Word limit for essays

How long should your IELTS writing task 1 &  task 2 be? Learn how the examiner counts your words and the recommended length of your IELTS essay. This page contains information about:

• IELTS Writing Word Count Rules
• Recommended Essay Length
• Word Count Warning
• How Words are Counted in IELTS writing

IELTS Writing: Word Count Rules

1. IELTS have set a task of writing OVER 150 words for IELTS writing task 1 and 250 for writing task 2.
2. However, there is no upper word limit.
3. While the under word count penalty has been removed, writing an essay that is too short will lower your score. Click here: penalty removal and short essays

Recommended Length of an IELTS Essay

1. Always write over the word count as this is the best way to approach your IELTS writing.
2. Aim for around 170 – 190 for writing task 1 and about 270 – 290 for writing task 2. This will mean you have developed your writing sufficiently for the higher scores in terms of words, but you must still ensure that each sentence is relevant and focused.
3. Don’t write too much. Aim for quality rather than quantity. This means focus on writing excellent English and organising your information rather than writing a long essay in task 2. The also applies to your report in task 1 academic or your letter in task 1 GT.

Watch this video to learn more about how long your IELTS essay should be:

Will you get a higher score for a longer essay in IELTS?

The answer is very simple = no. IELTS is look for a highly relevant, focused essay. If you try to add information that is not 100% relevant to your task, you will get a lower score.

Don’t try to add a hook to your introduction to make it interesting. You don’t get more points for interest. You get more points for being focused and concise.

You do not get a higher score for a longer essay.

Warning for IELTS Writing Word Count

1. If you copy the information given by IELTS for your introduction, the examiner will not count those words. This means you might be under the word count. So, always paraphrase your introductions. This lesson shows you how to write an introduction for IELTS writing task 2 by paraphrasing.
2. How to check how many words you have written – you don’t have time to count each word you have written, so you should count the lines instead. Knowing the length of your handwriting on the official writing answer sheet will help. Watch this video lesson to learn about practicing with the official writing answer sheet.

More IELTS Writing Tips & Lessons

10 Sentences to Avoid in IELTS Writing Task 2

How many Paragraphs for an IELTS Essay

How to use the Official Answer Sheet for IELTS Writing

All IELTS Writing Task 2 Lessons, Model Answers, Tips & Free Videos

Main IELTS Pages

Develop your IELTS skills with tips, lessons, free videos and more.

• IELTS Listening
• IELTS Reading
• IELTS Writing Task 1
• IELTS Writing Task 2
• IELTS Speaking
• Vocabulary for IELTS

It’s safe to say that most students struggle with the word limit within an essay. Sometimes, it’s hard to find ideas for a text and meet the word requirement for every part of the paper. With so many factors influencing essay length, it’s easy to get confused.

Luckily, our custom-writing team has your back. In this article, our custom-writing experts will answer all your questions regarding essay length. We will also help you write papers with an ideal number of words!

📜 Is Essay Length Important?

Often, the phrase “word limit” causes panic among students. After all, if an essay is too long or too short, your grade will be lowered. However, in reality, there’s nothing to worry about. When it comes to words, limitations are beneficial for both the students and the professors.

Let’s see what exactly it means.

Many people believe that the longer an essay is, the better. However, according to Frontiers, research shows that it’s a bias that couldn’t be further from the truth. A perfect-length paper is one that allows students to express their ideas and showcase their knowledge fully while keeping it clean and simple.

What Influences Essay Length

Various factors determine the length of an essay. Here are the most important ones:

📏 Essay Parts: Recommended Length

Let’s start with the essentials. Usually, assignment length is given as a number of words rather than pages. Unless your supervisor or instructor mentions any specific limitations, it’s acceptable to be 10% below or above the word limit.

It’s also worth knowing the 80/20 rule. According to it, the body should constitute 80% of the text, while the intro and the conclusion take up the remaining 20%.

Keep reading to learn more about the recommended length of each essay part. The main numbers are shown in the table below:

How Long Should an Introduction Be?

An introduction is the first section and the face of your essay. For that reason, it needs to be compelling and well-thought-out. Usually, it consists of 3 to 5 sentences or 50 to 80 words.

An introduction must have a hook, some background information, and a thesis statement. While the attention grabber and the thesis are usually brief, you may need 2 to 3 sentences for the background. To avoid going overboard, try to stay on topic and don’t add any filler.

How Long Is a Body Paragraph in an Essay?

The length of a body paragraph may vary. Sometimes, it can be limited to a single sentence. In other cases, it may take up a whole page. Usually, it’s recommended to have between 80 and 200 words (5-8 sentences) per body paragraph.

Since the paper’s body contains the most information, it’s necessary to explain and support your ideas properly. That’s why it’s no big deal if your body paragraphs go slightly over the word limit.

How Many Body Paragraphs Should Be in an Essay?

Like the word count, the number of paragraphs is determined by the type of paper and its topic. The minimum is 1. Generally, however, the body consists of 3-5 paragraphs, 1 for each argument.

To improve your paper’s structure, ensure that there are as many paragraphs as there are points in your thesis statement. Each one should have a purpose and support your arguments. If there’s any fluff, it’s better to get rid of it.

How Long Should a Conclusion Be?

Like the introduction, the conclusion consists of 50-80 words. It’s essential to keep it simple and only mention the central ideas. A weak concluding sentence may affect the reader’s understanding of the topic and spoil the overall impression of your paper.

🤔 How to Make Essays Shorter or Longer: Best Tips

Undoubtedly the essay’s content is more important than the number of words you use. But there are times when students go more than 10-15% below or over the limit. Is there a solution to this problem?

