<p>They say that the essay is TRULY optional, but I get the feeling that for a school like Penn, everyone's going to do it anyway </p>
<p>Still, I can't come up with anything creative for my pg 217 that I feel will contribute positively to my app</p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone has gotten in without writing the optional supplement essay??</p>
<p>I got in without writing the optional essay.
If it’s not “dazzling” or like “OMG I’m an awesome writer, I can make this optional essay unique and awesome in every way” then don’t write it. If it basically ends up reiterating your supplement and common app essays then don’t write it. Why I didn’t write it? Laziness.</p>
<p>Yeah, didn’t write it either. If it weren’t optional they wouldn’t call it optional.</p>
<p>I did write one. While I don’t think it’s necessary to write the pg. 217 (and obviously it isn’t, as evidenced by the two posters above me getting accepted), I disagree that the essay is only worth submitting if you can dazzle readers with your awesome writing skills. I am not an incredibly gifted writer. I enjoy writing, but my writing isn’t “dazzling”. Regardless, I think my pg. 217 was a hugely positive factor in my application because it revealed things about me and my character/viewpoint that the rest of my application did not. If you can find a way through your pg. 217 to share something that you feel is important to who you are, and is something that you haven’t shared elsewhere in your application, I think you should write the essay. The writing need not be dazzling (though it need be good), it is the content and the meaning that must “dazzle” your admissions officer.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents. :)</p>
<p>me lol ***</p>
<p>Hopeful has a good point, but like i said before, if it reiterates something from your other essays don’t bother writing it. Only write it if it brings something new.</p>
<p>I got in without the optional pg. 217. If you just repeat the same ideas as in your other essays, it will be a waste of time. If you have something really original to write about, go for it (but only after you have completed everything else).</p>
<p>i didnt do a pg 217 optional essay or do an interview (although i was offered one) and I got in. They’re minor parts of the application in my part compared to your main components such as your numbers and your activities.</p>
<p>i disagree that the essay is minor in comparison with your “numbers” </p>
<p>i had several c’s on my transcript, including c’s in almost every class freshman year - one junior year - and even a D freshman year, with mostly high 80’s and a few low 90’s for the rest of the way, and I got in to Penn. </p>
<p>Those are hardly Penn-quality numbers. </p>
<p>I wrote the optional essay, and there’s no doubt in my mind that without it I wouldn’t have gotten in. However, I’d have to agree with the other poster that if it’s not going to dazzle the **** out of whomever reads it then don’t bother</p>
<p>i should probably note that i go to one of the top schools in the country and all my highest grades are in my AP’s so my numbers are a little skewed</p>
<p>Use the essay to your advantage if you feel there is more to your character that you can unveil.</p>