How Long Does a Capstone Have To Be (Including References)

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When students finish their studies, they prepare a capstone project. It is an opportunity to complete an independent piece of work and demonstrate what a student has learned throughout his college education. Depending on the academic level and subject, final projects can be of different lengths. Final projects are prepared by medical students, law students, marketing students, and others. During a capstone course in college, you can organize your paper without stress. To make it easier for you to prepare your paper, we have compiled some recommendations.

Now let’s talk about how long should a capstone project be.

How long does it take to do a capstone project

The requirements for capstone projects may vary from college to college. Some colleges may ask for a short project, but others may want a longer paper. The same applies to the time investment – you can spend a few weeks or 2-3 months preparing the capstone. If you don’t have that much time, a cheap essay writer can prepare such a paper for you in a short time.

  • For high school students, a capstone project might be around 20 pages long. A project that is too long might be too difficult for them.
  • College students have more experience with research and writing. They can handle longer projects. That’s why a college capstone project might be around 30 to 50 pages long. Some subjects, like science or nursing, might need even longer projects because they include experiments and detailed analysis.

If you want to know, ‘How many pages is a capstone project?’, look closer at this question. Usually, the length of a capstone project is around 50 pages. Only your instructor can provide the exact requirements. He can help pick the most attractive ones among all the proposed capstone project topics.

The structure of a capstone project typically includes the following sections:

  • Title Page (1 page)
  • Abstract (1 page)
  • Table of Contents (1 page)
  • Introduction (2-3 pages)
  • Literature Review (5-10 pages)
  • Methodology (5-7 pages)
  • Results (5-10 pages)
  • Discussion (5-7 pages)
  • Conclusion (2-3 pages)
  • References (2-3 pages)
  • Appendices (If needed)

However, it’s not just the number of pages that’s important. The content quality is no less important. The project should have a clear introduction, a detailed body, and a convincing conclusion. The introduction should explain what the project is about and why it is important. The body should contain all the important points related to the topic. The conclusion should summarize the project and explain what the student has learned.

Some graduate projects may contain other parts as well. For example, a science project may include charts and graphs to help explain the research. Also, do not forget that in addition to the written document, your grade may depend on the quality of the capstone presentation.

If you have doubts that you can complete the project following this structure, request us to ‘write my capstone paper’ and we will take this part of the academic work upon ourselves.

What you need to know about capstone project evaluation

Capstone paper writing is not easy work you should do in college. You need to understand what criteria will be used to evaluate you.

Сurrent сriteria used in capstone project assessing:

  • Evidence of in-depth engagement with relevant sources;
  • The stringency of the strategic analysis;
  • How thoroughly has the student researched the literature;
  • How well structured, expressed and presented is the paper;
  • Originality of conception and analysis of primary source;
  • Focus and quality of argument;
  • Demonstration of understanding the key goal of the project;
  • Presentation of data in a clear manner that supports conclusions
  • Ability to present capstone research results and critically evaluate them.

For medical students it also could be the following criteria:

  • Performance of a student in the laboratory (level of independence, technical ability, work ethic);
  • Understanding of the science and methods underlying the project;
  • Scientific writing (writing style and general formatting, referencing);
  • Quality of content and cohesion of written thesis.

Capstone project writing is an exciting, but difficult journey that will take you to a new practical level in your professional activity. If you need an assistant along the way, don’t hesitate to ask for help with capstone. Our online service with responsible experts is ready for any challenges!

Dissertation vs Capstone

Students often ask the question: what is the general difference between a capstone project and a dissertation? A dissertation is oriented primarily towards research. The final project is focused on practice. A dissertation is often required for a doctoral degree. A capstone project is usually required for undergraduate or master’s programs.

After completing the course project, students should acquire the following skills:

  • Critical thinking;
  • Self-managed learning;
  • Ability to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of a particular topic;
  • Ability to conduct independent research;
  • Ability to present work through various means, including video, written work, performances, and oral presentations;
  • Ability to communicate with people;
  • General presentation skills.

The dissertation should develop skills in conducting and evaluating research. Many research projects need ethical approval, and this requires reflection on the ethical consequences of the main research of the dissertation. However, both types of academic work require responsibility for the data presented and an in-depth research subject. As with the dissertation, you can add capstone project to resume. And, of course, the dissertation is much larger in scope. It can have up to 300 pages.

No matter what task you face, our team of experts is ready to help with the academic papers and deliver them on time and in excellent quality.

Shawn Salazar

Shawn Salazar

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Writing has always been my passion. In 2020, I took a significant step towards fulfilling my dream by pursuing a Creative Writing and Journalism diploma. After graduating with a degree in English, I began contributing to the blog of the essay writing service Essaywritercheap.org. I also teach English to international students at an ESL school.

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