<p>quote: "Last time I checked, essays were not included on results threads. You can’t just brush them off in your generalizations – they’re supposedly the second most important factor at Chicago’</p>
<p>Yes: the EA threads did not show essays. We don’t know the quality of the applicants’ essays. Hence, they are a “control factor”. As such, unless you have a reason to believe that the quality of essays has a negative correlation with the scores, etc: the semi-scientific conclusion I drew based on reading through the EA stats is much more valid than anecdotal claims that so-and-so got in to Harvard with SAT below 2000, implying that scores are not that important - these are cases that prove exception to the rule, NOT the rule itself. You confuse these two at your own peril.</p>