<p>I agree that the essays of admitted students are not necessarily the ideal to aim for. We just don’t know if a student may have been admitted despite the essay, or if the essay was what made the difference. </p>
<p>One book I’ve seen is something like 100 Essays of Successful College Applicants (or at least that was the gist of the title). The essays weren’t just ones that successful applicants to Harvard used; they were ones used by applicants to a number of different schools. The book included some commentary from adcoms on each essay – pointing out what was good and what wasn’t so good. It was interesting to see how some of their opinions varied, too.</p>