Just a general question. How much do essays play a role in Stanford admissions? Harvard? UC Berkeley?
Thanks 
At those places, everything matters. An essay isn’t going to make up for subpar grades, rigor, or test scores. It is possible that it might be the difference between two equally strong candidates, but any given candidate might never know for sure whether that was indeed what made the difference.
I will say, though, that after acceptance to one of the aforementioned universities,I received a letter from the AO congratulating me and mentioning how much the committee enjoyed my essays.
That said,I agree with @Groundwork2022 ; an outstanding essay will not negate weaknesses elsewhere in the application. A crappy essay, however, will likely torpedo any chances.
@Groundwork2022 @skieurope Thanks!
Essays are an important part of an admissions application, but not determinative.
For one ultra selective law school, however, the essays are given significant weight in the admissions decision process if one has qualifying numbers (standardized test scores & high GPA). I have read several of these short essays–limited to 500 words-- which are so cleverly crafted that they resemble works of art.
@skieurope Would you be willing to share your essays? If not (which is perfectly fine) do you know of any good essays we can look at for inspiration? Thanks!