essay word counts

• Help Us Out

Login with your site account:

Create a site account:

0 words 0 characters

• Sentence case
• Text as .pdf
• Text as .txt
• Text as .doc

What is WordCounter?

Apart from counting words and characters, our online editor can help you to improve word choice and writing style, and, optionally, help you to detect grammar mistakes and plagiarism. To check word count, simply place your cursor into the text box above and start typing. You'll see the number of characters and words increase or decrease as you type, delete, and edit them. You can also copy and paste text from another program over into the online editor above. The Auto-Save feature will make sure you won't lose any changes while editing, even if you leave the site and come back later. Tip: Bookmark this page now.

Knowing the word count of a text can be important. For example, if an author has to write a minimum or maximum amount of words for an article, essay, report, story, book, paper, you name it. WordCounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit.

In addition, WordCounter shows you the top 10 keywords and keyword density of the article you're writing. This allows you to know which keywords you use how often and at what percentages. This can prevent you from over-using certain words or word combinations and check for best distribution of keywords in your writing.

In the Details overview you can see the average speaking and reading time for your text, while Reading Level is an indicator of the education level a person would need in order to understand the words you’re using.

Disclaimer: We strive to make our tools as accurate as possible but we cannot guarantee it will always be so.

• 0 Unique Words
• 0 Characters
• 0 Characters (no spaces)
• 0 Sentences
• 0 Longest Sentence (words)
• 0 Shortest Sentence (words)
• 0 Avg. Sentence (words)
• 0 Avg. Sentence (chars)
• 0 Avg. Word Length
• 0 Paragraphs
• 0 Syllables
• 0 Words (Publisher)
• N/A Reading Level  
• N/A Reading Time  
• N/A Speaking Time  
• N/A Hand Writing Time  
• More ( 0 ) Share

Keyword Density x1   x2   x3

Keep track of the number of words you write each day using the activity button.   ACTIVITY

This button helps you clean up your document by removing funky characters, unneeded new lines, etc.

• Email Fix (Remove word wrapping)
• Microsoft Word Document Fix (Remove invalid characters)
• Remove multiple new lines

My Writing Details

• N/A Reading Level
• N/A Reading Time
• N/A Speaking Time
• N/A Hand Writing Time

Step 1. What do you want to share?

• Unique Words
• Characters (no spaces)
• Longest Sentence (words)
• Shortest Sentence (words)
• Avg. Sentence (words)
• Avg. Sentence (chars)
• Avg. Word Length
• Words (Publisher)
• Reading Level
• Reading Time
• Speaking Time
• Hand Writing Time

Step 2. What do you want to say?

Step 3. Where do you want to share it?

• Keyword Density

Step 1. What do you want to say?

Step 2. Where do you want to share it?

Upload File

Click the upload button below to select a text document. Supported formats are PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX, ODT.

Save To Drive

Use this button to save your current writing to Google Drive

You can turn on or off different counting options here.

• Hand Writing Time Letters Per Minute Slow Normal Fast
• Reading Time Words Per Minute Slow Normal Fast
• Speaking Time Words Per Minute Slow Normal Fast

You can turn on or off different buttons provided for different functionalities.

• ACTIVITY Keeps track of your word and character count.
• AUTO-SAVE When turned on, WordCounter will automatically save your document every 30 seconds. You can then switch back to previous versions of your document at any time.
• CASE Gives different case options. Applies to your entire document or only the text you select.
• CLEAN TEXT After pasting a document into WordCounter, this will clean it up by removing invalid characters, word wrapping issues and unneeded new lines.
• CLEAR Delete all of the text in your document.
• DOWNLOAD Download your written text (PDF, TXT, DOC) to your device.
• FIND AND REPLACE Find and replace any words or sentences you want.
• GOAL Set writing goals (such as 500 words) and WordCounter will let you know when you've reached them. You can also share and embed your goals.
• PRINT Print your document quickly and easily.
• PROOF READ   WordCounter reads your document back to you. Make sure to turn up your volume! Rate Valid values are 0.1 to 10 Pitch Valid values are 0 to 2 Voices
• REDO Redo your last changes. Click multiple times to redo multiple changes.
• SAVE Saves your text for later retrieval. Be sure and click the SAVE button each time you want to save.
• SAVE TO DRIVE Saves your document to Google Drive. Great for backup purposes.
• SPEED Use a timer to see how fast you're typing.
• SPELL A powerful spelling and grammar checker for your document.
• TALK TO TYPE   Speak into your microphone and WordCounter will type for you. Language Country
• THESAURUS Select (with your mouse) a word in your document and click the thesaurus button to get a list of synonyms.
• UNDO Undo your last changes. Click multiple times to undo multiple changes.
• UPLOAD Upload your existing document (PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX, ODT) into WordCounter.

Enter the number of characters, words, sentences or paragraphs you want to set for a goal.

Existing Goals

You can set, delete and edit your goals.

Embed Your Goal into your Web Page

Record your count of words and characters.

New Activity

Previous activities.

You can edit and delete your records.

New Document

Previous documents.

You can load, edit and delete your documents.

Find and Replace

• Help WordCounter
• Embed WordCounter
• Report a Bug
• Privacy Policy

Found a Bug

Essay Word Counter

Start typing to get a list of keywords that are most used

What Is Essay Word Counter?

An essay word counter is a simple yet powerful tool that has the ability to quickly count the number of characters and words within an essay. While the primary goal of an essay word counter is to measure characters and words, this tool allows you to determine the number of sentences and paragraphs that your essay consists of.

If you're tasked with reading your essay aloud in front of a classroom, this online word counter can help you prepare by providing you with an estimated speaking time and reading time. If you're asking yourself "How do I count the words in my essay?", plugging your essay into an online word counter will allow you to receive nearly instantaneous results.

Benefits of Using This Tool Compared to Alternatives

Online word counter tools offer the functionality you need to determine what your current essay word count is. There are several additional tools that can provide you with similar functionality, which include Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and PDF documents. Even though all of these alternatives allow users to measure the word count and character count for their essay, they lack many of the extra features that set the online tool apart from the competition.

Wordcounter vs Microsoft Word

When comparing this online word counter to Microsoft Word, the online word counter allows users to paste any kind of text into the box. Even if the text comes from a PDF file, it can be easily copied into the word counter. Among all of the alternatives for an essay word counter, Microsoft Word may be the most comprehensive of the three. Along with measuring the number of words, it can also count characters, pages, lines, and paragraphs. The main issue with Word, however, is that it's less intuitive than using an online tool.

When you click on word count in Microsoft Word, you'll be provided with data on the lines, paragraphs, words, and other aspects of your essay. However, the word count extends to every page of the Word document. To identify the number of words and characters in a specific section, you'll need to highlight the section and select the word count option again.

Wordcounter vs Google Docs

As for Google Docs, this tool doesn't display a status bar that tells you how many words are present in the document. To receive an updated word count, you must select the "Tools" tab that's found in the "Menu" section. From here, you'll be able to select "Word Count". When compared to the online word checker tool, Google Docs doesn't include information about how many sentences are in your essay or the frequency of a specific word.

