<p>My rough draft is like 220 words and it’s going to be very hard to shorten it without taking away some crucial information and without making it look superficial.</p>
<p>Hm, I’d say really try to shorten it. They want a short answer, and 220 is approaching the minimum for the actual essay. I don’t think anybody would kill you if it was about 160-175, but I honestly think 220 is a bit too long- not in general for “short answers” but just for the app.</p>
<p>I got lucky and managed to get mine down to exactly 150 with it still sounding decent.</p>