They didn’t ask my kid if they could use her essay. 
No, my kid didn’t go to Lawrence, she is at Harvey Mudd. Lawrence was on her list because it is strong in Physics, but she couldn’t resist Mudd (which was across the country from us when she went off to school, although I have since moved to the west coast). My kids found 24 hours on campus for accepted student visits to be very revealing about whether the school was a fit for them. Lawrence had an admitted student days event on April 24-25, too.
@intparent Thank you again for all the good info and advice!
And thanks to everyone else who took the time to post