Print books are on the way out. Is “read, read, and read” still the best way to becoming a good writer? This question is slightly off topic and there are many excellent tips here for essay writing.
One of the classic resources for essay assistance is the book by Harry Bauld - On Writing the College Application Essay.
I still think it is. Both my kids have Kindles but still like to lug heavy 3" thick novels on the plane with them.
My kid can not write “narrative” or “descriptive” essays to save his live. He absolutely he could not write an essay like the ones posted on line. He excels on persuasive and expository instead and that’s the structure he used although it is not recommenced. He wrote about his process on forming an opinion in an issue as mom comes from X, dad from Y and he lives in Z which has large communities from A and B. Not an emotional or scholarly essay of deep thoughts but interesting, well written and centered on him. The recommendation letters were based on his classroom discussion skills and he was applying to B schools. I think the essay went well with the rest of the app. I think that’s the point anyway. Essays are not judged by themselves as literally pieces.