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Is there a consensus around here on which T14 schools like "why essays" versus those who don't/those who are ambivalent?

From digging around various places I've come up with this:-

HYS - no
Columbia - no
NYU - no

Berkeley - yes

Penn- ?
Northwestern -? heard conflicting things
Chicago-? heard conflicting things


How does YP figure into this? What if - like me - you're above median everywhere?

If you truly have 3.95/175-type numbers I'd write one everywhere but HYS iff you can be sincere in any given letter. Also, don't overdo it (e.g. declaring that Columbia is your #1 choice no matter what) or you might actually talk someone into not giving you a full-ride.

I asked a similar question before, but there is no consensus because yield protection considerations vary based on your numbers and background. For example, a school like UVA will probably yield protect against anybody with a 3.8/176, whereas Penn might not.

That said, there was one piece of advice that everyone seemed to agree on when I asked:

Don't write "why school" essays for HYS or CCN. Everyone and their uncle wants to attend these schools, so other posters advised against wasting time on these.