I see.
Along those lines, our kids absolutely refused to let their mom or I participate in, or look over, any aspect of the application process. We never even saw their essays, the little brats.
I recall when the second kid was still in HS and we met with the guidance counselor. She started explaining the app process, then stopped herself and said, "oh, but you guys already know all this from your first kid". And we were like, uh, nope, you'd think so, but the kid forbade our involvement at any level (beyond funding, of course).
We raised them to be independent. But I have to say, in hindsight, it worked a bit too well.