Yes, there is! In this section, we will share the most useful tips to help you stay on point with your paper’s word count.

How to Make Essays Longer

Since having enough words is essential for a good grade, we’ve collected the best tips that can help you lengthen your essay without teachers noticing:

1. Use relevant quotations. You don’t need to litter your essay with citations, but using them whenever appropriate is a great idea. For instance, if you’re working on a book analysis, referencing a couple of direct quotes from the source text will make your essay more credible and increase the word count.

1. Give examples. Go through the claims in your paper and provide additional evidence where possible. It will make your essay longer and more informative.

1. Use transitional expressions. Adding transition words and phrases is a natural way of increasing the number of words. It will also improve your essay’s readability. 

1. Add more references. Providing references is always a good idea when writing a formal essay. That way, you will increase the number of words and make your paper more credible.

1. Work on your descriptions. If you struggle to develop new ideas, go over what you’ve already written and consider adding some descriptive words. It’s a great idea for creative essays to include more imagery. 

How to Shorten an Essay

Another struggle of academic writing is cutting down the number of words in your essay to meet a set limit. We are here to tell you that it’s not that hard. Writing straightforwardly and keeping your sentences short is a key to concise content. Here are several strategies you may use to tighten a lengthy essay:

1. Choose the active voice. It takes up less space than passive voice. Using it also makes your writing more professional and compelling.

1. Remove needless transitions. Transitions can indeed maintain the flow of the paper. But some transitional phrases can be easily removed.

1. Get rid of unnecessary adverbs and adjectives. Some students tend to overuse adjectives and adverbs. It adds wordiness to their writing.

1. Avoid running starts. Some students like to start their sentences with long phrases like: “there are,” “it is believed,” or “the fact that.” Getting rid of them makes texts much more concise.

1. Delete “that.” In most cases, the word “that” can often be easily removed from texts.

Another cool trick is to use our summarizing tool as essay shortener. Try it out!

📑 How Long Is an Essay Depending on Formatting?

As we mentioned earlier, the essay’s length is usually limited by the number of words. But sometimes, a teacher may ask you to write a specific number of pages. This is trickier because the amount of text you can place on the page depends on the formatting. By using the font size and spacing properly, it’s possible to make the paper visually longer or shorter. Let’s discuss it in more detail.

Essay Spacing: How Does It Affect the Length?

• Adjusting the spacing between lines. Try to make the changes as slight as possible. For instance, if you were asked to double-space the paper, use 2.1 or 2.2 spacing instead. Another option is to slightly extend spaces between paragraphs.

• Extending the margin size. You can increase the right and bottom margins by a quarter to make very subtle changes in length. For example, if the margins are 1 inch, you can set them at 1.25 inches instead. 

• Increasing the spacing between characters. It is less noticeable than the line spacing. Still, try not to overdo it and keep the numbers between 1.2 and 1.5. 

• Adjusting the footer. Add a footer with page numbers to stretch the bottom margin even further.

• Lengthening the header. You can extend your header by adding your name, e-mail address, or other relevant information. Another option is double-spacing it.

Length of an Essay: Font and Size

• Using the right type of font. If your instructor didn’t specify which font you should use, go for the bigger ones. We suggest Arial, Bangla Sangam MN, Cambria, or Quicksand. They will make your text look longer without being too on the nose.  

• Using a bigger font size. This is another technique that can come in handy. However, be careful and don’t increase your font by more than 0.1-0.5 pt. 

• Increasing the size of periods and commas. This is one of the less noticeable tricks you can use. For instance, if your paper’s font is 12 pt., increase it to 14 pt. only for punctuation marks. Italicizing periods and commas will also add several lines of length to your essay. 

What to Do if There Are No Length Guidelines

Sometimes a teacher sets no word limit for a written work. What to do in that case? Well, first, you can ask your professor to confirm if they have simply forgotten to mention it. But if that’s not the case, here are a couple of helpful solutions:

1. Think of the paragraph number. Sometimes, you may be given the number of paragraphs instead of words. In that case, you can decide on the number of words depending on how many paragraphs you have. 

2. Think about the topic’s complexity. The length of your paper is also directly dependent on the theme. If the topic is simple, 4-5 paragraphs will be enough. A more complex issue may require an in-depth explanation, so your essay can be 6-8 paragraphs long.

❓ Essay Length for Different Academic Levels FAQ

📚 How Long Should an Essay Be: Different Types

Now, let’s talk about different types of essays. How long should they be? Keep reading to learn about the length of college essays, short and extended ones, scholarship essays, and research papers.

How Long Is a College Essay?

When it comes to a college essay, it’s more important to stick to the word limit than with any other paper. Some teachers may refuse to read it unless it meets all the requirements.

The shortest limit for a college essay is about 250 words which is the shortest length of a Common App personal statement. It’s also rare to see a good college essay with over 650 words. So, an average piece usually has between 150 and 650 words; you can go over or below the limit by 50.

How Long Is a Paragraph in College Essays?

A college essay usually consists of 4-5 paragraphs. One paragraph takes about 1/3 of the page, which is roughly 5 sentences. Each sentence corresponds with one of the following components:

1. Topic sentence.

2. Explanation.

3. Examples.

4. Analysis.

5. Transitions.

College Essay Length Requirements: Top 5 Schools

To understand the requirements for a college application essay even better, take a look at the table below. It showcases the top 5 schools and their length criteria for personal statements. Keep it in mind when writing your college essay:

How Long Is a Short Essay?

A short essay is usually 500 words long. Using 12pt Times New Roman font with standard margins and double spacing should result in about 2 pages of text.

