I did an interview with the Boston Globe last week about colleges that are adding additional essays to their applications in the hopes of weeding out
potential applicants who aren’t seriously interested in the school. And while I didn't say that LMU "recently" added an essay (they added it almost a decade ago, and I've written a past post about it here), I think the article turned out well.
All the more reason to do a thoughtful college search, to
find schools that fit you, and to have thoughtful answers to the question, “Why
do you want to go to college here?"