As a reader I would not be adversely affected by an essay that was a few words over the limit, but I’ve learned that almost anything can be improved by making it shorter. I always loved that quote, “If I had more Time, I would have written a shorter letter.” (Attributed to many, definitely said early on by Pascal.)
I agree the prompt is really just a jumping off point. Many, many of the worthy essays colleges post only answer those prompts tangentially. My sil (who taught writing at U of Michigan for a while) told my kids, there’s the prompt and the agenda. Your essay should address the prompt in some plausible way, but the agenda is much more important, and the agenda is to show something about you that will make the admissions committee like you and think you would be an addition to the college community.
I really liked the community service essay from Hopkins.