<p>Did people write the traditional 5 paragraph format with an intro and conclusion?</p>
<p>Or is it okay to have a brief 2 or 3 paragraph essay that tells a story in about 350 to 400 words or should I convert it to the standard 5 paragraph?</p>
<p>Avoid writing in the five paragraph essay format if at all possible. Admissions officers get sick of it and you won’t be writing like that when you’re in college. Writing two to three paragraphs is just fine.</p>
<p>An admissions counselor from UVA told me to absolutely avoid the five paragraph essay. He said something like this: In the intro paragraph, you talk about what you’re going to talk about in the essay. In the body, you actually talk about your main points. In the conclusion, you talk about what you just talked about. Since you don’t want to make your essay too long, don’t kill your word count by redundant intros and conclusions.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to an article about essays that really helped me, written by the UVA officer Parke Muth if you’re interested. [Essays</a>, Admission Information, Undergraduate Admission, U.Va.](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html]Essays”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html)</p>
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<p>God no. Let your essay unfold naturally, whether that’s into one paragraph or ten.</p>