The higher the college, the more thinking it can take. A meaningful essay about your dog isn’t going to cut it. There used to be great advice from some fine LAC about the diff between writing about your European bike tour and how great it was versus making it meaningful in the context of your app and the qualities they look for.
This biz of “if someone found it, they’d know it’s you,” completely misses a big point. It needs to be relevant. Not simly in your own voice.