The essay has always been an important factor in the admissions process: this year its import reached an even higher level.

This observation is a product of the sheer number of applicants plying their qualifications for spots in the most selective schools. The number of applications is staggering. If we just focus on the 10 most selective colleges in the US, the Ivy League, MIT, and Stanford, they admit annually about 27,000 students, while they receive over 305,000 applications. To compound the competitive nature of the admissions process, 8,127 admits were given during the early round, with most of them being Early Decision, taking those admission spaces off the table.