Introduction
A college essay forms a top hitch when it comes to the process of admission into college for many applicants. The high chances of being admitted or being refused by the college admissions board lie in how much outstanding your essay is from a whole lot of other applicants.
Post the most creative, illustrative and expressive essay conveyed in the most passionate writing and stand a chance to witness your academic star shine.
But a common question that students struggle with is just how much of the writing is expected of them. Here is a guide that is going to address their concerns about the length of a college essay, whether it is a personal essay or an application essay.
While most college students struggle with the idea of meeting the word count but don’t stress on the quality of what they write, admission officers are looking much into the quality of what these students write, marked by the clarity of thoughts and the effectiveness with which these students present their ideas. They don’t stress on their failure to meet the required length. This is to say that quantity should be your least worry when writing a college essay. Your real concern should actually be on the quality of your scholarship essay.
What Do Admissions Officers Look For in an Essay?
For students based in Texas, you should look for apply Texas essay specifications. However, you will you find admission officers literally bent into counting the number of words or paragraphs that your paper has. Much of their emphasis goes into your art of writing, seeking to unearth the best of the quality essays students write.
Small deviations from the specified word count do not make your work any less. For example, the 2018-2019 application cycle had a length of 650 words. This means that students making applications will be required not to exceed this capping.
The most common “personal statement” length is at 500 words. The three standardized application portals-the Coalition App, the Common App and the Universal App have a common capping placed at 650 words. In this case, you may consider a 500-word count as the sweet spot. However, being at 450 or 620 words will not land you into a bad spot with the admissions officers in the college admission process.
Do Not Find Yourself in the Outlier Section
Avoid the extremes at all costs. For example, writing an essay that extends to 2 or 3 pages when only a single page was intended cannot go unnoticed.
Similarly do not write far too less of words than expected. For example, you cannot write 300 words for an essay that has a specified count of 650 words.
The two extremes cannot escape the eyes of the reader and will definitely trigger a bad impression. You should therefore as much as possible avoid being at any of the two extremes.
Do Not Add Irrelevant Content in Pursuit of Hitting the Required Length
You will often find yourself a few words short of the word count. For example when you find yourself with a 400 words piece of work that you are proud of, and the required word count is 500 words, you may be tempted to stretch your content length closer to the specified limit by writing additional fluff and more paragraphs. This will not make a good difference but will instead subtract a good amount of quality from your work.
Similarly, if the word count is specified at 500 words and you find yourself with a 600 words piece of writing that makes you proud, do not go back deleting some words and paragraphs that you would consider irrelevant. This may introduce a disharmony in your flow of ideas, which is detrimental to the quality of your paper.
This clearly points out that the length of the content should always revolve around the sweet spot. This should keep you away from trying out desperate adjustments to get yourself closer to the specified number of paragraphs and paper length.
Emphasize on Quality
To rise above the challenges of college admissions of your effort should go into bringing out the best quality of an essay that you can afford. Arrange your thoughts and convey them in the most succinct manner that will hold the reader’s attention in place throughout the paper. Tell your story with the best clarity there is and as concisely as possible.
Aim for the Suggested Limit
You are now familiar with a little tolerance that you may obtain in the event that you don’t meet the required length. This, however, should not belittle your efforts to meet the specified paper length. With the right paper length, you will definitely get yourself to a safer end.
However, don’t stress yourself too much whenever you get yourself from 10-15% below or above the suggested length.
Conclusion
As illustrated above, a college essay is much more skewed toward quality than it is towards quantity. It may get quite easy as a college student the suggested length, but it may take a greater struggle to make better the quality of yours. Once you master how to write within the confines of a given word count, spent more time working on the quality of your essay to get even better at it.