Extended Essay Length

An extended essay is different from a short or a standard one. It requires extensive research and thorough explanation. That’s why the upper limit for this kind of essay is 4000 words. In this case, a typical essay length is 3500 words or 18 paragraphs.

Scholarship Essay Length

Generally, scholarship papers have a limit of 500 words, which is 1 page in length. Most scholarship programs provide additional requirements that indicate the minimum number of words or pages. If there are no set limitations, you can stick to the limit.

How Long Is a Research Paper?

Typically, a research paper is between 4000 and 6000 words long. Sometimes, there are shorter papers, which have around 2000 words, or in-depth ones with over 10000 words.

⭐ Other Aspects of Essay Length

When it comes to essay length, many different aspects come into play. Here, we’ve gathered all the essential information regarding an essay’s number of pages, paragraphs, words, and references.

How Many Paragraphs Are in an Essay?

Sometimes, it is more convenient to count paragraphs rather than words. Let’s now figure out how many paragraphs are in essays of different lengths. You may also check out the examples to see what such an essay looks like:

How to Count Paragraphs in an Essay Based on Word Count

You can also count the number of body paragraphs for your essay using the formula below:

Number of body paragraphs (average) = (TWC – TWC*0.16)/100

• TWC – total word count

• 0.16 – an average percentage of total word count for introduction and conclusion

• 100 – an average number of words per paragraph

How Many Pages Are in an Essay?

The number of pages in your essay may vary from subject to subject. But it’s still possible to determine the number of pages based on word count. Check out the numbers below to see the conversions with bonus examples:

You can also use a specialized calculator such as Word Counter to determine a number of pages in your essay.

What Does an Essay Look Like when Typed?

You might be wondering: what do essays of different lengths look like when typed? Well, here’s the table where you can find out the metrics for single- and double-spaced papers.

How Many Pages Are in a Handwritten Essay?

In case you need to turn in a handwritten paper, you should check out the table below.

Counting Words in a Handwritten Essay

If you don’t have enough time to count the words in your handwritten essay one by one, here’s what you can do:

1. Count how many words there are in one line. Take the first and last lines and a line in the middle of a page. Let’s say there are 15, 14, and 15 words in them. Then, the average number of words per line is 15.

2. Next, count how many lines there are on one page. Let’s say there are 17 lines on a page.

3. Take the number of words per line and multiply it by the number of lines per page. In our case, we multiply 15 by 17. So, there are 255 words per page on average.

4. Finally, multiply the number of words per page by the number of pages. If your essay has 3 pages, it is approximately 765 words long.

How Long Does it Take to Write an Essay?

It is crucial to know how long writing will take you, especially if you are working on an exam essay or just short on time. Note that you need to consider the time for typing and researching necessary to complete a piece. Research time may vary. Usually, it’s 1-2 hours for 200-250 words.

Below, we’ve gathered the average writing time for average and slower writing speed:

And here are the results in pages:

How Many References Does an Essay Need?

Another essential part of any composition is the reference list. Different academic levels require different references. You’ll find out how many of them should be in your paper in the table below!

📝 Essay Examples: Different Length

Finally, we’ve gathered some excellent sample essays of different lengths. Make sure to check them out!

We also recommend you check out our free essay samples sorted by pages:

Now you know all about essay length, word limits, and ways to lengthen or shorten your text. If you know other interesting tricks, make sure to share them in a comment! Good luck with your writing assignments!

You may also like:

🔍 References

Figuring out your college essay can be one of the most difficult parts of applying to college. Even once you’ve read the prompt and picked a topic, you might wonder: if you write too much or too little, will you blow your chance of admission? How long should a college essay be?

Whether you’re a terse writer or a loquacious one, we can advise you on college essay length. In this guide, we’ll cover what the standard college essay length is, how much word limits matter, and what to do if you aren’t sure how long a specific essay should be.

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 (for example, a 10-page paper). While some colleges provide page limits for their college essays, most use a word limit instead. This makes sure there’s a standard length for all the essays that a college receives, regardless of formatting or font.

In the simplest terms, your college essay should be pretty close to, but not exceeding, the word limit in length. Think within 50 words as the lower bound, with the word limit as the upper bound. So for a 500-word limit essay, try to get somewhere between 450-500 words. If they give you a range, stay within that range.

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 answer two to three prompts as part of your application. The questions you’ll answer will depend on whether you’re applying to a major or to our undeclared program, and if you’ve selected a second choice. Each response should be approximately 150 words.»

As exemplified by the University of Illinois, the shortest word limits for college essays are usually around 150 words (less than half a single-spaced page). Rarely will you see a word limit higher than around 650 words (over one single-spaced page). College essays are usually pretty short: between 150 and 650 words. Admissions officers have to read a lot of them, after all!

Weigh your words carefully, because they are limited!

How Flexible Is the Word Limit?

But how flexible is the word limit? What if your poignant anecdote is just 10 words too long—or 100 too short?

Can I Go Over the Word Limit?

If you are attaching a document and you need one or two extra words, you can probably get away with exceeding the word limit by such a small amount. Some colleges will actually tell you that exceeding the word limit by 1-2 words is fine. However, I advise against exceeding the word limit unless it’s explicitly allowed for a few reasons:

• First, you might not be able to. If you have to copy-paste it into a text box, your essay might get cut off and you’ll have to trim down anyways.

• If you exceed the word limit in a noticeable way, the admissions counselor may just stop reading your essay past that point. This is not good for you.

• Following directions is actually a very important part of the college application process. You need to follow directions to get your letters of recommendation, upload your essays, send supplemental materials, get your test scores sent, and so on and so forth. So it’s just a good general rule to follow whatever instructions you’ve been given by the institution. Better safe than sorry!

