<p>Anyone have an idea whether people who dont do the optional essays (harvard/mit) really get in?</p>
<p>If so.. who didnt do them and where did you get in? (other stats)?</p>
<p>Well i read somewhere that it's best you make optional essays compulsory.</p>
<p>iono. coming from harvard and mit, i dont think "optional" really means optional to them. just IMHO i think they say 'optional' so they'll think who's really willing to do extra work and stuff instead of just ignoring an extra essay jus cuz its optional.
so i submitted an "optional " essay but knowing i wont get in with my stats i just made it ridiculous and off the wall. maybe poitns for creativity. or maybe negative points for being too much like the NYU essay by hugh gallagher.</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>I don't know about MIT.</p>
<p>For Harvard, do not write another essay unless you truly feel that an integral part of who you are was not expressed on the application.</p>
<p>if you're boarderline, I'd probably write the optional essays just to give them something else to consider about me, but if it's a safety school that you should be a shoe in for, telling them more could only hurt you.</p>
<p>Trust me, do not do Harvard's optional unless you need to write it. Another essay can and often does weaken the application.</p>
<p>so it wasn't hugh's actual essay?</p>
<p>While its not Harvard, i didn't do the optional page for William & Mary when I applied last year, and i got in. I don't think you need it unless you have something new to tell them, as several people have said above.</p>
<p>While schools say the essay is optional, I think they are giving you another chance to show them a different side of you. Cookiemonkey does make a valid point in saying "they say 'optional' so they'll think who's really willing to do extra work and stuff instead of just ignoring an extra essay jus cuz its optional.' because at some level it is true. It does show a level of commitment to do something not because you have to, but because you want to.</p>
<p>I can't answer for Harvard/MIT because my D was not interested in applying to those schools, but Amherst has a mandatory supplemental essay which she wrote and was able to tweak to fit some of the other schools that required supplemental essays. In the end everything did work out and she was accepted to every school she applied to.</p>
<p>I know that the deadlines are looming, some of you are tired and frustrated and may feel that you don't have another sentence in you. I would suggest doing it. You may not have to reinvent the wheel to get it done, and it is one more opportunity for your application to speak for you when you are not there to speak for your self.</p>
<p>All the best.</p>
<p>Ben from MIT said that the essays really were optional. If you don't do them it doesn't count against you one bit.</p>
<p>Not that it wouldn't help you to do them, but if you sit there and repeat the rest of your essay, I don't think they'd be happy.</p>
<p>Don't you dare repeat anything.</p>
<p>An MIT adcom has a blog that includes a section "meet the admission officers" at <a href="http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/meet_the_admissions_officers/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://matt.mitblogs.com/archives/meet_the_admissions_officers/index.html</a> and its worth reading to see what adcoms are looking for.</p>
<p>One thing they stress is how important your essays are, how its your chance for them to get to know you and stand out from the rest of the kids who have the same classes and scores.</p>
<p>With this in mind, what message are you sending when you skip the "optional" essay? That you have nothing more to say? It has to raise a flag in an adcoms mind about why someone would pass up a golden opportunity in the admissions process.</p>
<p>There's another factor. Colleges are keenly interested in separating out the kids who REALLY REALLY want to attend their school from those who are just applying to schools because they're prestigious or because their parents are forcing them to. One way they can gauge this is by the "optional" essay. A kid dying to get in will spend hours crafting that 500-word essay. Someone with less interest will put far less time in, maybe even submit their first draft. A reader can easily tell which is which. And those who skip it entirely, that sends an even stronger message.</p>
<p>I agree. Doing optional essays is what will really set you apart from the mob as truly wanting to go to that school. However, as pheonixfire said, repeating anything is a waste of your time and theirs.</p>
<p>Although, as a fellow MIT-applicant, I wouldn't mind you not doing the optional essays.....:D :D :D</p>
<p>How about Yale? Anyone know Yale's take on optional essays?</p>
<p>Cause if it's like Harvard's.... ;o Good for me.
If it's like MIT's, I guess I'd better.</p>
<p>Just do it.</p>
<p>Yale adcoms I talked to say you basically have to do the optional essay if you're serious about them. To them, its not really optional.</p>
<p>I applied to Yale early, and did not do the optional essay. I felt that whatever I wrote would be weaker than my common app essay, which I was told was very strong. I ended up getting rejected. I don't think that writing another essay would have given me a chance of being accepted, but I think it might have gotten me at least a deferral, because I have semi-competitive stats (see my chances thread if you're curious). I just think that if you can write something good about yourself, it will give the adcoms a better picture of who you are, which I think is very important.</p>