<p>How much do the essays and "Why [university here]" matter?</p>
<p>Around how many percent? If I write stellar essays but have relatively weak grades, would I still stand a chance ?</p>
<p>I would agree and say that the essays are extremely important. A friend from back home got into top schools with a mediocre GPA from UC Berkeley, because she wrote amazing essays which really conveyed her passion and devotion to her major, and even though she got a bad grade in a class that was for her major, she made up for them by doing lab research in her major, and having her research mentor write a stellar recommendation about how she is actually very good at her field of study. Anyways, point is, if you’re GPA is not so hot, your best shot is to write a phenomenal essay and get great recs. good luck!</p>