As my Facebook feed becomes consumed, once again, by “(insert school name here) CLASS OF 2020!!!” posts, I can’t help but think about my own college admissions process.

I spent hours and hours poring over supplemental essays, rereading every sentence multiple times in order to ensure the perfect phrasing, but after all of that agony, I ended up choosing to attend Washington University, which does not currently ask applicants to submit any additional essays.

While the process of writing supplements was difficult (read: tear-inducing) for me, it was also helpful. Many universities asked why I wanted to attend, forcing me to look beyond rankings and general prestige and to instead consider the academic programs and extracurriculars each school has to offer. Writing admissions essays helped me picture what my life would be like at any given school, from what classes I would take to where I could take my parents for brunch when they came to town.

With no supplemental essays, applicants miss out on the chance to really think about what they might get out of attending our University, and our admissions officers lose the opportunity to really gauge what an applicant might bring to the Wash. U. community. It’s not feasible for our admissions officers to interview 29,000 applicants, but an essay is the second-best substitute to face-to-face interaction, and if the University truly wants every student to be known “by name and story,” the best place to start is with an admissions essay. Essays make applicants into real people who are more than just grades and test scores—admissions officers can see that potential students have stories to tell.

On the flipside, high school students might be less likely to apply to Wash. U. if supplements were required. I chose not to apply to some colleges simply because filling out their applications required too much effort on my part. However, every school I eliminated solely because of a hard application was one I had little-to-no chance of actually attending. Many high schoolers who apply to Wash. U. just because of the lack of supplements have no interest in coming to this University.

What’s the point in getting high school students to apply here just because it’s easy to do so when they have no interest in actually attending Wash. U.? With an acceptance rate hovering around 15 percent, an endowment of $6.8 billion and a No. 15 ranking in U.S. News & World Report, the University will seem attractive to high schoolers .

Wash. U. shouldn’t overload applicants with additional materials—University of Chicago’s three supplemental essays are annoying at best and pretentious at worst. However, the University will not discourage high schoolers from applying by asking them to write a few hundred words about why they want to come to Wash. U., and this supplement would mirror the requirements of our peer institutions.

Instead of trying to woo potential applicants with the promise of no supplemental application materials, the University should focus on getting to know applicants better through their essays—both by name and by story.