<p>On caution when looking at the book, or any other essay from an admitted student - don’t assume the essay helped them get in. Chuck Hughes, a former senior admissions officer at Harvard, wrote a book on admissions (you can buy it on amazon, etc) and said that, given the amount of help they know many students get on it, they don’t give it much weight. So while an essay that shows terrible judgment or immaturity etc might torpedo you, or one that is flat and lifeless may hurt you, don’t rely on an essay as more than just another relatively low-weight datapoint for your app.</p>