Wordcounter vs PDF Tool

When it comes to a PDF document, you'll find that these documents are similar to Google Docs in that they don't include a status bar. You're also unable to access any kind of menu that allows you to view the word count of the essay you're writing. There are two distinct options for identifying the word count in your essay. First, you can convert the PDF file into what's known as the Rich Text Format, which makes it easier for you to count the words. You could also upload the file directly into this online word counter, which will give you an accurate word total.

The primary benefit of using the online word counter tool is that there are a number of exclusive features like speaking time and reading time that can't be found in other tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Essay Length Best Practices

Whether you're writing an essay for a high school class or for graduate school, there are some best practices that can guide you through the process and help you write the best essay. The most important element of writing an essay is getting the length right. If the essay is too long, there's a good chance it isn't as succinct and direct as it should be. The essay length guidelines you should adhere to include:

High school essay

The average essay word count for a high school essay is 300-1,000 words. Most high school essays are five paragraphs long with an introductory paragraph, three total body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.

College admission essay

This essay should be around 200-650 words long. Along with having a set word limit, these essays should include a look at your motivations and interests.

Undergraduate essay

This essay can be around 1,500-5,000 words long. The content and length depend on the college and program you're entering.

Graduate admission essay

An admission essay should be 500-1,000 words in length. Make sure you include a lengthy personal statement that details your motivations and academic achievements.

Graduate school essay

This extended essay word count is usually around 2,500-6,000 words. The assignment you receive depends on the course you're in. Most graduate-level essays are lengthy and can involve research papers.

IB extended essay

The IB extended essay word count is 4,000 words. This essay is mandatory for every student of the International Baccalaureate program and is based on independent research.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Check your paper for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• College essay

How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Word Count Tips

Published on September 29, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on June 1, 2023.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit. If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

You should aim to stay under the specified limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, if you write too little, it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Table of contents

Word count guidelines for different application types, how to shorten your essay, how to expand your essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Each university has a different suggested or required word count depending on which application portal it uses.

Some application portals will allow you to exceed the word count limit, but admissions officers have limited time and energy to read longer essays. Other application portals have a strict limit and will not allow you to exceed it.

For example, in the Common App , the portal will not allow you to submit more than 650 words. Some colleges using the Common App will allow you to submit less than 250 words, but this is too short for a well-developed essay.

Application portal	Word count	Strict limit?
Common App	250–650
Coalition App	500–650
UC App	Four 350-word essays

For scholarship essays , diversity essays , and “Why this college?” essays , word count limits vary. Make sure to verify and respect each prompt’s limit.

Don’t worry too much about word count until the revision stage ; focusing on word count while writing may hinder your creativity. Once you have finished a draft, you can start shortening or expanding your essay if necessary.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

On some application portals, you can exceed the word limit, but there are good reasons to stay within it:

• To maintain the admissions officer’s attention
• To show you can follow directions
• To demonstrate you can write concisely

Here are some strategies for shortening your essay.

Stay on the main point

It’s good to use vivid imagery, but only include relevant details. Cut any sentences with tangents or unnecessary information.

My father taught me how to strategically hold the marshmallow pierced by a twig at a safe distance from the flames to make sure it didn’t get burned, ensuring a golden brown exterior.

Typically, my father is glued to his computer since he’s a software engineer at Microsoft. But that night, he was the marshmallow master. We waited together as the pillowy sugary goodness caramelized into gooey delight. Good example: Sticks to the point On our camping trip to Yosemite, my family spent time together, away from technology and routine responsibility.

My favorite part was roasting s’mores around the campfire. My father taught me how to hold the marshmallow at a safe distance from the flames, ensuring a golden brown exterior.

These college essay examples also demonstrate how you can cut your essay down to size.

Eliminate wordiness

Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay. If a word doesn’t add value, cut it.

Here are some common examples of wordiness and how to fix them.

	Problem	Solution
	We had done a lot of advance planning for our science project.	We had done a lot of planning for our science project.
	I didn’t know whether or not I should tell the truth.	I didn’t know whether I should tell the truth.
	When I was a child, I came up with an imaginary friend named Roger to get away from my parents’ fighting.	When I was a child, I invented an imaginary friend named Roger to escape my parents’ fighting.
Unnecessary “of” phrases	The mother of my friend was Marissa, who was a member of our church.	My friend’s mother Marissa was a fellow church member.
False subjects “There is/there are”	There are many large-scale farms in America, but there is a local sustainable farm preserved by my family.	America has many large-scale farms, but my family preserves a local sustainable one.
Unnecessary qualifiers	I pretty much just wanted a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins.	I wanted a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins.
Passive voice	Most of the German chocolate cake was eaten by me.	I ate most of the German chocolate cake.
Unnecessary helping verbs	I am going to be attending my school’s annual carnival.	I will attend my school’s annual carnival.

Use a paraphrasing tool

If you want to save time, you can make use of a paraphrasing tool . Within the tool you can select the “short” mode to rewrite your essay in less words. Just copy your text in the tool and within 1 click you’ll have shortened your essay.

If you’re significantly under the word count, you’re wasting the opportunity to show depth and authenticity in your essay. Admissions officers may see your short essay as a sign that you’re unable to write a detailed, insightful narrative about yourself.

Here are some strategies for expanding your essay.

Show detailed examples, and don’t tell generic stories

You should include detailed examples that can’t be replicated by another student. Use vivid imagery, the five senses, and specific objects to transport the reader into your story.

My mom cooks the best beef stew.	The sweet smell of caramelized onions and braised beef wafts from the kitchen. My mother attends to the stew as if it’s one of her patients at the hospital, checking every five to 10 minutes on its current state.
The shepherd’s pie reminded me of familiar flavors.	Reminding me of the warm, comforting blanket from my childhood, the shepherd’s pie tasted like home.
His hands were cracked and rough.	His hands were cracked and rough like alligator skin.

Reveal your feelings and insight

If your essay lacks vulnerability or self-reflection, share your feelings and the lessons you’ve learned.

Be creative with how you express your feelings; rather than simply writing “I’m happy,” use memorable images to help the reader clearly visualize your happiness. Similarly, for insight, include the follow-up actions from your lessons learned; instead of claiming “I became a hard worker,” explain what difficult tasks you accomplished as a result of what you learned.

After my best friend Doug moved away, it was really hard. Before, we used to always talk about video games, barter snacks during lunch, and share secrets. But now, I’m solo.	Before my best friend Doug moved away, we used to do everything together. We would spend countless bus rides discussing and strategizing sessions. At lunch break, we would barter Oreos and Cheez-Its while confiding in each other about whom we wanted to ask to the school dance. But now, I’m Solo, like Han without Chewbacca.
My mother’s death was difficult. My father’s grief made it difficult for him to take care of me and my brothers, so I took care of them.	After my mom passed, my grief was overwhelming, but my father’s was even deeper. At 13, I cooked, cleaned, and took care of my two younger brothers. Although the household responsibilities were tiring, I liked一and needed一the stability and purpose I derived from the new routine.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

If you’re struggling to reach the word count for your college essay, add vivid personal stories or share your feelings and insight to give your essay more depth and authenticity.

