Importance of Essays at NYU?

<p>So I've already been accepted into college, but now I am starting to wonder about what my younger friends will be doing (I am kind of obsessed with college searching). One of my closest junior friends really wants to go to NYU. He has pretty reasonable stats for those applying to NYU, a 30 on his ACT, a GPA circa 3.5-3.75, tons of extra curriculars, and he is also a good writer; however, I was wondering what the importance was of the essays at NYU.</p>

<p>Let's face it, NYU has nearly 40,000 applicants every year, so can the admissions officers possibly have time to read every single essay? Do the essays then therefore matter or have any effect on whether or not one will be admitted? I know he should obviously give the essays his best effort, but in the end, will his writing swing his admissions decision one way or another?</p>