Can I Go Under the Word Limit?

If you can truly get your point across well beneath the word limit, it’s probably fine. Brevity is not necessarily a bad thing in writing just so long as you are clear, cogent, and communicate what you want to.

However, most college essays have pretty tight word limits anyways. So if you’re writing 300 words for an essay with a 500-word limit, ask yourself: is there anything more you could say to elaborate on or support your points? Consult with a parent, friend, or teacher on where you could elaborate with more detail or expand your points.

Also, if the college gives you a word range, you absolutely need to at least hit the bottom end of the range. So if you get a range from the institution, like 400-500 words, you need to write at least 400 words. If you write less, it will come across like you have nothing to say, which is not an impression you want to give.

Don’t let this sinister hand stop you from writing everything you have to say!

What If There Is No Word Limit?

Some colleges don’t give you a word limit for one or more of your essay prompts. 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. In this case, a word limit would be very limiting to you in terms of which assignments you could select from.

«Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay.»

While there is usually no word limit per se, colleges sometimes provide a general page guideline for writing samples. In the FAQ for Option B, Amherst clarifies, «There is no hard-and-fast rule for official page limit. Typically, we anticipate a paper of 4-5 pages will provide adequate length to demonstrate your analytical abilities. Somewhat longer papers can also be submitted, but in most cases should not exceed 8-10 pages.»

So even though there’s no word limit, they’d like somewhere in the 4-10 pages range. High school students are not usually writing papers that are longer than 10 pages anyways, so that isn’t very limiting.

Implicit Length Guideline

Sometimes, while there’s no word (or even page) limit, there’s still an implicit length guideline. What do I mean by this?

See, for example, this Wellesley supplemental essay prompt:

«When choosing a college community, you are choosing a place where you believe that you can live, learn, and flourish. Generations of inspiring women have thrived in the Wellesley community, and we want to know what aspects of this community inspire you to consider Wellesley. We know that there are more than 100 reasons to choose Wellesley, but the «Wellesley 100» is a good place to start. Visit The Wellesley 100 and let us know, in two well-developed paragraphs, which two items most attract, inspire, or energize you and why. (Not-so-secret tip: The «why» matters to us.)»

There’s no page or word limit here, but it does say to respond «in two well-developed paragraphs.» This gives you an idea of what’s reasonable. «Well-developed» certainly means the paragraphs can be long, but even two long paragraphs shouldn’t exceed 500 words or so. That’s what I mean by an «implicit» word limit—there is a reasonable length you could go to within the boundaries of the prompt.

But what’s the proper coffee-to-paragraph ratio?

Treasure Hunt

There is also the classic «treasure hunt» prompt. No, it’s not a prompt about a treasure hunt. It’s a prompt where there are no length guidelines given, but if you hunt around on the rest of the website you can find length guidelines.

For example, the University of Chicago provides six «Extended Essay» prompts. You must write an essay in response to one prompt of your choosing, but nowhere on the page is there any guidance about word count or page limit.

“We suggest that you note any word limits for Coalition or Common Application essays; however, there are no strict word limits on the UChicago Supplement essays. For the extended essay (where you choose one of several prompts), we suggest that you aim for around 650 words. While we won’t, as a rule, stop reading after 650 words, we’re only human and cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention indefinitely. For the “Why UChicago?” essay, we suggest about 250-500 words. The ideas in your writing matter more than the exact number of words you use!”

Help! There Really Is No Guidance on Length

If you really can’t find any length guidelines anywhere on the admissions website and you’re at a loss, I advise calling the admissions office. They may not be able to give you an exact number (in fact, they probably won’t), but they will probably at least be able to tell you how long most of the essays they see are. (And keep you from writing a panicked, 20-page dissertation about your relationship with your dog).

In general, 500 words or so is pretty safe for a college essay. It’s a fairly standard word limit length, in fact. (And if you’re wondering, that’s about a page and a half double-spaced.) 500 words is long enough to develop a basic idea while still getting a point across quickly—important when admissions counselors have thousands of essays to read!

«See? It says 500 words right there in tiny font!»

The best college essay length is usually pretty straightforward: you want to be right under or at the provided word limit. 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 500 words is a pretty safe approximate word amount for a college essay—it’s one of the most common word limits, after all!

Here’s guidance for special cases and hunting down word limits:

• 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.»

• If there really is no word limit, you can call the school to try to get some guidance.

With this advice, you can be sure you’ve got the right college essay length on lockdown!

Hey, writing about yourself can even be fun!

What’s Next?

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 145 essay examples with analysis!

Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article!

Essays are the most popular academic assignments in school. Writing essays can be challenging, mainly if you have limited experience in academic writing. Trying to figure out how long should an essay be can also be tough. Many people tend to ask, does the word count affect the quality of the work? The answer is yes and no. It can be long or short, but what’s important is the content. Institutions have a word limit for the purpose of fairness, testing communication skills as well as critical thinking skills.

The length of an essay varies depending on the subject of study, departmental guidelines, specific course requirements, and mainly the tutor’s instructions. An essay is usually shorter compared to research papers and dissertations. Your assignment will indicate the number of pages or words you are expected to write in most cases. For example, 1000-1200 words or 3 to 5 pages, double spaced. For many students who buy college essays online, getting the correct length is not a problem, but for those who don’t, this post will guide you on how long your essay should be.

How Long Should Each Essay Part Be?

Introduction

The introduction is an important paragraph in an essay. It not only introduces an overview of your argument but also hooks the reader to your paper. Once you fail to impress the reader at this point, they’ll lose interest in your work. An introduction gives a roadmap of the essay in a logical order; therefore, it needs to be strong. It might be one or two paragraphs depending on the simplicity or complexity of the paper. If your essay is longer, let’s say more than 3000 words, you might need two or more paragraphs. Remember to introduce your thesis statement at the end of your introduction. 

