One thing I have always found wierd is why is the "personal essay" (which is easier to game by folks who have the right connections/support groups/etc) a criter

One thing I have always found wierd is why is the "personal essay" (which is easier to game by folks who have the right connections/support groups/etc) a criteria for getting into a college? It almost feels like this is very hard to establish a transparent bar for, no? Cant colleges does exploit this aspect to get around randomness?