if you are using Microsoft word...why not just use the tool that tells you word and character count?? isn't that much easier? that will tell you if spaces are included or not.
It looks like maybe there was some miscommunication when I spoke to them on the phone. Now when I go to enter my essay it says "Characters include spaces, carriage returns, numbers, letters, etc."
I don't remember seeing that before. I guess that answers the question though 😎