<p>Hi everyone,
I have a question about the optional essay. Will it really hurt my chances if I don't do it? The only thing I can think of to write about for the optional essay about is my Russian heritage, but that was the topic of my Common App essay. I feel like I already essentially answered the prompt through my Common App - should I still write the supplement?</p>
<p>Don’t write it. People have not written the optional supplement and still gotten in, so it’s completely optional, promise.</p>
<p>while it is optional i feel like you gotta do everything you can to improve your chances. writing a great essay for the optional essay prompt would definitely give you a competitive edge over those that didn’t</p>
<p>"• Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)"</p>
<p>Please consider something important. The professionals in Duke Undergraduate Admission will receive and review about 30,000 applications during the next 3+ months. They will evaluate MANY thousands of responses to this optional essay. If an applicant has something compelling and sincere to relate, which meets the foregoing guidelines, that’s great. However, these same professionals are expert in ascertaining the contrived, the phony, the self-serving, and the feigned. I can’t imagine that a spurious essay, no matter how eloquent, would’t compromise an applicant’s admission probability (this is strictly one individual’s opinion, however). </p>
<p>In fairness, I know some Duke admissions experts who believe every opportunity to present oneself more-thoroughly should be fully employed.</p>
<p>I believe I could write an essay that would be compelling and that would relate to the prompt, but I’m just afraid it would be redundant because of my common app essay. I think it would be best for me to just not respond to the optional prompt, as they can already essentially find a response to this prompt in my common app essay. Would you agree?</p>
<p>I really do not have sufficient information to judge. </p>
<p>If it would be redundant because of the prompt, it’s no longer compelling. If it adds new dimensions that you were not able to reach in your Common App essay in a easily identifiable way, than it is compelling. A compelling essay cannot be a redundant one- it is, at best, a good essay. If you believe your Common App essay does a sufficient job at explaining this and you can’t think of anything to significantly add in the optional essay, don’t do it! Anecdotal evidence from the 2019 accepted applicants page suggests many are accepted without the optional essay.</p>