Body

The main body is the longest part of the essay. This is because each paragraph covers a specific topic that relates to the thesis statement. It allows you to make your arguments, give your evidence and do the citations. Here, you have a chance to convince the reader, depending on what your claim is. A short essay can have three paragraphs, while a longer one of 3000 words can have five paragraphs. Therefore, it is important to use transition words to create a good flow.

Conclusion

The conclusion is the section that wraps up your argument and points. Conclusions answer questions like, is there an answer to your problem statement? Have you proved your argument? What further research is needed? Are your findings relevant? Sometimes, conclusions attempt to connect the essay to broader issues or areas of further study. Your conclusion can be a single paragraph or more, depending on the discussion of your paper. Most importantly, do not introduce new ideas in the conclusion to avoid confusing the reader.

Different Essay Length For Various Academic Level

• Short and long essays
• College application
• Highschool
• Undergraduate college
• Graduate school admission
• Graduate school

Short and Long Essays 

Essays are divided into two major categories—long and short essays. Long essays have 1000 words and more. Short essays, on the other hand, have 900 words and below. If a paper has less than two pages, it is also considered a short essay. A long essay will have three or more pages. Again, this will vary depending on the line spacing and the size of the font used. Below is a guide showing how long an essay should be.

Let’s dig deeper and determine the answer to the question, how long should an essay be?

College Application Essay

A college application essay is essentially a short one. When you start to write your own, it is good to note that the recommended length is between 200 and 650 words. Depending on which word count you go for and the line spacing used, you will use one or two pages.

College application essay experts, however, recommend a college application to have approximately 500 words. It should have single line spacing to give you a single page. If you use double spacing, you’ll get one and a half pages at most. 

High School Essay 

High school essays also fall in the category of short essays. Many high school assignments will require the student to write 300-1000 words. The number of pages for such will also vary depending on the line spacing and font size used. 

High school essays generally test a student’s grammar and the flow of ideas. It is for this reason that they are not long. The focus here is not the breakdown of a particular idea but to enable the student to write coherently. Some high school teachers can request longer essays from their students, but this is rare.

Undergraduate College Essay

The undergraduate college essay falls into the category of long essays. Undergraduate students face one of the most challenging writing experiences. However, compared to other levels discussed here, undergraduate college essays offer more time to write. 

Generally, undergraduate college essays will vary between 500-5000 words. The exact number of words that a student will write depends on the program the student is taking. Undergraduate essays are important for explaining concepts in-depth to show proficiency in the given topic. Most undergraduate essays create room for more research on the topic. 

Graduate School Admission Essay 

When applying for graduate school, an essay is as equally important as applying for an undergraduate. For graduate school admission essays, the focus is on your academic goals and how a postgraduate program will help you. 

Such essays do not demand a lot, and we can classify them as short essays. Generally, a graduate school admission essay will be between 500 and 1000 words. The exact number of words to write will depend on the candidate and whether there are any specific instructions on the same. 

Graduate School Essay 

The requirements for graduate school differ a bit compared to other levels. For graduate school, long-form essays are normal and take the form of research papers. These have the purpose of elaborating a single idea in-depth. A graduate school essay will be between 1250 and 10000 words. Sometimes, these long-form essays are hard to write. You might want to consider getting an MBA essay writing service.  

Can I Go Over The Suggested Word Count?

Going above the word count often occurs if you do not follow the instructions. Another reason might be the lack of a structured outline that shows you what your essay will cover. You might end up including too much information that might not be necessary. So, ensure you outline the major arguments and stick to them. Similarly, follow the instructions.

If you write an essay and add a few extra words, you can get away with the exceeding word limit. However, exceeding the word limit by many words can be a turn-off for your tutor. Tutors usually like students who follow instructions. They do not expect you to go beyond the word count they set. If you do, your tutor might conclude that your essay is full of filler words or irrelevant information, which is not good for you.

Can I Go Under The Suggested Word Count?

Writing an essay below the word limit is not advisable. It often happens if you fail to follow the prompt instructions on word count. If you also fail to comprehensively discuss all the major arguments about your topic you might end up having fewer words. Going under the suggested word count suggests you have nothing to say or your thoughts are inadequate, an impression you do not want to give.

If you can exhaust all your points under the word limit, you will probably get away with it as long as you provide clarity and communicate well. However, most essays have strict word limits that must be adhered to. When your tutor gives you a 500-word essay, he expects you to elaborate on the topic as well as you can in those number of words. You might want to consider making your essay longer.

How To Make Your Essay Longer

If you have exhausted all your points but still haven’t been able to achieve your word count. Here are some of the tips that will help you increase the word count.

1. Add Evidence and Examples

Claims need to be backed up with evidence. You can also add supporting evidence to any ideas you’ve discussed in the essay. Doing more research on a certain idea will give you more additional information to use. For example, if you had used one source to explain a point, find a second source. This will not only lengthen your essay but also make your essay stronger.

2. Use Transitional Words

The use of transitional words like because, therefore, nonetheless, though will make your essay longer. The purpose of transitional words is to make sure the reader jumps smoothly from one idea to another. Hence, they need to be natural. Please don’t force them into sentences or overuse them. 

3. Make Sure You’ve Included Everything 

Go through your essay and check if you’ve exhausted all the points you wanted to talk about. Ask yourself if you’ve answered all the questions or if there’s anything that needs further explanation. If the answer is yes, then make the magic happen.