If your college essay goes over the word count limit , cut any sentences with tangents or irrelevant details. Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay.

You can speed up this process by shortening and smoothing your writing with a paraphrasing tool . After that, you can use the summarizer to shorten it even more.

There is no set number of paragraphs in a college admissions essay . College admissions essays can diverge from the traditional five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in English class. Just make sure to stay under the specified word count .

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.

Courault, K. (2023, June 01). How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Word Count Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/college-essay/college-essay-length/

Is this article helpful?

Kirsten Courault

Other students also liked, college essay format & structure | example outlines, how to revise your college admissions essay | examples, how to apply for college | timeline, templates & checklist, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

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!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Word Calculation

Autosave is off

Grammar check is

CHARACTERS  WITHOUT SPACE

Word Calculation — Count words, check grammar, spelling and improve your writing. Learn more

-->

3	70%
World	2	10%

TOP PHRASES

LATEST FROM THE BLOG

Free Online Word Counter Tool

Popular posts.

Free Online Sentences Counter Tool

Free Online Paragraph Counter Tool

Free Online Characters Counter Tool for Instagram

Character Counter with Spaces

Best Free Online Characters Counter Tool

I.e vs. e.g., by riley thompson manning.

Ready to learn a little Latin? The abbreviations i.e. and e.g. are two of the most mistakenly-used words in the writing world; even highly-educated professionals mix..​

Affect vs. Effect

Its vs. it's, get the latest in your inbox..

Signup to be the first to know when we publish updates, best-practices, tips and tricks.

COMMON QUESTIONS

How Many Pages is 1500 Words?​

How many pages is 300 words​​, how many pages is 2500 words​, how many pages is 600 words​, about word calculation tool.

Word Calculation : Your Ultimate Writing Companion! Seamlessly count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs in real time with our intuitive online tool. Say goodbye to errors with built-in spelling and grammar checks. Plus, optimize your content with keyword analysis, ensuring your message resonates online.

Whether you’re crafting blog posts, articles, essays, or dissertations, our platform provides invaluable metrics. Track your text against Twitter’s 140 characters, Google’s 300 meta description, and Facebook’s ~250 average post length effortlessly. Experience the power of precise writing at your fingertips. Get started now at wordcalculation.com and elevate your content to new heights. Perfect your online presence with Word Calculation today!

Word Calculation is an intuitive online tool for real-time word counting, character analysis, and grammar checks. Simply type or paste your content, and it provides instant results, aiding writers, bloggers, and students alike.

Yes, Word Calculation offers a free and user-friendly interface for counting words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs. It also provides essential SEO metrics for effective content optimization.

Absolutely! Word Calculation allows you to track your text length against standards like Twitter’s 140 characters, Google’s 300 meta description, and Facebook’s ~250 average post length, ensuring your content fits various online platforms.

Yes, Word Calculation analyzes your content to highlight frequently used keywords. This feature is valuable for optimizing your text for search engines and improving SEO.

Yes, Word Calculation values your privacy. Your data is secure, and the platform does not store any content you input. You can use it with confidence.

Certainly! Word Calculation is optimized for mobile use. You can access the tool from your smartphone or tablet, making it convenient for on-the-go writers.

While Word Calculation primarily focuses on counting and analysis, it underlines writing mistakes, providing hints for spelling and grammar, aiding you in enhancing your content quality.

Word Calculation is versatile. It handles both short texts and long-form content, such as articles, papers, and dissertations. If your text exceeds 360 characters, it displays metrics like sentences, paragraphs, and pages.

Word Calculation is regularly updated to improve functionality and user experience. Updates ensure you have access to the latest features and reliable performance.

Currently, Word Calculation operates as a standalone tool. However, it’s designed for seamless use alongside other writing applications, offering essential metrics for writers across platforms.

Count words, characters, sentences, and more in real time with Word Calculation. Check spelling, grammar, and track your text length against web standards. Try it now!

© 2023 WORD CALCULATION POWERED BY JAHASOFT LIMITED

LATEST POST

Word Counter

Counts My Words, Easy and Simple

Word Count: 0

Character Count: 0

Reading Time: 0 minutes

Keyword Density:

Already using a grammar plugin?

To enable grammar checking plugins like Grammarly and Ginger, disable ours from the settings panel on the left.

Typeface updated

Autosave is

Grammar check is

Word Counter

— Count words, check grammar and improve your writing. Learn more

Enter text to display keywords

Latest from the blog

How to Write Essay Titles and Headers

Don’t overlook the title and section headers when putting together your next writing assignment. Follow these pointers for keeping your writing organized and effective.

Popular posts

101 Standout Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

Writing a Standout College Admissions Essay

Common Writing Mistakes that Could Ruin Your Essay

100+ Narrative Essay Topics for your Next Assignment

Use our free and easy online tool for counting characters, words, sentences, paragraphs and pages in real time, along with keyword density and reading level.

Count words and characters, correct spelling and grammar, and check keyword density.

Improve your Grammar

I.e vs. e.g..

Ready to learn a little Latin? The abbreviations i.e. and e.g. are two of the most mistakenly-used words in the writing world; even highly-educated professionals mix them up!

Affect vs. Effect

Two of the easiest words in the English language to mix up, learn the difference between Affect and Effect, when each should be used and more.

Its vs. It's

In what context do you use its vs. it's? Learn what each determiner means, when to use them and how to remember their rules for next time.

Get the latest in your inbox.

Signup to be the first to know when we publish updates, best-practices, tips and tricks.

COMMON QUESTIONS

How many pages is 600 words.

How many pages will 600 words take up? The short answer is about one and one-third of page single spaced, and two and two thirds of a page double spaced.

How Many Pages is 10000 Words?

How many pages is 10000 words? Single spaced 10000 words is 20 pages; double spaced 10000 words is 40 pages.

How Many Pages is 6000 Words?

How many pages does 6000 words produce? If you're single spacing your work, 6000 words is close to 12 pages; double spaced around 24 pages.

How Many Pages is 750 Words?

A word count of 750 words will equal about 1.5 pages single spaced or 3 pages double spaced.

About Word Counter

Word Counter is an easy to use online tool for counting words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and pages in real time, along with spelling and grammar checking. Get started by typing directly into the text area above or pasting in your content from elsewhere. Word and character counts will display at the top, any writing mistakes will be underlined and your most frequently used keywords will appear to the right.

You can also use Word Counter to track your text length against common web standards like Twitter's tweet character count (140), Google's meta description (300), and Facebook's average post display length (~250). If your text is longer than 360 characters the counter will show you the number of sentences, paragraphs and pages instead; useful metrics for blog posts, articles, papers, essays, dissertations and other long-form content.

