... of depends on the actual essay. If you write a "Why ... School X" essay and you really don't ... think in that situation that essay is moot at best and ...
Most schools that I've seen have prompts/allow for optional essays. You should write an optional essay if you have something to say. If you don't have anything meaningful to write about, then that essay is, at best, not going to help you.
my concern about age is that while many people start law school in their 30s, I haven't managed to find more than 2 people who go to top schools like Harvard or Yale in their 30s. Do top schools discriminate more in terms of age?
Did anyone else have the survey over how comfortable they would be writing an essay on a touch screen? I chose that I was 100% uncomfortable with technology. I don't want to take it again on a tablet.