4. Break Up Paragraphs 

If you have a long paragraph, you can decide to break it into two. This is important, particularly if you have a paragraph that talks about two different ideas. Remember, don’t give any unnecessary information.

5. Review Your Introduction and Conclusion

Sometimes new ideas strike as you continue writing your essay. Go back and check if you’ve left out any important information. If so, kindly add it.  At the conclusion, make sure you’ve summarized the main points in the essay. Also, remember to provide a solution to the reader.  

6. Use Quotations

Quotations are a great way of adding something extra to your argument while also increasing the word count. They also show that other writers agree with your ideas, and this solidifies your arguments. Don’t just use quotations for the sake of increasing your word count; make sure they are relevant to your subject topic. 

7. Be More Descriptive

Don’t just state things, go into details but also don’t overstate. For example, if you say high school students get sick because of bad food. Go ahead and give the reader the food timetable and maybe even use examples and say what the students think of their diet.

How To Make Your Essay Shorter

Sometimes you can have too much content that’s way over the word count. You might find yourself in a situation where you only have relevant content. So what will you do to reduce the word count?

1. Choose Active Voice 

Active voice uses fewer words than passive voice. They also make your communication more clear and communicative. Consider using more active voice sentences. 

2. Use Shorter Words 

Wherever possible, use short words instead of longer ones. Using contractions like; don’t or they’ve will help you achieve this. 

3. Revise Needless Transitions

As much as transitional words can help your essay look longer, let go of the unnecessary ones. Your sentences need to look natural rather than forced or misplaced.

4. Avoid Filler Words 

These are words like, you know, basically, just, very, needless to say, for what it’s worth, etc. Such words are unnecessary and add clutter to your work.  Avoid using them at all costs.

5. Remove Redundant Sentences 

If you have a sentence or two in the same paragraph that talks about the same thing. Consider choosing one because, as said earlier, the main objective is to have concise writing. You can also combine them into one sentence. 

6. Replace Noun With Verbs 

Nouns are usually longer and force you to add other extra words to make them grammatically correct. For example, instead of using, The categorization of…, use Categorizing…, Also, get rid of unnecessary helping verbs. 

7. Eliminate Anything That Doesn’t Relate To Your Main Point 

This is an easy step to reduce your word count. It will not only help you reduce the word count, but also make your essay better to read. 

8. Use Contractions 

A contraction is a shortened form of a word. For example, you can use don’t instead of do not. This is a great trick, mainly if you want to reduce your word count. You can consider eliminating redundant words or passages. 

What If There Is No Word Limit?

Sometimes, you’ll be required to write an essay, and there won’t be a specified word count. So, it will be up to you to figure out how to come up with the number of words to use. First, you’ll need to establish the type of essay required, then use the tips below;

Use A Sample

Find related essays that match your content. See how many words they have used. This will certainly give you a faint idea of the word count you can use in your essay. 

Read The Description 

An instructor might not have specified the word count, but there might be something to guide you in the description. It might be something like, in two well-developed paragraphs.” That means the two paragraphs can be pretty long but within a reasonable limit, about 450–500 words. So this kind of situation requires you to estimate or even guess a bit.

Search For The Length  Requirements

They say if it’s not on Google, it doesn’t exist. Use google or any other digital platform like Quora to see the discussions about the essay writing requirements. You can also search within the college site to see if you can get answers. 

Contact The Instructor 

If there is completely no mention of paragraphs or pages or no clue from the websites, contact the college for clarity. Generally, the word limit for a standard college admissions essay is 500 words. The limit is enough to get your points across fast, as admissions officers have thousands of essays to read. 

Let The Paragraphs Guide You

The number of discussion points determines how many paragraphs you’ll have in your essay. For example, if you have five points in the main body, that means five paragraphs. So this will allow you to stick to the necessary points without having many or few words.

How To Maximize Your Word Count Effectively

You want to write a good essay that communicates effectively. An essay with clear writing, relevant examples, and an essay without redundant sentences. Here are tips that will help you have a good word count. 

Prepare An Outline 

An outline is like a roadmap that will guide you on how to write your essay. As a result, it will help you focus and develop every idea. Outlines also give an essay good order and flow. Thus, this will help you achieve clarity and help you stick within the word count. Likewise, have an outline that includes all the major arguments you would like to include in your essay. That way, you will not leave out any points and have more than enough words.

Review Existing Literature

Checking other similar essays will give you a faint idea of how long your essay should be. Hence, you won’t go too much beyond or above your word count. 

Be Straightforward and Concise 

Avoid overstating or giving too much necessary information. This will not only confuse the reader but also make your arguments weak. But when you are straightforward and concise, you make it easy for someone to read and clearly understand your essay. 

Be Relevant 

If you have any information that doesn’t relate to your main argument, you can cut it out. Remember, everything should be tied to your thesis statement. Thus, removing unnecessary information will help you reduce the word count. 

Edit and Proofread  

We all tend to make mistakes in our writing. But grammatical errors make a writer look unprofessional and careless. Make sure you use tools like Grammarly to edit your work, or if you have any doubts, ask for editing services. This way, they’ll either remove unnecessary words or add more, a tip that will help you work within your word count. 

Use Examples and Illustrations

Tables, diagrams, and illustrations are included as part of the word count, especially when they appear in the main body of your work. Find relevant items that provide important data rather than just illustrative material. Where you have used examples to illustrate your points, consider using another example. 

Answers To Popular Questions

How Long Is a 500-word Essay?

A 500-word, double-spaced essay, with font Times New Roman and font size 12, is about 2 pages long. If the essay is single-spaced with the same font type and size, it will be only 1 page long. The same essay would be about two and a half pages long for other non-standard fonts such as Courier with wide spacing and letters.