Word Counter

Learn how to master your assignments within a short amount of time and increase the word count in your essay. Furthermore, you will find plenty of free word counter tools in this post.

So, you’ve been assigned to write 5 or 10-page essay and don’t know where to start and how to meet how to hit this number of pages? Don’t worry. Just read this post and follow our advice to boost your writing skills. Here, you will find:

⚙️ 15 Word Count Tools

✅ step-by-step guide on how to write your 10-page essay, 📝 6 tips on how to increase a word count in your writing.

You may be wondering, why it is important to know the word count in your academic paper or blog post. Here’s the thing: some professors may assign both minimum and maximum word limit for your paper.

As for blogging, it’s simple: if you write 4,000 words post, chances are that your reader would never reach it to the end. On the other hand, if you write it too short, you won’t be able to catch the reader’s attention, and it’s likely that Google won’t rank it high. And, according to Brian Dean , the ideal blog post length is 1,000-2,000 words.

So, let’s analyze your writing, using the tools below:

1. WordCounter - Count Words & Correct Writing

This tool would be helpful to any writer. The analytics it provides shows the word, characters, sentences, and paragraphs count. The service will also analyze reading level using Dale–Chall readability formula , as well as reading and speaking time.

2. Word Counter – Count Words and Check Grammar

The service would be helpful for both bloggers and students. This tool will help you to analyze your blog post or academic paper, check the word count, determine the keyword density, and even check your grammar.

3. Count of Words

The free calculator allows you to count words within two simple steps: type or paste your text into the box and press the “Count Words” button. Bonus: this website also can help you to get the accurate character number and learn how to spell words.

4. Easy Word Count

The word count app would help you to determine the number of words, characters and characters without spaces. This tool would be helpful for both students and freelance writers.

5. Character Count Tool

This tool will help you to find the answer on the question “How to see how many words you typed?” The app would provide you with detailed statistics on word count: syllables, sentences, unique words, average word and sentence length, difficult words, etc. You will also find all the necessary stats on your text readability.

6. Word Counter | KeywordTool

Here’s another service that will count text length online. The tool will immediately provide you with word and character count. This website would be helpful not only for academic writing but also for blogging, SEO and SMM.

7. Doc Word Counter

If you don’t want to copy and paste your text from the document to determine the number of words, try this tool. The service supports all major document file formats to provide you with the most accurate results. It also supports Japanese and Chinese languages.

8. Word Counter | Grammica

Here’s another great service for all writers. It will count the number of characters, words, sentences and paragraphs. The website also offers free popular SEO tools that would be helpful for students too. For example, online grammar checker, spell check, paraphrasing tool, etc.

9. Word Count Tool

This free online word counter provides you with immediate accurate results. It will calculate words, characters, sentences, and readability index. As a bonus, you can find words-to-pages table.

10. Number of Words

Another word count app to find out how many characters, words, and paragraphs. It will also tell you the number of pages, both single and double spaced.

11. Free Word Counter | Grammar

Check this online character and word counting tool. You’ll get results immediately. It will show the number of characters, words, sentences, etc. Additionally, this website provides free grammar and punctuation check. Also, you can install a browser extension to check your writing for style, spelling and grammar problems.

12. Online Word Counter | Textfixer

TextFixer is a well-known online service for writers, SEO specialists and marketers. Among other tools like Random Word Generator or Word to HTML Converter, you will find a Word Count Checker. All you have to do is just paste your text into the box and click “Count Words” button.

13. WordCounter | DataBasic

Here’s another simple tool to analyze your texts. You can paste your text or a link, upload a file, or use a sample. The online app is available in English, Spanish, Portugese and Danish languages.

14. Word Counter for Android

If you’re looking for an essay word counter to use on your Android smartphone or tablet, you should try this free tool. It would count number of characters, sentences, words and paragraphs as you type. You can save drafts and access to the stats: unique words, average word and sentence length, etc.

15. Word Count App for iOS

Well, you’ve been assigned to write a 2,500 - 3,000 words. It would not be easy, but we’ve prepared a step-by-step guide that will help you to cope with this task within just one day:

• Eat your meals. Choose a healthy breakfast to fuel your body and mind. If you’re caffeine addict, it is acceptable to drink a cup of coffee. However, avoid drinking it too much of it as you may find yourself crashing after a few hours. Check out our post to find a list of products that would help your brain to function well.

Remember, you should be able to stay focused as long as possible, so turn off your phone and avoid constantly checking Facebook and Twitter updates. There are plenty useful apps that can help you to block distracting websites and apps.

• 8 AM – 9 AM: Have breakfast and do your morning exercise. This would help you wake up and get a lot of extra pep in your step.
• 9 AM – 9:20 AM: Choose your essay topic and approach. Choose only one essay question you have the most knowledge about or have some strong opinions. The next step you should take is to decide how you are going to tackle the question.
• 9:30 AM – 11 AM: Plan your essay. Write a plan and essay outline. Determine key points you will use in your main argument. Make a list of supporting arguments and counterarguments.

11 AM – 11:45 AM: Write an introduction. Now, when you know what and when you’re going to write in your essay, it’s time to start your intro. Introduce key argument and tell your readers how you will support it. Make a short outline in your introduction so you indicate exactly what it is you’re planning to argue.

Remember, don’t get stuck into your essay introduction – you would be able to improve it at the editing stage.

• 11:45 AM – 1 PM: Make a research. Use the next hour to do your research and find quotes and references to support your arguments. You can use Google Scholar to find quotes for your paper without wasting time going through endless paragraphs. Don’t forget to note your sources and format them for the bibliography. This will save you a lot of time and help to avoid plagiarism.
• 1 PM – 1:45 PM: Take a break and have a lunch.

1:45 PM – 6 PM: Write the essay body. You’ve already done the research to support ideas you set out in your outline. So it’s time to use these evidence and put them into your paper. If you still don’t believe you can write a 10 page essay, here’s the trick: pick out a single point and head back to your research. We’re sure that there will be additional quotes that you could throw in to make your point even clearer.

If you decide to use many quotes from other sources, remember to paraphrase your arguments. This would give the paper your own voice. Moreover, you will be able to determine which words are someone else’s and which are yours. Use the proper citation!

One more thing we would like to discuss is the conclusion. It shouldn’t be too long, even if you still don’t meet the word count. All you have to do is just summarize the arguments you discussed in the body and explain how they all support your response to the essay question.

• 6 PM – 6:45 PM: Don’t forget about your dinner!
• 6:45 PM – 10:30 PM: Polish your paper. Well, congratulations. You’re almost there. All you have to do is read through your essay, check if it flows nicely and how your paragraphs are linked. Revise your grammar and spelling mistakes. Make sure that your paper meets all professor’s requirements.

Now, you know how to write a 10 page essay within just one day. However, we do not recommend to procrastinate and leave your assignments to the last day.

If you find out that your paper doesn’t meet the word count set by professor, we’ve got some tips on how to increase the wording without making the essay weak:

Add more examples

Scan your essay and find out if there is any any place where you can insert example to support your thesis statement. You may also provide additional cases which will make your essay stronger and show your understanding of the topic.

