<p>Just some recent advice i feel i have to give as someone who has gone through the college process.</p>
<p>Essays matter the most. They can help a tremendously disadvantaged applicant in terms of EC's test scores and gpa overcome a huge hurdle. I dont think they even care if there is a surge in college counseling. Please dont undervalue your essay. My friend with a relatively decent ACT (32) and OK SAT II's 700ish was able to gain admission to harvard and Yale. Waitlisted at MIT, Duke, etc. rejected at princeton, stanford. The one thing that his H&Y application is a cool essay he wrote that merged his sport(football) and religious observances into a great essay. The harvard admissions office even got to present his essay at a conference that emphasized how great a "normal" person's essay could be. </p>
<p>Please, if you want to have a great success with college applications write an amazing essay. It's the one thing that will set you apart from other applicants. A great original essay will go a long way. But for those 2400 SAT 's and 4.0 GPA it may not help as much :) you may be forced to write about boring mundane stuff.</p>