<p>Hmmmm…so check my math.</p>
<p>2012 - 1 essay
2013 - 1 essay
2014 - 2 essays…and a drop of 1,000 applications.
2015 - 1 essay</p>
<p>In re-reading the article:</p>
<p>"Bock, dean of admissions, says he believes the writing requirement on the school’s application may have been responsible for the drop.</p>
<p>Swarthmore required two 500-word essays in the writing supplement to its application, in addition to a standard 650-word essay."</p>
<p>May have been responsible? Everything said is true, but lacking is the admission of guilt. Why not say…“this year we added an additional writing requirement…and it’s our opinion in hind-sight that might not have worked out so well”?</p>