As selective universities rethink what they ask of applicants, Texas Christian University’s decision to trim its supplemental essays is drawing national attention.

Heath Einstein, vice provost for enrollment management at TCU, spoke with The Wall Street Journal for a story on schools reducing the number of essays students must submit during the application process. The article reports that TCU saw a roughly 14% jump in applications after removing two supplemental essays last year.

Einstein said the questions TCU cut, which asked students about the university’s values and inclusivity, rarely produced original answers.

“You still see a narrowing to the mean,” Einstein said, noting that applicants tend to write what they believe admissions officers want to read.

He added that TCU’s aim in widening the applicant pool is to grow enrollment, not to lower its admission rate.

The story also examines how artificial intelligence has made it harder for admissions offices to judge whether students wrote their own essays, and how institutions increasingly rely on other signals, such as campus visits and email engagement, to gauge student interest. Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have made similar reductions.

Read the full story in The Wall Street Journal.