<p>We can all have our opinions, but I think that there are three elements of the application that are unlikely to make much difference, unless they are bad: essays, recommendations, and interview. I think this because it is difficult to interpret good examples of any of these. If a teacher at some high school I’ve never heard of says you’re the most impressive student he’s ever had, how do I evaluate that compared to a recommendation of another student, from another unknown teacher, saying that student is “a fine student?” If your essay is well-written, I can’t tell how much help you had writing it.
But if your recommendation includes specific negative info about you (“this student is bright but lazy” “this student has performed well except for the plagiarism incident”), or if your essay does, then I think they can really hurt you.</p>
<p>Let me just add that when we’re talking about highly selective schools like Yale, what helps you the most (after excellent grades and scores)the most are impressive achievements, especially outside the school. Those are objective, while recs, essays and interviews are much more subjective. “He had a novel published” is going to trump “he wrote a great essay,” in my opinion.</p>