<p>I think there is general agreement that those "optional" essays aren't really optional, but does anyone have any anecdotal evidence that they are (optional, that is)?</p>
<p>My son did not write any optional essays. Got into all but one school, which was his highest reach, and they did not have any optional essays, I don’t think.</p>
<p>Yes, lots. Go check out the Tufts acceptance threads from a few years back. My son did the Tufts optional essays because his math score was in the 25%ile and his grades were iffy - he needed to prove, one, he’d go the extra mile, two he was just as articulate, funny and interesting as the rest of his application suggested. Tufts, by the way, dropped the optional essay, because no matter how many times they said they were optional, they weren’t able to convince applicants they meant it.</p>