Abbreviations in my personal statement?

Hey
so I've done the first draft of my personal statement (early entry so it's got to be in quite soon- I'm not that eager omg) and it's quite a bit over the character limit so I'm trying to cut bits out. One of the things that I'd like to make shorter is a bit about my visit to the US embassy in London, and currently I've gone for the whole 'the embassy of the United States of America'. It would be great if I could shorten that to the USA's embassy or something to that effect, but I've heard not to use contractions and abbreviations, etc.?

Do you guys think it'd be okay to just say the US embassy?

I think US Embassy is probably absolutely fine. Abbreviations and contractions get problematic when they sound informal or rushed or where there's a risk that the reader might not understand what it means, but none of that applies to "US" really.

Do you guys think it'd be okay to just say the US embassy?

Yes - it's well understood what you're referring to and mimics the style guide for a number of broadsheets (though not all).

thank you!! just 525 more characters to cut out