<p>It says on the supplement that the "why Duke?" and "research" essays are "truly optional! If you choose not to answer, your chances of admission will not be affected."</p>
<p>But....does that mean that even if you DO answer them, your chances won't be affected? Are they even considered during admissions?</p>
<p>C’mon, man, think about this one for a minute.</p>
<p>What it means is: if you write it, it can help you; if you don’t write it, it won’t hurt you (EXCEPT for the fact that you missed out on an opportunity to shine). In other words, if you take the easy way out and don’t write it, you won’t “lose,” per se, but you won’t win either (meaning your odds won’t get an increase. You might still get in).</p>
<p>Hookem168 got it absolutely right.</p>
<p>I would always suggest to write the essays.</p>
<p>I see, that makes sense. I was just a bit put off because there’s also a section right underneath it where they allow you to send in non-teacher recommendations, but they explicitly state that these won’t be factored in admissions so I wanted to make sure those essays weren’t in that same situation. Thanks for the help guys. >_> I already wrote the essays btw, I guess I just didn’t want them to be a waste of time lol</p>