Present different viewpoints

Another effective approach to increase word count and improve your essay is to provide different viewpoints to your own. You can discuss these alternative attitudes and explain why you think your conclusions are exceptional.

Doing this simple exercise will make your essay more powerful and show that you have considered a range of different opinions. Bonus: you will add more words.

Clarify thesis statement

In case if adding examples and presenting counter arguments doesn’t make sense, perhaps, you may try to clarify the thesis statement. How to do this? Just add a couple specific statements to explain the original one.

Add more sources

Here’s the deal: the more sources you have in your essay, the stronger it would be. So spend some time searching for additional sources you haven’t mentioned in the paper to support the statements and conclusions you’ve made.

Add quotations

You’ve might already placed appropriate quotations in your essay. In this case, you can skip this suggestion. However, if you haven’t used any, using quotations that support your statements can become an outstanding way to add more words to your paper and improve it at the same time.

Rewrite your introduction and conclusion

If all the methods mentioned above still haven’t enabled you to reach your word count minimum and you still need to add some filler, take a look at your introduction and conclusion. If you tried everything else, it’s better to add words it to these two sections than in the essay body.

Now you know that it is possible to write a 3000 word essay in just one day, increase the word count in your essay and have all the necessary tools to calculate the number of words in your writing. We hope these guidelines would be helpful for school, college, and university students, as well as for bloggers and content marketers.

Updated: Oct 25th, 2023

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

• Basic site functions
• Ensuring secure, safe transactions
• Secure account login
• Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• Remembering privacy and security settings
• Analyzing site traffic and usage
• Personalized search, content, and recommendations
• Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

• Remembering general and regional preferences
• Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy .

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .

What is Word Counter?

Word Counter is an easy to use online tool that can help you quickly and accurately count the number of words in your text. Suppose you're a student working on a paper, a writer crafting a novel, or a professional preparing a presentation. In that case, we can help ensure you stay within your word limit and keep your text understandable to the audience you are focusing on. You will see the number of characters and words increase or decrease as you type, delete, and edit them.

WordCounter has a simple and intuitive interface that allows you to paste your text and instantly calculates the number of words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, reading level, and any other metric to help you achieve your goals. Understanding the text word count holds significance. As a case in point, an author must meet a specific word range for an article, report, story, book, or any writing piece.

In addition to basic word counting, it offers advanced features such as keyword density analysis, readability scores like Reading Level , and the ability to compare texts side-by-side. These tools can help you improve the clarity and effectiveness of your writing and ensure you are communicating your ideas clearly and concisely.

Disclaimer: We try to make our tools as accurate as possible, but we cannot guarantee it will always be so.

Recent Posts

How to find word count in powerpoint.

Go to File -> Info -> Show all properties and you will see the "Words" property with the word count.

How to count words in PDF document?

Different tools will offer different or no ways to count words in a PDF document.

How to find the word count on Google Slides?

Google Slides does not have a built-in tool to count words. Alternative ways to count the words are possible but require more effort from you as a user.

How to see word count in OneNote?

OneNote does not word count natively, but you can get it to word count with the Word Count Add-In.

How many words can you make out of Police?

Cope, Clip, Cole, Coil, and Pile are a few of the 48 words that can be made out of the word Police.

All the real time features WordCounter currently offers

Features coming soon

Features we're working to make available to you

• Text Analyzer

Best Online Word Counter

Count words and characters instantly with our free online tool, perfect for essays, articles, and social media posts. Ensure accuracy and enhance your writing quality effortlessly.

Remove Duplicate Words

Auto Save on

Text Limit unlimited

Keywords Density:

How to use our free online word counter.

Our free online word counter is designed to be easy to use and highly efficient. To get started, simply copy and paste your text into the text box, and the counter will show you the word count, character count, and even the number of words and characters without spaces. This counter is perfect for checking word counts in essays, articles, and assignments. If you’re typing directly into the tool, it’s still just as effective, instantly updating as you write. Whether you’re using it to count words for a paper, check word count for a platform, or ensure you meet a specific word limit, our free online word counter makes the process seamless and hassle-free.

Benefits of Using a Word Count Tool

Using a word count app offers numerous benefits. It helps you keep track of the amount of words and characters in your text, which is essential for meeting minimum or maximum length requirements. Our online word counter is particularly useful for students, writers, and anyone who needs to count words for assignments, papers, or SEO purposes. By providing instant word and character counts, it saves you time and ensures accuracy. It also integrates grammar and spelling checks, helping you identify and correct writing mistakes. Additionally, you can use it to analyze keyword density for better SEO performance. Text analyse tools help to improve content and save much time. Online Sentence Counter , which helps you count sentences, lines and words from any text. -->

Use Cases for the Online Word Counter

There are many use cases for our online word counter. If you’re a student working on an essay, you can use the tool to ensure you meet the word count requirements. Writers can use it to see the word count for articles and manuscripts, helping them adhere to submission guidelines. Bloggers and content creators can count words to optimize their text for SEO by analyzing keyword density. Additionally, social media users can ensure their posts stay within character limits, such as the 280 characters limit for Twitter. This versatile app is also great for checking the reading time and summarizing long paragraphs. Check our Paragraph Counter

Integrating Grammar and Keyword Analysis with Word Count

Our word counter tool is not just for counting words. It also helps you improve your text by integrating grammar and keyword analysis. By using this tool, you can identify and correct grammar errors, check for spelling mistakes, and ensure proper punctuation. Additionally, you can analyze the keyword density in your text, making it a valuable SEO tool. Whether you’re writing an article, essay, or any type of text, our word counter helps you maintain high-quality writing. With features similar to Grammarly, it’s one of the best tools for enhancing your writing style and ensuring your text is error-free.

Why Would You Need a Word Counter Tool?

There are many reasons why you would need a word counter tool. For students, it helps ensure that essays and assignments meet the required word count. Writers and bloggers can use it to keep track of their word count and character count , making it easier to meet submission guidelines. For those in the SEO and content creation world, it helps analyze keyword density and optimize text for search engines. The tool is also useful for checking the reading level and summarizing text. Overall, our free online word counter tool is a must-have for anyone in the writing world who needs to count words and characters accurately and efficiently.

Understanding Word Count in Different Texts

Understanding word count is crucial for different types of texts. Whether you’re writing an essay, article, or social media post, knowing the word and character counts can help you meet specific requirements. For instance, an essay might require a minimum of 300 words, while a Twitter post must stay within 280 characters. Our tool provides detailed word and character counts, helping you stay within the required limits.

Enhancing Text Quality with a Word Counter

Using a word counter can significantly enhance the quality of your text. By keeping track of word count and character count, you can ensure your writing is concise and clear. The tool also helps you maintain the right keyword density, which is important for SEO. Additionally, by integrating grammar and spelling checks, our word counter tool helps you eliminate errors and improve your overall writing style.

