How long should the Princeton Graded Paper reasonably be
I'm planning on applying to Princeton University, and so I need to send a graded paper. I am taking the IBDP and feel that my best work was a paper I had written for History class, namely my IA (Internal Assessment comprising a historical investigation of the Italian Risorgimento and Cavour, source analysis, and a reflection). However, that paper was a total of 12 pages long (but that includes a cover page, contents page, bibliography, and three pictures in the appendix, which would make it about seven pages of 'real' text). Is this too long for the admission officers to read?
If it is too long, I could submit the historical investigation section on its own (which is the main and most important part of the paper) of about 3.2 pages. Each section is graded individually, so I could still send a real grade and comment. However, I fear that submitting just one section of the paper might not be acceptable, as the assignment was to write the entire paper. Would this second option work better, or should I find another paper altogether?
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3 answers
If this is your best example of a graded paper and you don't have anything that is 4-5 pages, then I would submit it in its entirety with all the teachers comments and grades as you received it back. You will not be penalized for submitting something like this. Just keep in mind that they will skip to the body of the work and probably not read the bibliography, appendix and table of contents. They only have 10 minutes to read your entire file so they just want to see if you your expository writing is up their standard.
Good luck.
Honestly, I would just find another paper that is no more than 2 pages long. Admission officers don't have a lot of time. If you make it any more than 2 pages, they might just not read it.
I would submit a paper graded by one of your teacher recommenders (to provide proof for what the teachers say), in your major area (to prove that you are really interested in that topic, and can expand on it), or both
"One to two pages in length is sufficient."
https://admission.princeton.edu/how-apply/application-checklist/graded-written-paper
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