<p>Hi, I'm planning on sending my app in soon, it seems there's no way to change the rest of my app since I already did EA to Stanford (rejected), but I have a few questions for the supplement if anyone would be so kind as to answer them :P </p>
<p>For both the essay and the supplemental material it seems that they only want you to submit something if you feel it is very unique/unusual or will really bolster your application. I have an additional letter of rec from a supervisor where I worked, but I don't think that qualifies for the supplemental material (?). Also, I'm not sure if I should submit an essay - Harvard says it's "optional" but I don't really know if that's the truth. I don't think any of the essays I've written would very strongly support my app though.</p>
<p>The additional letter of rec should not be submitted unless you feel it adds a completely new perspective on you as a candidate. Admissions officers get tired with reading thousands of recommendations that say essentially the same things, so be wary about sending this. However, you may send the rec as supplementary material.</p>
<p>The optional essay is just that- optional. I didn’t send one and it worked fine for me. A weaker supplemental essay may cast doubt on an otherwise solid application. So yes, your intuition is correct.</p>
<p>Hey, I got rejected from Stanford EA, too! We should be buddies!</p>
<p>Seriously, I submitted the supplemental essay to Harvard, and I got really nervous about it myself, but it’s not a magic key to getting in. The admissions officers want to know who you are as a person, and, unless the optional essay can say something that the rest of your application didn’t, it’s probably pointless. Still, I don’t see how it could hurt you.</p>
<p>@Mentos, great! Thanks for the tips, I think I will decide not to send in the essay/supplemental rec since I don’t think they’ll be able to strengthen my application @jgraider, I haven’t, I’ll try that! Thanks @Weekyl, yeah let’s be buddies! My school had like 15 people apply to Stanford EA and NONE got in. Hopefully you and I can get in to Harvard though! :P</p>
<p>edit: made the alternate version, thanks for the heads up! I didn’t know about that until your post :)</p>
<p>OK, sorry if I’m beating a dead horse but I want to get this straight. I’m on the Harvard supp. app right now. First of all, I see no MANDATORY essays to write, just the optional ones in case you have a serious need to express something. Is that correct? Is there really nothing else that Harvard reads besides the CommonApp main essay (and that short EC essay on the CommonApp)? </p>
<p>Also, for the Teacher Evaluations part, all I need to do is type my teachers’ names? Is that it? This doesn’t even seem like a supplementary application…there’s basically nothing to do…</p>
<p>OK, I have a question about sending in test scores. I don’t want to make a new thread just for this short question so here goes:</p>
<p>-Took Oct. SAT I
-Going to take Jan SAT IIs in Chem and Math II</p>
<p>How should I send in my scores? I know Harvard (and Dartmouth, Yale and Brown?) accepts Jan. SAT scores but should I send my October one in first, then the January scores later? Would this cost more money that sending in Jan. and Oct. scores together?</p>
<p>And if I do send them together, won’t I have to wait until the January scores come out, which is going to be a while because the Jan. test date is the 22nd. So, I’m really confused as to what to do. How do I approach this?</p>
<p>EDIT: And will I get an interview if I apply this late?</p>
<p>You can go ahead and send the October scores, but it will cost $10 per report. Or, you can wait until January and use the four free score reports and have them sent then (this will send all your scores I believe). It’s your choice as to which you would rather do.</p>
<p>Whether or not you get an interview depends on how many applicants and alumni there are in your area, but I don’t think your entire application needs to be completed to be assigned an interviewer. I believe you just need your common app or your supplement in</p>
<p>^OK, but for the scores, if I send in my October scores first will they begin reviewing my file and just wait for the SAT II scores to make a decision? How does it work? Is there any disadvantage to sending them together in January/February after they come out (SAT IIs)?</p>
My school had like 15 people apply to Stanford EA and NONE got in. Hopefully you and I can get in to Harvard though! :P</p>