Maximizing Efficiency with the Online Word Counter Tool

Our online word counter tool maximizes efficiency by providing instant results. You can quickly see the word count, character count, and keyword density without manually counting. This saves you time and helps you focus on your writing. Whether you’re working on an essay, article, or any type of text, our free and easy-to-use tool helps you achieve your writing goals efficiently.

Choose Your Test

• Search Blogs By Category
• College Admissions
• AP and IB Exams
• GPA and Coursework

The Best College Essay Length: How Long Should It Be?

College Essays

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 it down anyway.

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.

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.

For an example of this kind of prompt, check out essay Option B at Amherst :

"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 Western Washington University prompt :

“Describe one or more activities you have been involved in that have been particularly meaningful. What does your involvement say about the communities, identities or causes that are important to you?”

While there’s no page or word limit listed here, further down on page the ‘essay tips’ section explains that “ most essay responses are about 500 words, ” though “this is only a recommendation, not a firm limit.” This gives you an idea of what’s reasonable. A little longer or shorter than 500 words would be appropriate here. 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 seven "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.

However, many colleges provide additional details about their expectations for application materials, including essays, on FAQ pages, which is true of the University of Chicago. On the school’s admissions Frequently Asked Questions page , they provide the following length guidelines for the supplemental essays: 

“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!”

So there you go! You want to be (loosely) in the realm of 650 for the extended essay, and 250-500 words for the “Why UChicago?” essay.

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 Final Word: How Long Should a College Essay Be?

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 !

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Word Counter

Sentences count, characters count, what is word counter.

Our word counter is a free online tool for effortlessly tallying the word count, character count, and sentence count of any piece of text. Whether you're crafting an essay, drafting an email, or composing a social media post. Paste or type your text into the provided field , and our word counter will instantly generate detailed statistics.

How do I use the word counter?

Using the word counter is easy. Begin by typing or pasting your text into the input field above on this page. Below the input field, you will find three statistics displaying the word count, character count, and sentence count of your text.

How are words counted?

To calculate the number of words within a piece of text, we split the text by spaces and then count each individual word . Our calculation ignores spelling mistakes, grammar, and double spaces.

For example, the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" comprises of 9 words in total.

How are characters counted?

Characters are counted by totalling the number of letters, punctuation marks, and spaces within the text. E.g., "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" has 43 characters altogether.

An additional count for characters without spaces is provided. E.g., "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is 35 characters without spaces in total.

How are sentences counted?

A sentence is any string of text that is separated by either a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark . We treat back-to-back punctuation as a single sentence (e.g., "?!" or "!." is only one sentence).

For example, the sentence "Hello John! How is the weather today?" would count as two sentences.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this word counter free to use.

Yes, our word counter is 100% free to use . We believe everyone should have access to great word tools and, therefore, will not charge for a simple word counter.

Is this tool suitable for academic or professional use?

Absolutely! Our counter tool is suitable for various writing tasks , including academic essays, professional documents, translation work, and casual writing.

It can also be used for checking if a piece of text is within the limit for social media networks’ maximum post lengths such as Facebook or X (formerly Twitter).

Can I use the word counter on any device?

Yes. The word counter is accessible on any device , from desktops to tablets and mobiles. You will need an internet connection to initially load the page.

Do we store inputted text?

No. We understand that you may want to use our word or character counters for checking personal and private pieces of text. Therefore, we do not store any input text entered into our counter tools.

Whilst we do not store the text you input on this page, we do collect standard analytical events on this page, such as page views and interactions, in line with our privacy policy .

Is there a limit on the maximum length of my text?

No, we set no hard limits on the maximum or minimum length of your input. However, please allow the tool additional computational time for larger pieces of text.

900,000+ users

OVER 83 MILLION checks completed

8 BILLION words counted

Word Counter: Fast and Easy

Enter (by typing directly or using copy paste) your text and find out how many words and characters it contains.

Why would you need an online word counter?

Online word counters are a perfect tool for anyone who needs to keep a count of their words and characters, but doesn’t use Microsoft Word. Imagine writing a piece and having to manually count the words! Not only will it take forever, but there’s a chance you won’t be wholly accurate.

This tool is also a good way to assess your words per minute typing rate. Simply time yourself timing for five minutes. Type into the box on the online word counter. When the time is up, divide your total word count by five, and you have your average words per minute rate.

How is our tool different from the other word counters?

All word counting is made on the go, there is no need to press any "submit" buttons to make the calculation and therefore no time is lost for this procedure. You can type the text and instantly see how many words you got so far. Also, we do not store any information that is typed or pasted in the word counting box.

Whom is this word counting tool for?

• Bloggers/Content Writers

You could be writing an article for someone else where the word count is important, but even if it’s for your own site, this tool can be fantastic for your SEO. For example, the body of text should be a minimum of 300 words, and the title should be less than 70 characters to rank effectively.

• Students/Teachers

As a student, you will often be expected to write assignments with specific word counts. Although a bit of leeway is usually given, if you are well off the count either way, you could lose marks. What a waste of you time and effort! Also, you may find it extremely useful to use professional writing help from custom writing services such as Academized that offers one of the best write my essay services you can find on the Web. This will come in hand in case you are required to write a really difficult assignment.

As a lecturer, you can use this tool to ensure your students’ assignments are the correct length.

In many work places, you will be expected to write pieces of certain lengths at times, for example, lawyers, secretaries etc.

© EasyWordCount.com, 2024

Free Word Counter Tool

You may be a blogger, a professional content writer or a student, facing the need to write tons of words all the time. You often have to deal with certain restrictions, concerning the number of words. We’ve designed a Word Counter Tool to make sure you have exactly the amount of text you need. You won’t need to worry about the length of sentences. You won’t fail to post your article just because it’s too long or too short. You even don’t have to open MS Word to know how many words you’ve written.

Use our tool at your convenience! Just type in or insert the text in the field below and get what you need – the number of characters, words, sentences and paragraphs.

Characters: 0

Sentences: 0

Paragraphs: 0

Word Counter

• Character Counter
• Scrabble Word Finder
• Pomodoro Timer

Flesch Reading Score:

Reading time:, word count per page converter, about word count tool.

Word Count Tool is a site that, well, gives you the word count for your text. But wait! If you think that’s all there is to it, then we’ve got a treat for you. Despite the name of the site, Word Count Tool isn’t just your typical online word counter. It has some cool features in the word counter itself, and it also offers a lot more useful tools that writers can have at their disposal. And if that isn’t amazing enough, Word Count Tool also has a blog. Here on Word Count Tool, we write about writing, and we absolutely love it! As writers ourselves, we want to give other writers a hand and aid them in their journey to creating the next bestseller. So we’ve created this comprehensive guide to help you get the best experience out of our site. Let’s dive right in!

Features Of Our Word Counter

The word count tool is fairly easy to use. You can directly type your text into the box. Or if you’re using a word processor or online tool, such as Google Documents, to write your piece, you can simply copy and paste it onto the text box. 

Now the word count tool is more than just a simple word counter. It actually has a lot to offer. And we’ll be tackling each cool feature according to sections.

