<p>Uh oh. I just noticed something worrisome about Son's summer program app. </p>
<p>On the actual application it says, "please limit your essay to 500 words."<br>
But, in some general info about the app process it says, "submit a 500 word essay." </p>
<p>Son's essay came out to be about 150 words. That's all he needed to convey his thoughts and interest. It's too late to change it now, but do you think this harms his chances?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>How long did he work on it?</p>
<p>Two evenings, about 3 hours total.</p>
<p>I sincerely doubt that the lenght of his essay will detract from his chances. What is this program based on? If it’s a program pertaining to creative writing or something humanistic in nature (history, etc.) this might not make a stellar impression but it will certainly not be the breaking point in an entire application. If it’s a science or math program, the readers will actually appreciate his brevity (science/math people do not like to be creative or extensive in their written responses to anything, uniformity (aka simplicity) is valued). Hope this helped!</p>
<p>OK. Thanks. It’s the FBI “Future Agents In Training” program.</p>
<p>Update: Just got word that he was accepted. I guess the short essay was not harmful. :)</p>
<p>380 applicants, 30 accepted. Woot woot!</p>
<p>Congratulations! What a perfect summer activity for him. He (and you) must be excited.</p>