<p>I apologize for bringing up the subject of the supplemental essay as there has been many threads regarding this. More specifically though, I was wondering if people have gotten admitted to Harvard without the supplemental essay AND any major awards, hooks, etc.</p>
<p>My extracirriculars aren't stellar but they're pretty decent. I've never cured cancer or traveled around the world or won any math competitions. Nonetheless, I've taken all the hardest classes offered (13 AP's by end of high school) and have a solid GPA, class rank, etc, and decent test scores. </p>
<p>I realize I could have submitted my app a month ago if I didn't struggle this long to decide if I should write the supplemental essay. Part of me believes I can come up with a great essay within the few remaining days and the other part thinks I'm qualified enough to be a formiddable applicant without it. Still, like I said, the only thing holding me back is that I do not have perfect test scores, extracirriculars, etc.</p>
<p>Ahhh, I’m worried about this too, so I’ll help bump it.
I didn’t write an essay. I thought it might annoy them to write something extra since they get a million and a half apps anyway.</p>
<p>oh definately, it’s harvard. if they NEEDED another essay to make their decision, it wouldn’t be OPTIONAL.
nice way of saying “ok, if you MUST submit another essay, do it here… and make it worth our time”
</p>
<p>before you submit an optional essay, it must be really really worthwhile, or else they’ll be wondering, “what is this applicant trying to make up for/cover up?”</p>
<p>for “unusual circumstances” it better be something like, my house burned down, i’m a single mother of two on welfare and handicapped. not the typical story of not fitting in or learning english</p>
<p>I personally don’t know anyone. I think because the pool is so competitive, applicants want to (and do) take every chance to present themselves as a person, and an additional essay definitely helps do that</p>
<p>WOAH NOOOO. That goes in the supplemental materials, if I’m not mistaken… the extra essay is an opportunity for you to talk about yourself more. In about the same vein as a common app essay</p>
<p>Everyone in my school that got in wrote a supplemental essay. Does that mean you need one? No. But if you’re an interesting person with depth (as many Harvard applicants are), and if you want to convey this depth while also showing even more interest in the school, then write one.</p>
<p>I almost get the feeling that it reflects badly on you if you don’t write the supplemental essay – as if you don’t care enough to try it or think you’re good enough to not need it. With so many super-qualified applicants, why wouldn’t you take every opportunity possible to make the adcoms like you? Of course these are just my thoughts, but I get the feeling that almost everyone who got admitted wrote the supplemental essay.</p>
<p>The supplental essay must be well-thought out, relevant and succinct. Writing a 700 word essay on a very random topic will only hurt the applicant. But all students who apply to Harvard have several interesting and relevant topics to write about. So, chosing one such topic and writing a 300-500 word essay on it will definitely enhance one’s application. The key words to remember when writing the supplemental essay:</p>
<p>1) Relevant
2) Well thought-out
3) Succinct</p>
<p>This said, asking for admit rates of applicants who chose to write the supplemental essay vs applicants who didn’t is pointless since Harvard does not release this sort of data and nobody outside the university has access to enough cases to make an educated study on the subject.</p>
<p>ok, let’s look at at this way…
how many % of students write the supplemental essay? a big majority
how many % of students get rejected? a bigger majority</p>
<p>If I submit an essay meant for UChicago (the How Did You Get Caught? essay) - it has to do with my art experiences it sounds strange I know- but will it be really obvious it was my Caught essay? I do say the word caught a lot, but I can revise that. I think that it would add a necessary perspective because I have a LOT of art-related ECs (work at 2 art museums, classes outside of school, etc) but no AP art hist which my counselor thinks is bad, and I also submitted a portfolio so I think an art essay would tie it all together, but I don’t want the committee to think I don’t care enough about Harvard so I just recycle essays. Yes, sorry, this is long-winded, but I don’t think I have time to write a really strong Additional and want to do it b/c I think writing is one of my strengths in this process.</p>
<p>Can I just point out that you’ve just linked two completely unrelated things together?</p>
<p>In terms of logic and rhetoric, this a logical fallacy known as a non sequitur. You’re implying that submitting an essay is somehow the cause of the rejections, when there is in fact little (if not zero) causal link.</p>
<p>I suppose the hidden queston i was asking was “am i good enough? do i need a supplemental essay to help me boost my chances?”</p>
<p>even though i was trying to be realistic, i guess it showed my lack of confidence. i made my decision on what i’m going to do, and however the essay affects my admission, i’ll leave that to the admission officers. i gave everything i had to the app and i think all i can do now is wait. if harvard decides im a unique student, i guess im a match for it and i belong there. otherwise, there’s other colleges as well (still i’d like to point out harvard is my 1st choice lol) good luck to all that applied this year! ;)</p>
<p>One of my advisees sent in a terrific five-line poem as a supplement. She’d written it in response to a prompt from another school, but I thought it was a great encapsulation of her personality, so I encouraged her to send it to more places.</p>