essay word count requirement

Writing requirements by college

This resource provides guidance to students on what writing questions they can expect within individual college questions!

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How Long Should Your College Essay Be? What Is the Ideal Length?

What’s covered: , personal statement length vs. supplemental essay length, are college essay word limits hard, what if a college essay word count isn’t given, what if you need to submit a graded paper, where to get your essays edited.

Students often spend hours agonizing over the best topics for their college essays. While it’s natural to wonder whether your personal statement is original or compelling enough, there’s one aspect of the process that shouldn’t cause you undue stress—how many words should a college essay be? Fortunately, with a little research, you can uncover the ideal college essay length for all your applications.

Unlike high school assignments, which typically have a strict page requirement, most colleges provide a word limit or word range for their application essays. This practice helps ensure that essays are the same length regardless of font or formatting. A good guideline is that students should strive to get as close as possible to the upper limit of the word range without exceeding it. Keep reading to learn more about best practices for college essay length.

How many words should a college essay be? Personal statements are generally 500-650 words. For example, the Common Application , which can be used to apply to more than 800 colleges, requires an essay ranging from 250-650 words . Similarly, the Coalition Application , which has 150 member schools, features an essay with a recommended length of 500-650 words.

650 words is the most common limit for your personal statement, but some schools may ask students to write more or less. For example, ApplyTexas , a platform used to apply to Texas public universities and other select colleges, requests essays with requirements that vary by school. For example, students applying to UT Austin will need to submit an essay of 500-700 words, along with three short-answer questions of 250-300 words each.

On the other hand, the University of California (UC) application includes a Personal Insight section with eight prompts . Students are asked to respond to any four of these prompts, with each response topping out at 350 words.

Additionally, some schools request a few supplemental essays, which are typically shorter than a personal statement. These questions are designed to gain more information about a student’s interests and abilities, and may include topics like your reasons for wanting to attend their school, your desired major, or your favorite activity.

Most schools require 1-3 supplemental essays, though some may require more or none at all (see our list of top colleges without supplemental essays ). These essays tend to be around 250 words, but some may be just as long as your main essay. For example, Cornell requires applicants to write a second supplemental essay (of 650 words max) that is specific to the program they’re applying to. The exception to this is the Cornell College of Engineering, for which applicants are required to compose two supplemental essays of 250 words max each.

For best results, keep your essays within the word range provided. While you don’t have to hit the count exactly, you should aim to stay within a 10% difference of the upper limit—without including fluff or filler. For example, if the school requests 500 words, try to ensure that your essay is between 450 and 500 words.

For the Common App, try to stay within 550-650 words, even though the given range is 250-650. Any submission shorter than 500 words will make it look as though you simply didn’t care enough to give your best effort. An essay shorter than 500 words won’t be long enough to truly share who you are and what matters to you.

Exceeding the word count isn’t an option—the application portal cuts off anything over the maximum number of allowed words. This is something you want to be particularly careful of if you’re drafting your essay in a Word or Google document and pasting it into the application.

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 aren’t given a word count, try to adhere to the best practices and conventions of writing. Avoid writing especially short or overly long paragraphs—250 words per paragraph is generally a safe upper limit. If you’re asked to write a certain number of pages, single- or double-spaced, stick to a standard font and font size (like 12-point Times New Roman).

In the event that the college doesn’t offer any guidelines at all, aim for an essay length of around 500 words.

While essays are the most commonly requested writing sample, some colleges ask for additional pieces of content. For example, Princeton University requires students to submit a previously graded paper for evaluation .

Princeton offers guidelines that cover length, but if another school requests an old paper and doesn’t offer length requirements, a paper ranging from 3-5 pages should yield the best results. The goal is to select a paper long enough to showcase your writing skills and unique voice, but short enough that the admissions officer doesn’t get bored reading it.

Is your essay effective while staying within the required word count? It’s hard to evaluate your own writing, especially after rereading it numerous times. CollegeVine’s free Peer Essay Review provides an opportunity to have your essay reviewed by a fellow student, for free. Similarly, you can help other students by reviewing their essays—this is a great way to refine your own writing skills.

