I’m having trouble coming up with ideas for the optional supplemental essay. The question is so broad and i’m not sure what the Admissions officers are really looking for. Should I write it like another common app essay? I’m a first-gen student so I was thinking of including that but I don’t know how “unique” it would be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
@mirawu45 maybe mentioning the prompt would help?
@psywar sorry I forgot to include it. Here it is: “You may wish to include an additional essay if you feel that the college application forms do not provide sufficient opportunity to convey important information about yourself or your accomplishments. You may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics.” They then list a wide range of topics; however, i’ve heard that the better essays will write about their own topic.
@mirawu45 do you have a unique story in you? I think a non-traditional prompt would be better, if you can pull it off. Imagine the adcoms reading the same prompts over and over again… a unique essay has the chance to make you memorable.
@psywar I’m just stuck on how I could create a unique essay. With so many applicants its hard to find something that could stand out. Thanks for all your help so far btw
@mirawu45 well, what is a story, or observation that only YOU could write? One that is so YOU, you are the only possible author. This will help you stand out.
A good test if that if you wrote an essay and you didn’t write your name on it, and then if you dropped it on the street, and if your best friend found it, read it, would they know that you wrote it?
How about writing about something you love doing or even thinking about? The ‘thing’ you choose is far less important than what you have to say about it, how you experience it and what it says about you. You’ll know you’re on the right path if you find yourself scribbling furiously. Good luck!
This is optional. You do not have to write one if you have nothing compelling to say that is not covered in the rest of the application.
That said, please understand that the point is not to be “unique.” I have read many student essays and the worst ones are the ones that go overboard on creativity to be “unique.” Just write straightforwardly, as if you are having a conversation.
If you have a health problem that affected attendance, or you have a special interest that did not fit into the application, or if you lost a parent and it had a big effect on you, or if you spent a lot of time taking care of siblings- those are all things that you might want to write about.
If you feel the application already gives a sense of who you are, no need to write the optional essay.
@compmom agree you don’t have to be unique. I believe candidates can make a huge mistake in manufacturing uniqueness. However, an authentic well-written essay, that is different from the thousands of other essays, can help “brand” a candidate. At this level, being memorable can help convert an adcom to an advocate. That “bee keeper” kid vs. yet another high-scoring band kid, all things being equal, will get more attention.
The prompts they give you are pretty general; I think there’s a lot of room to write a unique essay within one of them. I do find that picking a prompt and following it makes it a lot easier for me to brainstorm essay ideas – even if I then take the essay “outside of the box” and end up not using the prompt in the final version.
psywar, in general essays don’t make that much difference, since so many are coached. A terrible one can harm and an extraordinary one might help, all things being equal, but most are pretty neutral in effect. It is very unlikely that anyone is going to write an essay “different from the thousands of other essays.” An applicant should just write straightforwardly and be themselves.
@compmom: ^^ you keep stating . . .
. . . However, college admissions professionals think otherwise. For example, this from the College Board Professionals section: https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/applications/essay
Yes, some students receive too much help from adults, which is why many colleges are making students sign a statement attesting to their own work. From the same College Board Professionals section:
@compmom not an adcom, but I read anything I can on admissions, and never have I encountered an adcom that stated essays “in general essays don’t make that much difference”. Perhaps you are in admissions, having read many student essays, but I can talk to my experiences.
I do agree, most essays are pretty neutral in effect, given that most are poorly written, but we are discussing Harvard essays here. I believe students applying at this level should use any opportunity to say something and should have the skills to say it well.
Adcoms on essays:
check this out:https://www.huffingtonpost.com/write-for-the-future/conversations-on-admittin_b_5206202.html
And this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2014/09/30/4-key-tips-for-ivy-league-admission/#13fffd0799cb from an Ivy admissions reader
Yale in the admissions FAQ bucks the trend by saying:
For balance sake, this link’s title is closest to your point that I could recall from my reading. Not from an adcom, but was embedded in the process: http://time.com/3585539/college-application-essays-dont-matter-as-much-as-you-think/ this article was promoted by a New Republic piece: https://newrepublic.com/article/120249/colleges-admissions-essay-questions-and-what-they-actually-reveal
What I took away from these articles was not that essays didn’t matter, but that they can’t make up for a flawed applicant…
Anyways, good discussion on this interesting topic, 
Psy
First, the original poster asked about the OPTIONAL supplementary essay, which is different from the other supplementary essays in that, obviously, it is not required.
Second you can easily find articles supporting my views. On uniqueness: “One of the biggest mistakes students make is trying too hard to impress,” Robinson says. “Trust that it is those every day, specific subjects that are much more interesting to read about.” (this appears in many articles on tips for essays http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/23/9-essay-writing-tips-to-wow-college-admissions-officers/)
I would add that I have been helping students with their essays (in a non-directive manner, and for free) for some years now and the effort to be “unique” does not help anyone’s efforts.
Third, I maintain, yes, that an awful essay will affect chances, as will an outstanding one, but the majority are neutral in effect. First, do no harm. Admissions folks spend 3-5 minutes reading them. Likability is important.
I found many articles on this topic http://time.com/3585539/college-application-essays-dont-matter-as-much-as-you-think/ Note the title: “College Application Essays Don’t Matter as Much as You Think.” I found this in about 3 seconds and could find many more.
From that article: “Stanford sociologist Mitchell Stevens spent 18 months embedded with admissions officers at an unnamed top-tier liberal arts college and found that, even in cases where students were within the admissible range in terms of scores and grades, officers rarely looked to the personal essays as a deciding factor.”
This article goes on to say that adcoms DO read the essays but
"The bad news? No matter how gorgeous your prose is, you can’t get into college based on the strength of your essay alone. ‘No-one ever gets into college because you write a great essay,’ Heaton says. 'You can NOT get in because you write a really bad one.”
There are many people out there making money off of the idea that essays are important. This may skew opinions .
Again the OP is about an optional essay. If the original poster cannot think of a topic for a the optional supplementary essay, then perhaps he or she should not write one. And an effort to stand out as “unique” will most likely backfire. Writing about ordinary topics in a straightforward manner results in better essays: see Strunk and White or tutor students for awhile.
Finally I would add that the opinions I express on this topic are meant to be reassuring, not unmotivating. Applicants should certainly try to represent themselves well in their essays because they will be read, however quickly, and can certainly enhance the knowledge a committee has of you, in some cases. However, the angst that people suffer about essays is not merited and I think applicants can approach the daunting task with a lot less stress and anxiety then most do now.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Nowhere in the OP’s question does s/he ask about whether essays are important, so please move on from that debate.
I would also caution that the OP asked the question in the Harvard forum, and that while published opinions about an “unnamed top-tier liberal arts college” might well apply to many or most colleges, they may not (and IMO don’t) apply to Harvard.
I tried to address the question about an optional essay. I think the mention of writing something “unique” and the general anxiety in such posts led to the discussion of the importance of essays, but yes agreed. I think it is relevant though to discuss whether doing an optional essay is important- is it really optional?