I agree w/ kdiddy... And will add, and I must sound like a broken record, is to get out of Party... Try Bodog... You'll get more chips, and may still be the shorter stack, but will probably have 800 at a table where everyone else has 1200-1500... Gives you a lot more breathing room...

Can't judge based on 8 SNGs, but you know that.

It would be "normal" to be a short stack if your plan was just to fold every hand. Under a tight but reasonable strategy, once 3 people are out, you will be one of the short stacks only about 50% of the time. You will be knocked out by that point only about 10% of the time. 20% you will be in the middle of the pack, and 20% of the time you will have more chips than the average player.

The strength of the plan is that you should only be finishing in the bottom 3 about 10%, maybe 15% of the time in lower stakes SNGs. You should virtually never finish 9th or 10th. Consider the first 2 players out to basically be donors, they more than negate the rake, and it's a lock that you'll make money in the long run. If you really wanted to maximize your win rate, you can develop kinks in the strategy that fit your particular playing style and your opponents. The main principle, however, is that it's NEVER wrong to play tight early in an SNG.