Well, most active and passive basses when you don't use EQ are very similar. After all, the front end of your head is basically an active preamp! An active bass merely moves part of that EQ circuit into the bass where it more convenient to adjust while you are playing.
In the Common Application, it says that the Personal Essay should be at least 250 words, and attached on a separate sheet (presumably, if you're submitting it online, you attach a one-page file).
Six pages is.. well, six pages long. It depends on how big your text is and how big the paper is, and spacing etc, but I am at university in England and find that one page of paragraphed essay in 12-size font with regular spacing (i.e. not double line spacing or anything) is around 500 words...