How Long Is a 1000-word Essay?

Most essays require a double-spaced format, Times New Roman, and 12pt font size. Following this format, a 1000-word essay comes to about four pages. For a single-spaced essay, the length will be about two pages long.

How Many Pages Is a 1500-word Essay?

A 1500-word essay is about three pages, single spacing or six pages, double spacing. The count is for the standard font sizes of 12-point Arial or Times New Roman. However, the page count is determined by your editor settings and might differ for other fonts and specifications. 

How Many Pages Is a 2000-word Essay?

A 2000-word essay is about four single-spaced pages or eight double-spaced pages for the conventional 12-point Times New Roman or Arial. For other fonts such as Courier, it would be around nine pages, double-spaced.

How Many Paragraphs Are In an Essay?

Types Of Essays	Average Word Count	Approximate Number of Pages	Essay Content
High School essay	300 – 1000	1 – 4	They have an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The content varies depending on the subject matter.
Undergraduate Application Essay	200 – 650	1- 3	These essays talk about why you want to enroll in that particular school.
Undergraduate Essay	500 – 5000	2- 18	These types of essays are written in school. The content also varies depending on the subject matter.
Graduate School Admission Essay	500 – 1000	2 – 4	They involve a detailed personal statement stating why you want to get admission
Graduate Essay	1250 – 10,000	4 – 36	They include in-depth research, problem statement, and conclusions.

Conclusion

It is important to know which type of essay you are writing and what word count is expected at each academic level. This will guide you when researching how long essays or term papers should be whenever you have a writing assignment.

Share This Infographic With Your Audience

The word count of your essay mostly depends on your educational level, subject, department, course, and tutor’s instructions. This piece of writing is normally shorter than research papers or dissertations. But how long should an essay be exactly?

Generally, the length requirements are indicated in your assignment sheet. It can be words, paragraphs, or pages given as a range (300–500 words) or a particular number (5 pages). If you are not sure about your essay’s length, the number-one tip is to clarify it with your tutor. Also, if you’re not sure how to write an essay, we have a detailed guide on that topic, just follow the link.

We will review all the factors you must consider when it comes to an essay’s length, but here’s a quick answer to questions like, “How many words in an essay or how many paragraphs does an essay have?”

An essay is five paragraphs long on average, which is around 400–700 words.

The tips below relate to academic essays that are given as a writing assignment. Everything that concerns admissions essays will be discussed in the following section.

• Three is the minimum number of paragraphs for essays (intro, body, and conclusion).
• The most common structure for a basic paper is the five-paragraph essay.
• The length of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs is always proportionally smaller.
• Each body paragraph must cover only one central idea, which is your topic sentence.
• A double-spaced page with text written in Times New Roman (12pt) usually contains about 275 words.
• A single-spaced page can fit double the amount, which is about 550 words.

How long should each essay part be?

If it’s a short essay (400–1000 words), each paragraph usually contains 100–200 words. The introduction and conclusion should be roughly the same in length and shorter than the overall word count of the body section.

According to Jennifer Duncan from The Writing Centre (the University of Toronto at Scarborough), for a 1000-word essay, its introduction and conclusion should be 4–5 sentences each. If your word count must be bigger, the length of these sections can be several paragraphs or even pages.

You might have seen conversion tables that say, “This number of words equals this number of paragraphs.” They all are based on a fixed length for each paragraph and are not very accurate. Yes, an essay that’s 400–800 words long can be converted like that. But, when your paper is bigger than a thousand words, your paragraphs can scale along, which means their number won’t grow exponentially with the overall essay size. For instance, if a 700-word essay comprises five paragraphs, a long essay (2000 words) won’t necessarily have fifteen paragraphs.

How long should a college essay be?

Here, “college essays” imply essays written for admissions. Admissions essays are quite different from the ones you get as homework. Usually, their chief goal is to show to the board that you are a worthy applicant. All the details about such essays should be publicly available on the college’s website in the appropriate section. But, if you don’t know the word count requirement and can’t find it, you still have some options. Below is a quick answer to the “how long is a college essay” question.

An average college essay is about 500 words long.

Admissions essay length tips

• Once you open the college’s site, look for phrases like “essay questions,” “information about supplemental essays,” “application instructions,” etc.
• As a rule, admissions essays are short (250–600 words) because board officers have to go through a lot of them daily.
• Do not exceed the given range by too much: if it says 500–550 words, the maximum length would be 600.
• When exceeding the word limit, your essay may not even end up being read to the end, so be mindful.

What if there are no length guidelines?

Sometimes colleges will not indicate a length limit for their essay prompts. But, don’t worry just yet because there are several ways to deal with this situation.

1. You need to send a sample of your writing.

They might have several options for applicants. Amherst College provides you with a choice: you can either (Option A) write a response to one of the quotations from the list or (Option B) submit a graded paper that best shows your writing skills. The last option implies that you have a set of papers to choose from, so you’re limited by their word count. But usually, there’s a page that contains guidelines for paper samples.

2. You can understand how long it should be from the description.

In its essay prompt guidelines, Wellesley College doesn’t give you a range of words or pages. Instead, it says, “in two well-developed paragraphs.” That means paragraphs can be quite long but within a reasonable limit, which is about 450–500 words. So this is when you’ll need to estimate or even guess a bit.

3. You need to search for the length requirements.

It can happen that essay length guidelines are not on the same page as the prompts. However, once you google, you can find posts on forums and social networks that discuss these essay writing requirements. You can also try searching “long” or “length” within the college site by typing “site:yourcollegewebsite.com” with those words.

