The longest, Essay 99, tips the scale at 1,172 words. There are times when it is possible to be more precise about a suggested length. For those who still apply on paper, colleges sometimes ask that students “use the space provided.” In such cases, we recommend doing so. (Play with your margins if you need to shoehorn in a few extra lines.) Online, students may occasionally find that their cursors stop moving at the end of the allotted space. If you simply can’t wedge your essay into the field, consider applying on paper, or contact the admissions office to get help with your dilemma.
A few colleges specify a word length. In recent years, Princeton has asked for essays on various topics of about 250 and 500 words, respectively. Two hundred forty or 520, respectively, would fill the bill, but not 700 or 1,227. When the question specifies neither a length nor an amount of space, a reasonable target for those in doubt is not more than four to five hundred words, which means about two-thirds of a page to a page, single-spaced. (Write less for a sidebar essay about your favorite activity or why you are interested in the college.)
There is an interesting footnote to the length issue that we must fess up about. In previous books, notably The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College, we have preached the virtues of brevity, or at least of not going on forever. Yet in sifting through the essay submissions for this book—all from successful applicants to highly selective colleges, all identified as excellent by college counselors— we were surprised by the number of nominations that were longer than five hundred words. (There were also plenty of short and sweet ones like our seventy-eight-word masterpiece.)
Our theory is that when an essay is outstanding—really outstanding— the reader doesn’t mind if it goes on longer. Doing so gives the author more space to add the concrete details that make it memorable. You’ll see a number of these longer essays in this book. We are at pains to add that the number of brilliant long essays is far outnumbered by the long ones that could be improved by cutting, sometimes ruthless cutting. If you’re in doubt, consult a teacher who can give you feedback. We’ll say more about that in chapter 3. There are good essays and bad essays of all lengths. We recommend that your first concern be writing a good one.
Read More : Essays Writing: How Long Should It Be?