How To Customize Text On Word Count Tool?

Once you’re on the homepage, you will immediately see the text box in the middle of the page. This is where you’ll be placing your text. Right above the text box, you will see four tabs. The first tab will allow you to choose from a variety of fonts. Right next to that tab is the Size tab. From the name alone, you can already guess what that tab does. The font sizes available for use are in the range of 10 to 14. Now, these two, so far, are pretty basic, and you can find them in most word processors. But the next tab is pretty cool. The third tab, labeled Case, allows you to alter the letter case of the text. The default setting is sentence form wherein the start of each sentence is in uppercase. But you can also change the text to all lower case and all upper case. There’s also another option that makes the text into a title. Lastly, there’s the clear tab that allows you to erase the entire text box and start with a fresh, blank one.

Counters On Word Count Tool

Above the tabs, you can see five boxes with their respective labels. These are the counters. As you’d probably expect, the first box will show you the word count for the text pasted. The next two boxes feature the text’s character count, one putting into account spaces and the other without. To the right of that, you will have the sentence count. Now, you should note that the sentence counter determines a sentence by the presence of an end punctuation. So if let’s say, you copy and paste an article with all the headings present, the site will not count those as sentences. It will consider the heading and the first line for that section as one sentence. Additionally, if no end punctuation is present in the entire text, the counter will display a count of one instead of zero in the sentence counter. Lastly, you will find the paragraph count. How it works is that it will identify a chunk of text as a paragraph through the presence of breaks in between texts.

Word Frequency Counter

Moving to the right of the text box, you will see the Word Frequency Counter. This incorporates a fun little way of playing around with data. The Word Frequency Counter basically lists down all the words used in the text and counts how many times they appeared and what percent of the text they comprise. Now, why do you even need to know this data? Well, aside from telling you what words you commonly use in your writing style, it can also be helpful for SEO purposes. It’ll show you how many times you’ve mentioned certain keywords in your text. This way, you can determine whether your use of keywords in the article was overkill or not enough. And of course, you can adjust accordingly to better optimize your work.

Flesch Reading Score And Text Readability

Now, looking at the bottom part, you will see two lines right below the text box. The first line is labeled Flesch Reading Score, while the second is labeled Reading time. As you can probably tell, the reading time will give you an estimate of how long it would take for an average person to read through the text. This is an especially nice feature to have when writing a speech since you often can’t tell how long it already is until you practice reciting it out loud. Having this feature will help save you time while still constructing your speech so you can cut or add accordingly. Another thing that could affect reading time is readability. The Flesch Reading Ease is just the tool to help you determine that. The test uses a formula to assign a score to a particular text depending on the number of words, sentences, and syllables in your work. But to put it simply, the higher the Flesch Reading Score, the easier it is to read.

Lastly, take a look below the Flesch Reading Score and Reading time. You will find the Word Count Per Page Converter. This will allow you to know the total number of pages your article occupies based on the font and spacing you’ll be using, and of course, the word count. This little tool is perfect for assignments where your instructor just requires minimum or maximum pages.

More About Word Count

With a name like Word Count Tool, we’re all about the word count. Aside from our word counter, we also publish many works that talk about word count. Now, how much can you really write about word count? Well, you’d be surprised! We have articles that talk about the word count of different texts and books, and even about converting word count to pages. Our blog also offers simple and helpful guides that tell you where you can find the word counter in different word processors. Then site even offer tips to help you reach that desired word count. We simply can’t get enough of word count and you should too. Here’s a look at what you can expect when browsing our archives. And hopefully, this will help you get as excited about word count as we do.

Typical Word Count For Different Types Of Texts

In the literary world, there are different ways to write a story. And with that, there are different lengths as well. You’ve probably heard of short stories and novels, and perhaps all that is in between. But have you ever asked yourself what counts as short in a short story? Or maybe you’ve wondered how long a story can go before you can call it a novel? Are there rules that bind what is and what is not in terms of word count? And if so, what are these?

Well, no, there aren’t really word count police who’ll shake their head for every excess word. But there is a general range for each type of text that writers and scholars alike agree. Take the short story, for example. Short stories can have a rough maximum of 7,500 words. Short story books range from 3,500 to 7,500 words, but word count can be as low as 1,000 . A story more than 7,500 words but less than 17,000, on the other hand, is what you call a novelette. This term might be familiar to you, and it is often interchanged with the longer form, novella. Novellas are lengthier than novelettes but usually do not exceed 40,000 words. Stories that do exceed that, however, are – you guessed it – novels! 

So, why the need to know all this? Well, if you’re a writer plotting your story, you have to consider how long you expect your story to be and if it matches with the time you’re willing to invest in writing that story. If you want to write something for short-term, consider writing a short story or novelette, and piece out a concise plotline you can execute in the appropriate amount of words. 

Word Count To Pages

Sometimes professors will ask you to write a report or paper and require a certain number of pages for the length. But how many words would you need to write if you have to submit three pages? Well, we can really only estimate the word count per page because certain factors would affect this like lengthy words, font size, and spacing. But an estimate is better than nothing, right? Here on Word Count Tool, our “How Many Pages is [Blank] Words?” will help answer your questions. But as a general guide, roughly 500 words would make up a single page. If you want to find out the exact number of pages your piece is, you can use the Word Count Per Page Converter on the homepage.

Where To Find Word Count On Google Docs?

A lot of people use this helpful online word processor to write various reports, papers, or articles. And a lot of the time, groups use this to simultaneously work on a paper together. If what you’re working on has a required amount of words, it’s best to know how many words you’ve written so far. This will help you gauge how many more you need to write or if you need to cut out some parts already. Google Docs doesn’t automatically show you your word count when you use it. But this word count feature is available on this platform . Simply go to Tools, click “word count” and then a pop-up will show on screen. The pop-up will give you the number of pages, words, characters, and characters excluding spaces. If you want to see your word count as you write, make sure to click the box beside “display word count while typing,” and a word counter will show at the bottom of your screen.

Where To Find Word Count On Microsoft Word?

If you prefer using the classic Microsoft Word to write, then no worries. Microsoft Word is also equipped with its own word counter . You will usually find the word count on the status bar, right beside the page counter. If it happens to not be there, just right-click on the status bar and select Word Count. If you want a more detailed report of your word count that includes characters, paragraphs, and even lines, just head out to the Menu Bar. Click on Tools and then Word count, and voila! There you go. Pretty simple, right?

Where To Find Word Count On Pages?

Now, Apple users, don’t you fret. We haven’t forgotten about you. Now, if you want to see the word count while you type away, here’s what you do. Click on View on the toolbar and select “Show Word Count.” If you also want to see character count or paragraph count, hover the pointer over the right side of the counter and click on the arrows that appear to select which counter you want to display. And there you go.

How To Increase Word Count?

