit, the gap just gets bigger bit by bit. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      April 25, 2019 at 4:22 pm

      You mean, besides the ones we laid out in this post? 😀

      We can appreciate how challenging this can be, particularly when it seems like you’ve already cut it as much as you can! But truly, every paragraph can be slimmed down further. A 2,378 word paper is about four or five pages (single spaced) and in a piece that long, there’s gonna be plenty o’ opportunities for wordsmithing, condensing, tightening and trimming. If you want to post one of your paragraphs, we’re happy to give you some ideas on how to do that!

      Reply

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