For a 5-7 page paper, for a college course, would one apply the 5 paragraph structure? (I.e.Intro,First,Second,Third,Conclusion)

Your introduction and conclusion would normally be one paragraph. Your other paragraphs will be on each individual point you are making based on your introduction. You should have way more than 5 paragraphs in total for a paper of 5 to 7 pages in all.

First, make an outline, even just a simple one, so you know what you will be doing and how.

Make sure each paragraph has a topic sentence. You will need more than 5 paragraphs for that long of a paper.