aubrey, I received your PM, and I will send you a response soon. But I wanted to clarify the deadline so that people who are applying know when the GMS is due. The deadline is this coming
Friday, January 11, at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time. If you're not on the East Coast, make sure you get it in before that time. Just to be safe, I would suggest not waiting until that last day to submit your application (like I did when I applied) as too many people do that and the site runs slower than usual.
When I wrote my essays, I used almost the maximum number of characters available; however, the length is not what makes or breaks an application. They look at how deeply and how well you answer the question, so use lots of examples and show, rather than tell. I'd suggest reading your essay out loud and then seeing if your statements create "why" and "how" questions. If so, that's an opening for you to expand and use examples to show exactly what you mean. One final suggestion: make a copy of your entire application before you submit it. It's a good habit to practice for any forms you turn in, whether it's for a scholarship, college application, or anything else. Who knows...perhaps you can help out another student applying for the GMS next year.
Good luck!