Students regularly spend hours struggling over the best topics for their college essays. Deciding about your college essay can be one of the most challenging parts of applying to college. Even once you've read the prompt and picked a topic, you might question yourself: what if you write too much or too short? Won’t that affect your chance of admission? How long should a college essay be?

It doesn’t matter if you're a short writer or a lengthy one. We can guide you on college essay length. In this article, we'll talk about what the standard college essay length is, how much word limits are necessary, and what can you do if you are not sure how long a specific essay should be

How Long Is a College Essay? Know The Word Limit

Many students are used to turning their writing assignments on a page-limit basis. (For instance, a 10-page paper). Some colleges provide page limits for their college essays, and many colleges use a word limit instead. This is to make sure there's an ideal length for all the essays that a college receives from students, despite formatting or font.

Your college essay should be close to, but not exceeding, the word limit in the most simplistic terms. Try to 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 to around 450-500 words. If they provide you with any range, make sure to always keep within that range.

College essay usually prompts give the word limit right in the prompt or in the instructions.

For example, the University of Illinois says:
“Explain your interest in the major you selected and express how you have currently explored or developed this interest inside and outside the classroom. You may also describe how this major relates to your future career goals. If you're applying to the Division of General Studies, explain your academic interests and strengths or future career goals. You may include any majors or areas of study you're currently considering. Limit your response to 300 to 400 words.”

Notice carefully, and it’s right in the prompt—they even gave you a word range, so you don’t pass that limit!

The shortest word limits for college essays are generally around 200 words, less than half a single-spaced page. Seldom will you see a word limit higher than about 600 words which are over one single-spaced page. College essays, most of the time, are always short: between 200 and 650 words. Admissions officers have a tiring task to read a lot of them, after all!

Is Word Limit Flexible? If Yes, Then How Much?

The critical question is how flexible is the word limit? What if your touching anecdote is just ten words too long—or 100 too short?

Can You Go Over the Word Limit?

If you are attaching a document and you need not more than two or three extra words, you can exceed the word limit but just a tiny amount. Some colleges already mention that exceeding the word limit by 1-2 words is cool. However, I don’t recommend against overextending the word limit unless it’s allowed for some reasons:

• First, it’s not possible only. If you have to copy-paste it into a text box, your essay will be cut off and you’ll have to cut it down anyways.
  

• If you remarkably exceed the word limit, the admissions teacher may just stop reading your essay after one point, which is not suitable for you.
  

• Following directions is a very crucial part of the college application process. You need to follow guidelines to get your letters of recommendation, submit your essays, supplemental mail materials, get your test scores sent, etc. So it's just a good general rule to follow whatever guidelines the institution has provided you. Better safe than sorry!
  

Can You Go Under the Word Limit?

If you can ideally get your point beneath the word limit, it's probably lovely. Conciseness is not a bad thing in writing, just so long as you are clear, apt, and communicate easily what you want to.

However, many college essays have tight word limits anyways. Let’s say if you had written 300 words for an essay when they asked for a 500-word essay, ask yourself: what more you could write to elaborate on or support your points? Try asking your parents, friend, or teacher where you could elaborate with more detail or develop your points.

Even if the college gives you a word range, you just need to hit the bottom end of the spectrum. So if you get a range from the college of around 400-500 words, you need to write at least 400 words. Please don’t write more minor, and it will come across like you have nothing to say. Trust me, and you don’t want to give such type of impression.

What If College Has Not Mentioned Any Word Limit?

Many schools provide applicants with a specific word limit, and some give more general guidelines. For instance, a college may ask for a particular number of pages or paragraphs. 

See, for example, this Wellesley supplemental essay prompt:

"When determining a college community, you are picking a place where you believe that you can live, learn, and flourish. Generations of inspiring women have risen 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 clearly says to respond "in two well-developed paragraphs." "Well-developed" certainly means the paragraphs can be long, but even two long paragraphs shouldn't exceed 500 words or so.

 If you’re asked to write a certain number of pages, single- or double-spaced,  stick to a standard font and font size (like Times New Roman 12). If the college doesn’t provide guidelines, always go for an essay length of 500 words. 

What If You Have to Submit a Graded Paper?

While essays are the most regularly requested writing sample, some colleges ask for supplementary pieces of content. For instance, Amherst College has an option that asks students to present a graded paper for evaluation. 

 If the college doesn’t provide the length of the essay, select a paper ranging from 3-5 pages for best results. The aim is to select an article long enough to show your writing skills and unique voice, but short enough, the admissions counselor doesn’t get tired. 

Conclusion: How Long Should a College Essay Be?

The perfect college essay length is pretty straightforward: you just need to be right under or at the given word limit. If you go considerably past the word limit, you have put yourself in a risky situation where you can have your essay cut off by an online application form or having the admissions officer just not finish it. And if you're very much 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 perfect, safe, and approximate word amount for a college essay—it's one of the most common word limits, after all!