I see your point, but then you could apply that argument to just about anything in the college admissions process. It’s also absurd that I have to take a ~3-hour test (SAT or ACT) to prove my competence and college-readiness (despite these being hardly accurate measures).
The key here being “AN applicant” … let 30,000 applicants go over by 100-150 words and you’ve increased the reading time by how much?
People are always going to want to go over the limit anyways; increase it to 1000, pretty soon you’ll have people finding ways to get their 1,200 word essay read.
I don’t. And I completely agree and am on the same page as you. 