If you go over character count, not hugely but say 200-300 more than listed, does Gateway allow you to submit the essay? If it does, do schools see the full essay, or the system automatically cut the essay at the max limit? And yes, DC still working on them!
Effective editing is a life skill which will be beneficial in BS and beyond. That is what the kid needs to know, not if they can or should try to work around systematic limitations.
I could not agree more. But that doesn’t answer the question. And one might flag your post because it does not answer the question and might be considered off-topic! Just saying, based on some experience!
I am a big believer in answering the question as posed when a student asks the question. Although I will allow users to gently guide them to a better question. And I prefer responders probe for clarification rather than assume facts not in evidence.
I am less gentle when the parent asks the question. So I was framing my answer to the question that should have been asked. 
If a user wants to flag my response, have at it. It would not be the first time.
No. It will not. And at many school the maximum character count is not what you are being asked for. At most school we were given a specific word count or number of sentences and that is what should be your guideline.
@chemsider If I recall from last year with DD2 (this year, DD3 is only in SAO), Gateway did cut off the essay at the character count. Like it literally highlighted the characters that would not be included. Again, last year. And it was NOT in line with what we expected as we counted everything in word. So I specifically remember cutting and pasting from word to Gateway, and then checking (maybe in a print preview? or draft somehow?) how much needed to be cut from essay to fit in Gateway. And then going back to word, cutting strategically a few bits here and there in the body of the essay, and then re-copying-and-pasting and checking again. DD2 unfortunately finished everything in word and then thought the cut-and-paste project would just take a couple of hours, but it ended up being a pretty big undertaking because we needed to cut out like 5% of all of DD2 essays because of character count issues.
And btw: I would respectfully disagree with the idea that you are meant to go below word count, or that there is some word-count lesson to be had here. As an author for a living, I can confirm that when my publisher says 60k words, she means for me to hit the target generally, of course within the constraints that come into play with page typesetting, etc… Word counts are meant to be guidelines so we know approximately what the audience is looking for, as questions can be answered in 10 second versions or two minute versions. Say what you need to say, no more, no less, but know that there is a technical constraint that you have to work within. If the few extra words DO show in your application PDF, and are fine when you see the full PDF in draft form, then I think that is fine (within, say plus/minus 5%). The problem is that I just don’t want your last 11 words to be cut off, and you don’t get to control the ending. That is my only concern as a writer in this case – making sure I control this one-way communication. I want the reader to stop reading when I’m done; not when my writing was cut-off.
I hope that is more helpful than confusing. (speaking of communicating…)
Gateway does not allow past a character limit. You can’t even submit the essay, so the school would see nothing.
Don’t indent paragraphs and don’t double space after periods (though kids have generally learned to single space anyway).
Thanks. I do not think it even lets you to indent.
It doesn’t allow it. The word count limit is tight - even for the parent statements. IMO, it doesn’t allow for context or nuance, just straightforward statement of facts.