<p>A cutoff point is there for more than one reason; one is to make it possible for the staff to read through everything and the other is to see if you can follow instructions! It’s not a case of, well, 10 more isn’t that bad, because then the next person adds another 7 or 9 and so it goes. I know that when I had a limit on my assignments I held to it- no, I wouldn’t fail someone for an extra word or two, but, one can tell when you’re getting much more than was asked for. Imagine the distress of friend of mine when he went hog-wild on his thesis for master’s degree number 2; the paper required the usual specs, double-spaced, margins so big, etc. Well, being the arrogant sort, he figured that what he had to say was very important, so he decided to single space his work, cut the margins to the minumum, etc. The paper was returned the day after he submitted it with a large, red -0- on it. He tried to fight it through the academic appeals commitee but was soundly, and rightly, defeated. That’s taking the OP’s question quite a bit farther then the question, but it shows what can happen down the road to someone who flouted the rules for years…</p>