How Long Is An Essay In College

How Long is an Essay? Guidelines for Unlike Types of Essay

Published on Jan 28, 2019 past Shona McCombes. Revised on December six, 2021.

The length of an academic essay varies depending on your level and discipline of report, departmental guidelines, and specific course requirements. In general, an essay is a shorter piece of writing than a research newspaper or thesis.

In most cases, your consignment volition include articulate guidelines on the number of words or pages you are expected to write. Frequently this will be a range rather than an exact number (for instance, 2500–3000 words, or ten–12 pages). If you're not sure, always check with your instructor.

In this commodity you lot'll notice some general guidelines for the length of different types of essay. Just keep in heed that quality is more of import than quantity – focus on making a strong argument or analysis, not on hit a specific word count.

Essay length guidelines

Type of essay	Average word count range	Essay content
High school essay	300–1000 words	In high school you lot are often asked to write a 5-paragraph essay, composed of an introduction, iii torso paragraphs, and a determination.
Higher admission essay	200–650 words	College applications crave a brusque personal essay to express your interests and motivations. This more often than not has a strict word limit.
Undergraduate college essay	1500–5000 words	The length and content of essay assignments in college varies depending on the establishment, section, course level, and syllabus.
Graduate school admission essay	500–k words	Graduate schoolhouse applications usually require a longer personal statement and/or argument of purpose detailing your academic achievements and motivations.
Graduate school essay	2500–6000 words	Graduate-level assignments vary by institution and subject field, but are likely to include longer essays or enquiry papers.

How long is each function of an essay?

In an academic essay, the chief body should always take upwardly the most space. This is where you lot make your arguments, give your prove, and develop your ideas.

The introduction should be proportional to the essay'due south length. In an essay under 3000 words, the introduction is usually just one paragraph. In longer and more complex essays, yous might demand to lay out the background and introduce your argument over two or 3 paragraphs.

The conclusion of an essay is often a unmarried paragraph, fifty-fifty in longer essays. Information technology doesn't have to summarize every step of your essay, simply should tie together your master points in a curtailed, convincing way.

What can proofreading do for your paper?

Scribbr editors not only right grammer and spelling mistakes, just as well strengthen your writing by making sure your paper is free of vague language, redundant words and awkward phrasing.

See editing case

Using length as a guide to topic and complexity

The suggested word count doesn't just tell you how long your essay should exist – it as well helps you work out how much information and complexity you tin can fit into the given infinite. This should guide the development of your thesis statement, which identifies the master topic of your essay and sets the boundaries of your overall argument.

A short essay volition need a focused, specific topic and a clear, straightforward line of argument. A longer essay should nonetheless be focused, but it might telephone call for a broader approach to the topic or a more complex, ambitious argument.

As you lot make an outline of your essay, make sure yous have a clear idea of how much evidence, detail and argumentation will be needed to support your thesis. If you notice that you don't have enough ideas to make full out the word count, or that you need more infinite to make a convincing case, then consider revising your thesis to exist more full general or more specific.

The length of the essay also influences how much time you will need to spend on editing and proofreading.

Tin I go under the suggested length?

You lot should always aim to meet the minimum length given in your assignment. If you are struggling to reach the word count:

Add together more evidence and examples to each paragraph to analyze or strengthen your points.
Make sure yous have fully explained or analyzed each example, and endeavour to develop your points in more particular.
Accost a different aspect of your topic in a new paragraph. This might involve revising your thesis statement to brand a more ambitious argument.

Don't use filler. Adding unnecessary words or complicated sentences will make your essay weaker and your argument less clear.
Don't fixate on an verbal number. Your marker probably won't care well-nigh 50 or 100 words – information technology'south more important that your statement is convincing and adequately developed for an essay of the suggested length.

Can I go over the suggested length?

In some cases, you are allowed to exceed the upper discussion limit by ten% – so for an assignment of 2500–3000 words, you could write an absolute maximum of 3300 words. However, the rules depend on your course and establishment, then always check with your instructor if yous're unsure.

Simply exceed the discussion count if it'southward actually necessary to complete your argument. Longer essays take longer to grade, so avoid annoying your mark with extra work! If you are struggling to edit down:

Check that every paragraph is relevant to your argument, and cut out irrelevant or out-of-place information.
Brand sure each paragraph focuses on i signal and doesn't meander.
Cutting out filler words and brand certain each sentence is articulate, curtailed, and related to the paragraph's indicate.

Don't cutting anything that is necessary to the logic of your argument. If you remove a paragraph, make sure to revise your transitions and fit all your points together.
Don't sacrifice the introduction or conclusion. These paragraphs are crucial to an effective essay –make sure yous leave enough space to thoroughly introduce your topic and decisively wrap up your argument.