Admissions officials at Swarthmore College suspected last year that an extra 500-word essay on its application might have fueled a 16 percent drop in applicants, the largest in years. Concerned about the precipitous decline, Swarthmore - one of the most selective and prestigious colleges in the country - deliberately dropped that essay this year and halved the word requirement for another. Applications soared. By its Jan. 1 deadline, the college received 7,885 applications - a whopping 42 percent increase.