While we wait for her to respond.. I just want to put in my two cents about essays.
I feel that though essays do give personality to an application, they are often overvalued on here. You probably won't get into HYPSM with a 1500 sat, 2.0 gpa even if your essay shows your personality very well. I've heard several admissions officers say that 90% of essays do little to nothing for the applicant, 5% hurt the applicant, and only 5% really truly help the applicant. It humanizes the process, but isn't "another way in". That being said, for the high school class of 2009, the essay is really the only thing we can still change in the process, and that's why they are paid a lot of attention.