College essays how long

This will give you enough space to demonstrate your interest and help readers learn about you! Want to see some real examples of essays written by students just like you? Check out our guide to personal statements and scholarship essays! For more info about college admission and scholarship essays and interviews, sign up for self-paced courses and our award-winning StoryBuilder writing platform FREE at story2.

Want to stay up to date on the latest tips and resources? Follow us story2 on Instagram! About Blog Free Resources. College essay word count limits Most colleges do provide a word count limit or range. Personal statements The primary essay for your college application, often called a personal statement, is typically around words. Topics: college admissions college essays essay writing tips. Students are asked to respond to any four of the questions, with their answers topping out at words.

Additionally, some schools request a few supplemental essays, which are typically shorter than a personal statement. Most schools require supplemental essays, though some may require more or none at all see our list of top colleges without supplements. These supplemental essays tend to be around words, though some may be just as long as your main essay. For example, UPenn requires lengthy special program supplements.

Students applying to the Computer and Cognitive Science: Artificial Intelligence Program for the academic year were asked to write words explaining their interest in the major. For best results, keep your essays within the word range provided.

For the Common App, also try to stay within words, even though the given range is Although most schools provide applicants with a specific word count, some offer more general guidelines.

For example, a college may ask for a particular number of pages or paragraphs. If you go substantially past the word limit, you risk having your essay cut off by an online application form or having the admissions officer just not finish it.

And if you're too far under the word limit, you may not be elaborating enough. What if there is no word limit? Then how long should a college essay be? In general, around words is a pretty safe approximate word amount for a college essay—it's one of the most common word limits, after all! If it's a writing sample of your graded academic work, the length either doesn't matter or there should be some loose page guidelines.

There also may be implicit length guidelines. For example, if a prompt says to write three paragraphs, you'll know that writing six sentences is definitely too short, and two single-spaced pages is definitely too long.

You might not be able to find length guidelines in the prompt, but you could still hunt them up elsewhere on the website.

Try checking FAQs or googling your chosen school name with "admissions essay word limit. Need to ask a teacher or friend for help with your essay? See our do's and dont's to getting college essay advice. If you're lacking in essay inspiration, see our guide to brainstorming college essay ideas.

And here's our guide to starting out your essay perfectly! Looking for college essay examples? See 11 places to find college essay examples and essay examples with analysis! We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:.

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process.

Ask questions; get answers. How to Get a Perfect , by a Perfect Scorer. Score on SAT Math. Score on SAT Reading. Score on SAT Writing. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? How to Get a Perfect 4. How to Write an Amazing College Essay.

A Comprehensive Guide. Choose Your Test. How Long Is a College Essay? First, Check the Word Limit You might be used to turning in your writing assignments on a page-limit basis. College essay prompts usually provide the word limit right in the prompt or in the instructions.

For example, the University of Illinois says : " You'll also answer one essay prompt as part of your application. Weigh your words carefully, because they are limited! How Flexible Is the Word Limit? However, I advise against exceeding the word limit unless it's explicitly allowed for a few reasons: First, you might not be able to. This can be a little stressful, but the prompts generally fall into a few categories: Writing Sample Some colleges don't provide a hard-and-fast word limit because they want a writing sample from one of your classes.

For an example of this kind of prompt, check out essay Option B at Amherst : "Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities.

Ellen McCammon. About the Author. Search the Blog Search.