@gandalf78 My thought is that even though people see this in the CDS, they don’t understand just how much the difference is between the relatively vague “Very Important” and “Important” weights.
Rick Clark wasn’t at the Admissions Tour that we went to, but the AO’s remarks make me question the “Important” weight of essays. She specifically cited examples of student essays that showed “intellectual curiosity” and how they were viewed as far more important that a student writing about general accomplishments along the lines of community service. I suspect that during the review process the essays are “Very Important”.