A lot of times, we have trouble reaching the required word count. Perhaps the words just aren’t coming to you, or maybe you feel that you’ve already said all that you can. We’ve all been there. But, if your professor is asking for a certain number of words, you have to meet that else get deductions. Well, don’t worry because there are ways to increase your word count. One of the best ways to achieve a lengthier piece is by adding examples. Deliver your point well by illustrating a scenario. This way, your readers can easily grasp your concept and also meet the required word count. 

How To Decrease Word Count?

If sometimes we have a hard time filling in the spaces, other times call for a reduction of words. There really are instances where we go way beyond the assigned word count, and our piece becomes too long that we lose the reader’s interest . For these cases, you need to decide which points are crucial for your piece, and which ones you can cut out. If, after this, your work is still over the word count, then try rephrasing what you’ve written. Shorten long phrases by replacing them with something more concise. For example, instead of saying “is able to” you can go for the simpler “can.” You can also decrease your word count by limiting the use of flowery words. Sometimes, it’s really better to be direct, simple, and straight to the point.

Word Count For Famous Novels

People often look at a book and say, “hmm…that’s too long” and miss the opportunity of a new adventure. But for book lovers out there, there is no greater joy than to dive into a wondrous new world. And often, you get so caught up in the story that you don’t even realize the length of what you’ve already read. If you’re curious how many words you’ve actually read from your favorite books , we’ve got articles that give you the exact number. It can be pretty cool to see the numbers behind the magic; all the work put in laboriously and lovingly by authors just to create the books we love the most.

Other Tools On Word Count Tool

Despite the site’s name, Word Count Tool offers more than just a word counter. The site features other tools such as the Character Counter, Scrabble Word Finder, Pomodoro Timer, and Mind Map. Learn what each tool has to offer, why you need them, and how best to utilize these tools.

Other Useful Online Tools

Aside from the helpful tools we have here on Word Count Tool, every writer should be well-equipped with several tools to aid them in their writing. Some tools we suggest you include in your collection are grammar and plagiarism checkers.

Grammarly is one of the writing tools our very own writers use when writing articles for our blog. There’s a Google Chrome extension for this, so it’ll be really helpful if you’re one to use Google Documents often. It’ll underline words in red if it senses spelling errors or wrong use of the word. If you go to the site itself, you can paste your work, and Grammarly will grade your piece accordingly. It’ll often show you suggestions of words or phrases you might want to replace or remove. And it’ll also show you how many errors you’ve made by category such as punctuation errors or passive voice misuse, etc. However, if you’re not on premium, you’ll only know the number and not the exact phrase or word that garnered that error.

Plagiarism Checker

One fear most writers have is accidentally plagiarizing somebody else’s work. Now, plagiarism is definitely a big no-no, especially in the writing world. But sometimes you are unaware that what you’ve written actually mirrors an already existing article online. Now, you might have written it with no intention to plagiarize at all, but Google does not know that. And how are you supposed to justify your case to an algorithm? To avoid getting flagged for plagiarism on Google, make sure to run your work through online plagiarism checkers to ensure your piece is 100% unique and 100% yours.

Final Thoughts For Word Count Tool

Words are everything to a writer. They are our bread and butter. And although one must not be too caught up with the technicalities and quantities, it’s still nice to know the numbers behind the masterpiece. Whether it’s a 500-word essay or a 40,000-word novel, every single word counts. Every word serves a purpose to the story and was placed there by the author for a reason. So to all the writers out there, make your words count…pun intended, of course. 

Word	Count	(%)
Please type anything on the text area.

FAQ on Word Counter

Q: how to find the word count using the word counter tool.

A: Type your text into the space, and the word count will be updated as you type. Alternatively, copy and paste your text into the space, and your word count will be provided.

Q: What is Flesch reading score?

A: The Flesch reading ease measures the complexity of a text. The lower your score, the more complex your text is. The Flesch readability score uses the average length of your sentences and the average number of syllables per word in an equation to calculate your score.

Q: How do I increase my word count?

A: Add examples in your points or explain your points more elaborately are quick ways to increase your word count.

Q: How do I reduce my word count?

A: Use active voice instead of passive voice in your sentences, eliminate unnecessary words are quick ways to reduce your word count.

Q: How many pages is 1000 words?

A: A good estimate is 2 pages for font size 12 pt and single spaced.

Q: How many pages is 2000 words?

A: A good estimate is 4 pages for font size 12 pt and single spaced.

Q: How many pages is 3000 words?

A: A good estimate is 6 pages for font size 12 pt and single spaced.

Q: What is the word count for 1 page?

A: A good estimate of the word count for font size 12 pt and single spaced in 1 page is 500 words.

Q: How many words is 280 characters?

A: The character limit for Twitter is 280 characters, and that is approximately 55 words given an average length of 5.1 characters per word.

Q: How do you count words in an essay?

A: Simply copy and paste your essay into our  word counter tool , and you’ll get the word count for your essay.

Q: How do I find the word count in Google Docs?

A: Find the word count for your Google Docs document in the ‘Tools’ tab.

Q: How do I find the word count in Microsoft Word?

A: Find the word count for your Microsoft Word document in 3 ways: On the status bar, in the menu bar and in the ribbon tabs.

Q: Is Grammarly a free service?

A: Yes, absolutely! You can choose to use its grammar and plagiarism checking services for free. They offer a paid-for premium version for more advanced services.

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, what's a good word count for a college essay.

Hi everyone, I'm working on my college essay and I'm not sure how long it should be. What's a good word count for a college essay? Is there a minimum or maximum length that colleges prefer? Thanks in advance!

Hey there! It's great that you're working on your college essay. Generally, most colleges require a main personal statement, which is typically around 250-650 words. This range is set by the Common Application and the Coalition Application, which are platforms used by many colleges for their application process.

It's important to keep your essay within this word count, as going too far over or under the limit might be seen as not following instructions. However, the actual length of your essay should be determined by how well you're able to convey your message and showcase your personality. Sometimes, a shorter essay can be more powerful and engaging if it's written effectively.

In addition to the main essay, some colleges may also require supplemental essays with their own specific word counts, which can range from 100-400 words. Make sure to check each college's requirements carefully and adjust your essays accordingly. Good luck with your college essay, and I hope this helps!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Need a word counter? Paste your text below to get an accurate word and character count!

Why simple word count?

Simple word count simply provides you a total count of words and characters that are entered in the textbox above. Type or paste in your text and see the counters below update instantly!

Why a word count website?

Even though we have great word processing tools such Microsoft Office and Google Docs , some of us usually write inside a simple text editor due to their clean and simple user interface that doesn't distract you from what your trying to do. We, like so many others love simple text editors!

Once you've typed up a few lines, select your text, right-click or tap and hold, click or tap copy then visit simplewordcount.com . Right-click or tap and hold the textbox above, click or tap paste. Your text is now there and counted - Easy!

Uses for simple word count

Use this word count to provide you with an accurate word count of your school or university essays and assignments by simply pasting in your current progress or type it in immediately for up-to-date counts. From paragraphs to simple sentences, word count has you counted!

© 2024 Simple Word Count - The word counting experts