Scotty111

For shorter supplemental essays (200-250 words) should I even bother trying to put the essay into Intro-Body-Conclusion paragraph format? It seems like I would be wasting a lot of space with transition sentences and the like. I've written a couple already but they always end up with 1 sentence intro and conclusion paragraphs. Does anyone know if its better to just lump it all together or to have realllly short intro and conclusion paragraphs?

schitz

Lump it all together! Definitely get straight to the point. The personal statement is meant to exhibit your writing abilities and whatnot, but your short answer essays should get to the point and do what they ought to do: provide the adcoms with info about you and whatever the prompt is asking for. There's no way you can do that if you dedicate two paragraphs to an intro and conclusion. Definitely stick to introductory and concluding sentences.
I'd aim for two paragraphs if it's 250, just because little paragraphs are much nicer on the eyes than a monster paragraph. But only do so if there are natural breaks in your writing.