Expert advice is also available. CollegeVine’s advisors are prepared to help you perfect your personal statement and submit a successful application to your top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Blog > Application Strategy , Essay Advice > College Essay Requirements: Everything You Need to Know

College Essay Requirements: Everything You Need to Know

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

College essays, also called personal statements, are essays that most colleges require students to write as part of their applications for admission.

We have a giant comprehensive guide on how to write college essays . But this post goes a little more in detail on the specific requirements you should meet when writing your personal statement for college.

Most students write a college essay for a centralized application system called the Common Application. The Common Application has its own standardized requirements for you to meet.

But you’re not just looking at logistical requirements like length and prompt choice. You also need to know answers to those intangible questions about what a college essay should actually DO.

In this post, we’ll start with the basics and end with a detailed discussion about those unspoken requirements for what your college essay needs to look like.

How long should a college essay be?

A college essay should be within the assigned word count requirements. The maximum word length for the Common Application personal statement (and other systems, like Coalition) is 650 words . That’s almost a page and a half single-spaced or nearly three pages double-spaced if you’re writing on a word processor.

What happens if you go under the word limit on a college essay?

To be clear, you do not have to write exactly 650 words to write a good Common Application essay.

A good rule of thumb that we use with our students is to get to about 80% of the word count. For the Common App essay, that would mean your goal should be to get to at least 520 words.

If you’re in the 520 to 650 range, it’s unlikely that an admissions officer would even think about your word count.

But if your essay doesn’t hit the 520 mark, then the length starts to raise some questions.

In particular, admissions officers might start scrutinizing whether you put enough time and effort into your essay. Don’t add words just to add words, but make sure your essay is fully developed enough to fall within the word length requirements.

What happens if you go over the word limit on a college essay?

Several things might happen if your essay is too long. You might be automatically cut off by the application system. Even if you are able to submit your essay, an admissions officer might stop reading when they notice that it’s too long. Or, worse, if your essay is over the word count because your language is long and rambling, you might bore an admissions officer.

For these reasons, it’s best to stay at or below the word limit.

If your essay is just a little too long, try these tips for cutting words:

• Cut any unnecessary tangents that don’t contribute to the overall theme of your essay.
• Eliminate cliche phrases or unnecessary idioms.
• Delete filler phrases like “in order to” or unnecessary adverbs like “really” or “very.”

If your essay is way over the word count, there’s a good chance you’re trying to do too many things at once. Take a step back and make sure your essay only has one main focus (and see our college essay writing guide for tips).

Can I submit an essay I’ve written for another class?

One of the Common Application prompts often looks something like this:

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

If that’s a prompt option, then you may be wondering whether you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle and submit an essay that you’ve already written, maybe even an essay from one of your classes.

While doing so is technically allowed by the prompt, we do not advise that you submit an essay you’ve written for something previously.

Why do we not recommend this?

Because personal statements have such a specific purpose (more on that in a minute), anything you’ve already written likely won’t fit the bill.

School assignments and past essays won’t say nearly enough about who you are. Admissions officers might enjoy a history essay you wrote about the French Revolution, but it probably won’t give them the information they need to confidently admit you.

Who reads college essays anyway, and what do they expect of you?

College essays are most commonly read by admissions officers. Admissions officers work for the undergraduate office of admission at the institution you’re applying to. While different offices have different practices, these admissions officers are generally full-time university employees. They often did not attend the university at which they work, though sometimes they did.

College admissions officers are generally assigned a regional territory, so they work with students and read applications from that territory. That means that if you go to most college admissions pages, you should be able to find your admissions counselor by inputting your geographic information. If you want, you can reach out to this person with any questions about the institution or application process.

Now on to the bigger question: what do they expect of you?

What an admissions officer expects from your college application essay depends on the kind of institution for which they work. Admissions officers at schools with lower acceptance rates, for example, will have higher expectations than those at schools with higher acceptance rates.

But across the board, there are a few things admissions officers expect from your college essays.

These expectations come from unspoken understandings of what a college essay should say and do.

