Creative Writing Supplement? Advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

Hi all! In my application, I’m focusing mainly on my passion for politics/economics/public policy and my talent for creative writing. I was thinking of submitting one or two short stories, both of which have won regional and local awards. They have received a lot of praise from my English teachers at school, as well as a creative writing teacher at a New York Times class that I took. Should I submit them?

Other information you may want to know:
-For academic interest, I have “Humanities,” as I think I may want to concentrate in history and all of my awards are writing awards, but I may change it to “Social Sciences” for the purpose of having a more cohesive application (all of my clubs are social science clubs and my Common App essay describes my political activism).
-I am submitting both optional essays. The first is about my summer history research at a prestigious, free-of-charge summer program, while the second is about my family’s struggle with drug addiction and my questioning of the current efforts against the opioid epidemic. I am worried that submitting more stuff will be TOO much.

Bonus Question: Based on the information I’ve told you, should I have Humanities or Social Sciences as my academic interest? Depending on which academic interest I choose, I’m going to write my required extracurricular essay on political involvement or a club that I’m in (Social Sciences) or detail my creative writing career (Humanities). I just don’t really know what Harvard is looking for, and which path will make me stand out.

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Neither do we. :slight_smile:

It won’t matter. They will not sit there and match EC’s to academic interest.

3

I have to admit my memory of essay prompts is fuzzy. Just be careful not to repeat information in the essays that appears elsewhere in the application. And I believe the supplementary one wants to know about you, not necessarily about policy issues. I have to say I don’t even remember an extracurricular essay or are you referring to the main essay?

It doesn’t matter what concentration you put down, as skieurope said.

Don’t go by “what Harvard is looking for.” If you have a question about the application itself, that is different.

Send in your writing samples ONLY if they are really good. You can include a writing resume and letters of recommendation if you do a full supplement, if you wish, or just send the writing.

4

@compmom The extracurricular essay is 150 words and requires you to elaborate about an activity. And don’t worry, the supplementary essay is about my family and what I want to do at Harvard, and also demonstrates my ability to think critically about issues beyond myself (at least, that’s what my English teacher just said to me today).
Thanks for your help. I’m a little high-strung and don’t really know what to do, haha.