It could mean the difference between you and someone other person if it came down to 1 spot and 2 candidates. If you "tie" with the other person and the other person has a 4.5 AWA, they'd probably go with you and let it be a tie breaker. That's what peopel say, but I'm not 100% convinced of it, but it does sound like it's possible.
Also, it shows that you can write. It someone gets a 2.5 on their AWA but has amazingly written essays in their application packet, it might make them wonder if that applicant even wrote their own essays.
MMBBAA
Well...I got 6.0 for my AWA...top percentile...does it mean anything?
I got in to the b-school I wanted, so it doesn't really matter anymore, but I'm just curious.
Thx