<p>If you upload your essay as a .pdf file, there is no way the school will be able to tell if it is 497 or 537 words. This will also preserve you paragraph formatting that is often lost on a .doc upload. Clearly you want to edit out anything unnecessary whether you are over word count or not. Sometimes you are cut off when you are under the word count and you have to live with that as well. Take the position of being reasonable and you’ll be fine.</p>