Is it ok if I go over the word cap a little on supplementary questions
by-doing-this?
No. Just edit your essay to get to the word limit. Colleges will be less than impressed by your “initiative” to disregard rules.
No, and most of the time, they won’t let you. Regardless, if they’ve asked you to keep below (or above, for that matter) a certain word limit, listen to their instructions.
Follow the rules.
Stay within the work limit. Otherwise you risk that your inability to follow very simple instructions will be noted by admission officers.
Cutting is easy. Be merciless.
My first draft of my CA essay was 1,400 words, trust me you can easily get rid of a couple of words
Besides, on the CA you often can’t go over the word limit- it won’t let you submit.
Hyphenating words that would not normally be hyphenated will look awful. It sends a negative message on several levels.
If you only have a few words to cut, look for adjectives and adverbs. Words like “very” and “really” can almost always be removed and doing so usually improves your writing.