4. You must call the admissions office.

If word limit instructions are nowhere to be found, you should call the admissions office. Even if they don’t have an exact number, they can tell you how long an essay should be based on the ones they had received before.

Mini-FAQ

The list of references

Here, you may find additional information on the topic:

1. Paragraph Length — Aims Community College
2. Writing Introductions and Conclusions — the University of Toronto at Scarborough

Published on
January 28, 2019
by

Shona McCombes.

Revised on
December 6, 2021.

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

In most cases, your assignment will include clear guidelines on the number of words or pages you are expected to write. Often this will be a range rather than an exact number (for example, 2500–3000 words, or 10–12 pages). If you’re not sure, always check with your instructor.

In this article you’ll find some general guidelines for the length of different types of essay. But keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity – focus on making a strong argument or analysis, not on hitting a specific word count.

Table of contents

1. Essay length guidelines
2. How long is each part of an essay?
3. Using length as a guide to topic and complexity
4. Can I go under the suggested length?
5. Can I go over the suggested length?

Essay length guidelines

Type of essay	Average word count range	Essay content
High school essay	300–1000 words	In high school you are often asked to write a 5-paragraph essay, composed of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
College admission essay	200–650 words	College applications require a short personal essay to express your interests and motivations. This generally has a strict word limit.
Undergraduate college essay	1500–5000 words	The length and content of essay assignments in college varies depending on the institution, department, course level, and syllabus.
Graduate school admission essay	500–1000 words	Graduate school applications usually require a longer personal statement and/or statement of purpose detailing your academic achievements and motivations.
Graduate school essay	2500–6000 words	Graduate-level assignments vary by institution and discipline, but are likely to include longer essays or research papers.

How long is each part of an essay?

In an academic essay, the main body should always take up the most space. This is where you make your arguments, give your evidence, and develop your ideas.

The introduction should be proportional to the essay’s length. In an essay under 3000 words, the introduction is usually just one paragraph. In longer and more complex essays, you might need to lay out the background and introduce your argument over two or three paragraphs.

The conclusion of an essay is often a single paragraph, even in longer essays. It doesn’t have to summarize every step of your essay, but should tie together your main points in a concise, convincing way.

Using length as a guide to topic and complexity

The suggested word count doesn’t only tell you how long your essay should be – it also helps you work out how much information and complexity you can fit into the given space. This should guide the development of your thesis statement, which identifies the main topic of your essay and sets the boundaries of your overall argument.

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

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

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

Can I go under the suggested length?

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

• Add more evidence and examples to each paragraph to clarify or strengthen your points.
• Make sure you have fully explained or analyzed each example, and try to develop your points in more detail.
• Address a different aspect of your topic in a new paragraph. This might involve revising your thesis statement to make 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 exact number. Your marker probably won’t care about 50 or 100 words – it’s more important that your argument 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 word limit by 10% – 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 institution, so always check with your instructor if you’re unsure.

Only exceed the word count if it’s really necessary to complete your argument. Longer essays take longer to grade, so avoid annoying your marker 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.
• Make sure each paragraph focuses on one point and doesn’t meander.
• Cut out filler words and make sure each sentence is clear, concise, and related to the paragraph’s point.

• Don’t cut 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 you leave enough space to thoroughly introduce your topic and decisively wrap up your argument.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S.
(2021, December 06). How Long is an Essay? Guidelines for Different Types of Essay. Scribbr.
Retrieved April 14, 2023,
from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/length/

Is this article helpful?

You have already voted. Thanks
Your vote is saved
Processing your vote…

When it comes to writing college admission essays, students spend many hours thinking about the topics to write about.

And while it is okay to be concerned if your personal statement is compelling or original enough, there is one thing that should be the least of your worries. It’s the question on how long a college essay should be.

How Long Should A College Application Essay Be? 

The standard length for college essays is anything between 250 and 650 words. So what length is the most ideal?

If you’ve taken the route that shows something unique about you, chances are that 250 words won’t suffice to create an introspective, effective, and thoughtful essay.

But it’s not necessary that you reach the 650-word mark. While most colleges put a requirement of 500 words, other schools may impose more or fewer words.

The applicants use these questions to get a more thorough understanding of the abilities and interests of students.

Thus, they may include topics such as why you want to be enrolled in their schools, your favorite activity, or your desired major.

How Strict Is The College Admission Word Limit?

Always go for quality over quantity because admission officers have proved in the past that they prioritize the former over the latter.

If the limit of the essay was, for example, 300 words and your essay is well-written in 250 words, adding 50m words of fluff just to meet the word count will only dilute the strength of the essay.

In the same way, if the word count demands that you stick to 300 words but you find that your piece is 500 words long, it is ill-advisable to go line-by-line deleting the extra words.

Treat the upper word limit as the absolute max. Whatever you write, don’t exceed it.

No Word Limit For A College Essay

While the common practice is for schools to give applicants a word count to stick to, some colleges have more general guidelines.

Do not write too short or too long paragraphs. Keeping paragraph word count at 250 words is an ideal upper limit.

If a college requires you to write a given number of pages, double or single-spaced, make sure you write it in standard font type and size, which is normally Times New Roman 12.

If there are no guidelines offered by the college, writing a 500-words long essay isn’t a bad idea.

Conclusion

If you still want to know the ideal word count of a college essay, then 500 words are the most common length for a personal statement.

All the three standardized portals cap their word requirement at 650 words. However, this is just the absolute limit beyond which your content will be cut off.

These usually range at 150, 250, or sometimes 350 words. If this is the case, always try to reach the suggested limit and be wary of the limits on either end.

There is nothing to worry about if your essay exceeds or is under the required word length by 10-15%.