I advise you to adhere to the page and word limits. Although for page limits you can adjust the margins. Admissions committees are looking for candidates who can succinctly express themselves.
basically, what amount can you go over the word count before it is viewed negatively?
any thoughts?
Normally, the admission officers never check the word count, but can tell if an essay went more than 20% over the word limit, which sometimes leads to some frustration on their end.
That is to say, do your best to adhere to the posted guidelines; but if you are 10% over, they wouldn't worry about it at all.