Helpful Suggestions On How Long A College Entrance Essay Should Be

A college entrance essay may be the last hurdle that you need to overcome before joining your school of choice. It must be thorough, detailed and convey that the school needs you. You are basically making a sales pitch of yourself.

With this in mind, you need to know how long your essay needs to be. While it should demonstrate your mastery of language, style and knowledge of the subject, it should also come to an end at some point.

Choosing the length

There are several tips to guide you in determining the length of an essay.

Common Application Colleges

There are nearly 600 schools and colleges that use the Common Application essay. It is done online and has a limit of 600 words. Thus, you need to check whether the college you are applying to is using the Common Application.

For the Common Application, you’ll have a choice of five topics. The current five are as below:

  • A problem that you solved or would like to solve.
  • A belief that you challenged.
  • An accomplishment that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood.
  • An experience of failure and what you learned.
  • Your background, talents, and ideas.

You can then choose the one that you think you can excel at using 600 words.

Other colleges

For those schools not using the Common Application, you’ll need to keep a few tips in mind.

  • College specifications. Some colleges will outright specify to you the number of words to use. Adhere strictly to this especially because you are still being checked out. A long essay will not only be unimpressive but may be tossed out.
  • When there are no specifications, try and keep a 500 words maximum. It can basically fit on one page and makes for easy reading. Also, if you are asked to lengthen it, you can just expand on your earlier points. There are a few tips to keep this in check:
    • Have all your points ready. This means that you can state all your points from memory.
    • Read the question and from it write an introduction while listing your points.
    • On a rough draft, write out what you think is most important for each point. Write three sentences explaining this significance and give one example.
    • Now write all this in your paper using one paragraph for each point.
    • Read the question again and write your conclusion. In your conclusion, use a single paragraph.
    • Read through your writing to ensure that it is answering the question asked.

Depending on the college that you are applying to, you will now be able to choose the length of your entrance essay wisely. Always keep it brief and to the point.

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