The next section breaks down the five biggest college essay writing requirements you should try to follow.

College Essay Conventions

College essay requirements are about more than responding to a prompt and meeting a certain word count. They’re also about fulfilling the expectations that readers have of college essays. College essays are all about creating a cohesive narrative across your application. To help you accomplish that, there are a few conventions you should be aware of.

Tell a meaningful story about who you are

Why do college essays exist? They are an opportunity to tell admissions officers something about who you are as a person. As we know from our time as admissions officers ourselves, it can be difficult to truly understand who a person is from facts and figures alone. Transcripts and test scores tell us very little about your values, goals, and personality.

College essays should therefore communicate something meaningful about who you are. And when we say “meaningful,” we really mean it. College essays aren’t surface-level stuff. They get to the core of your background and motivations.

That doesn’t mean you have to write about your deepest, darkest secrets. But it does mean that you have to go below the surface to reveal a genuine personal insight.

Write vulnerably and authentically.

This tip is an extension of the previous one. To write a meaningful essay, you’ll need to write vulnerably and authentically.

Some college essays are just pleasantries that are so generic they could have been written by anybody.

The best college essays are ones that are written in your own voice. They open up a part of you that is normally reserved for close family and friends. They skip the formalities and get straight to the heart of why you are who you are.

It can be hard to write honestly for an audience full of faceless admissions officers who hold your fate in their hands. But it will be worth it.

Craft an essay that focuses on your strengths.

Here’s the thing. You can’t write just any old essay for your college essay. Your essay needs to be strategic. And to be strategic, it needs to revolve around your strengths.

Your college essay should showcase your strengths because you want to give the admissions officers who read your essays as many reasons as possible to admit you.

This isn’t to say that your essay should brag about all your accomplishments. Instead, being strengths-based means that whatever story you tell should leave admissions officers with a positive impression of who you are. They should be able to pick you out of a crowd and say, “Wow, this student is a really strong scholar/entrepreneur/artist/friend/caregiver/etc.”

By highlighting your strengths, you’ll show admissions officers why you belong on their campus.

Find the correct tone.

“Tone” refers to the overarching voice and vibe of an essay. Some college essays have serious tones, while others are lighthearted or funny.

The correct tone for your essay will depend on the topic you choose and the strengths you want to convey.

Most importantly, however, your tone should always end on some kind of positive, hopeful note.

It’s okay to write about difficult or serious topics, but they shouldn’t weigh your essay down and leave your admissions officer feeling uneasy afterward. Similarly, a lighthearted essay shouldn’t be so flippant that it forgets to do its job as a college essay.

Finding the correct tone is a balancing act.

Adhere to the length and stylistic requirements.

It’s worth reiterating that adhering to the rules and requirements outlined by the application is an important part of college essay writing. You want to leave your admissions officers with the best impression possible.

That means that taking each part of your application seriously is important. Try to present yourself as a professional and thoughtful person who knows how to follow the rules.

Doing so will emphasize that you are a mature student ready to take on the challenges of attending college.

Writing a college essay is really different than writing an essay for school, so sticking to these tips will help keep you on track.

College essay requirements can be tricky to navigate. But following the guidelines and meeting your readers’ expectations will help you write a standout essay.

And if you want to learn even more about how to write a college essay, check out our guide to college essays and our Essay Academy program. 👋

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Hey everyone! I'm working on my Common Application essay, and I'm confused about the word count requirement. What's the maximum word count allowed, and how closely should I stick to it? Any help would be great, thank you!

Hey there! The Common Application essay has a word limit of 650 words. It's essential to stick to this word count, as the Common App's online submission system will not allow you to submit an essay with more words than that. Additionally, staying within the word count shows admissions officers that you can convey your message succinctly and effectively.

That being said, you don't need to fill all 650 words if your essay's content is conveyed well in fewer words. What matters is crafting a compelling, well-structured essay that showcases your personality, experiences, and growth. Focus on ensuring your essay is impactful, engaging, and demonstrates your ability to communicate your unique story. Remember, quality is more important than quantity! Good luck with your essay!

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