<p>I understand that the college itself is probably going to say that the essay is truly optional and won't affect admissions, but how many Duke CCers on here have gotten into the school without doing the optional "Why Duke?" essay?</p>
<p>Well over 90 percent of Duke’s applicants far exceed minimum qualifications and – critically – they are barely distinguishable from each other. Therefore, EVERY chance to differentiate your application from the competition (almost all of whom would be entirely successful at Duke, were they to be accepted) is crucial. Accordingly, the failure to capitalize on an opportunity such as the “Optional Essay” would appear to be foolish.</p>
<p>I do know some of my friends who are at Duke now and did not complete the optional essay. When they say it’s optional, they mean it. It won’t hurt you, but I think it can infinitely help you. If you think you have something meaningful to add, why not spend a few hours writing it? However, if you believe you would rather spend time on other parts of your application, then go ahead and do that.</p>
<p>I’m just worried that if I write the essay, I may unintentionally come off as unauthentic or something. I wholeheartedly would love to end up at Duke, but I’m just worried my writing may not capture this despite my desire for it to show this.</p>
<p>My S applied this past year to many colleges, Duke among them. Duke was not high on his list, he had never visited, so he did not write the why Duke essay. I am happy to report that he was admitted to Duke anyway, visited on Blue Devil days and fell in love with everything Duke. He is now a very happy member of the Duke class of 2016!</p>
<p>So, the moral of the story is that Duke does in fact have a holistic approach and I believe is looking for specific students to fill their class, essays being just part of that approach.</p>