<p>Both of my UC essays are about 400 words, so together, they're only 800 out of the 1000 word limit. Should I elaborate, or is it better to keep them short?</p>
<p>It's best to keep them concise. Whether that means your essay will be 800 or 1000 words is up to you. If you think you said the most amount of things in the least amount of words, then 800 is fine. But if you can make your points stronger by elaborating, then by all means, go for it.</p>