How long is an essay?

How long is an essay?

1. Essay length guidelines

   • High school essay: 300–1000 words
   • College admission essay: 200–650 words
   • Undergraduate college essay: 1500–5000 words
   • Graduate school admission essay: 500–1000 words
   • Graduate school essay: 2500–6000 words

2. How long is each part of an essay?

   • Introduction
     • Is usually just one paragraph
     • In longer and more complex essays, over two or three paragraphs
   • Main body
     • should always take up the most space
     • Is where you make your arguments
     • Is where you give your evidence, and develop your ideas
   • Conclusion
     • Is often a single paragraph

3. Length as a guide to topic and complexity

   • Not only tell you how long your essay should be
   • it also helps to know how much information and complexity you need
   • guide the development of your thesis statement
   • Defines how much time you will need

4. Can I go under the suggested length?

   • Add more evidence and examples
   • develop your points in more detail
   • Address a different aspect of your topic
   • Don’t use filler
   • Don’t fixate on an exact number

5. Can I go over the suggested length?

   • you are allowed to exceed the upper word limit by 10%
   • cut out irrelevant information
   • Make sure each paragraph focuses on one point
   • Cut out filler words