In applications for admission and scholarships, does it matter how long the essays are as long as you follow the word limit? For example, if an essay gives a 500 word limit and the applicant only writes 250, would that come off as being uninterested or lazy to the committee? Assuming that the essay is still well written, just short.
I don’t know about scholarships, but for college admissions, if they want 500 words, then it means they expect a certain amount of content and depth. I would say generally 250 is too short. If the essay is amazing, then don’t bother changing it, but perhaps you could add a bit more detail to your essay to make it more compelling.
I think that if you send them a 250 word essay when they’ve requested 500, you’ve missed out on half your opportunity to impress them.
490 is one thing, but 250 just seems as though you couldn’t put in the effort to give them the depth they’ve requested.
As a general rule, I think aiming to hit 2/3 of the maximum is a decent rule of thumb. Most of the essays I see would benefit from being more concise. Very few make me want to read more, and I’m not reading 100 of them every day.