<p>Your assumption that students need to have their discussions micromanaged by “adults” like yourself is paternalistic, to put it mildly. Let’s be honest: kids who are bright enough to apply to or get into Harvard don’t need you or me telling them what to think or say; that ended in middle school. And with regard to your private message wishing me good luck in the application process, you might like to know that I’m a parent myself whose child is already attending Harvard.</p>
<p>As is mine. Congratulations to us both, I suppose!</p>
<p>IMO Gibby may have over-reacted but it’s *extremely *annoying (to everyone!) to have one person waylaying thread after thread with the exact same material. Someone does need to interrupt it.</p>
<p>I just reported the issue to the moderator, who could have looked at the posts and decided that I was wrong. That did not happen. The moderator agreed the posts were annoying and inappropriate and removed them. End of story . . . at least from my prospective.</p>
<p>I agree it’s annoying. My only point is that the students on this website are perfectly capable of moderating their own threads without oversight by adults. I have no problem with parental input on CC threads, but given the anxiety that accompanies the college application process, the last thing students need is another adult telling them what’s an appropriate or inappropriate post. If CC’s underlying philosophy is, as Gibby suggests, that this is a website run by “adults” (i.e., grown-ups) for the benefit of “students” (i.e., not yet grown-ups) then perhaps it’s time for a reevaluation of whose interests this website should really serve. Perhaps, for example, the role of moderator ought to be restricted to students. That way the audience for which these posts are intended could make its own determination about what’s relevant and what’s not relevant.</p>
<p>For the record, both of you are hijacking this thread.</p>
<p>To get back on topic, what if the supplement essay was more of a ‘Why Boston’ essay?</p>
<p>There are many colleges in Boston. [List</a> of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Boston]List”>List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>OK. It really is more of how Boston sports has affected my life with a little bit of Harvard humor thrown in at the end. Would this still not be good?</p>
<p>To be honest, really just write about what you think is right. I’m not a student at Harvard nor have I applied yet, so my advice might not be the best, but in the end, I think that’s really going to be the best option.</p>
<p>I should probably follow my own advice first though :)</p>
<p>Yeah you are right magentaturtle. I ended up writing a rough draft for it and it really wasnt why boston at all.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Yale has some great advice on their website about writing essays: [Advice</a> on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>Getting back on point, my D was a statistically average applicant (by Harvard standards) with no hooks whatsoever but a common app essay that jumped off the page. She didn’t write a supplemental essay (which her friends said at the time was suicidal) but got into Harvard anyway. A few weeks afterwards, her regional admissions officer wrote her a letter saying that her common app essay had been the decisive factor in her admission. What the whole experience said to me was (a) that the AdCom really pays attention to your Common App essay and (b) that if you’ve put your best effort into it you should relax and spend the Christmas holidays enjoying your time with your family rather than stressing about something that probably won’t make a difference.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with Claude! (Who would have thought so.)</p>
<p>After my daughter was accepted to Harvard, she was invited to a congratulatory reception at the Harvard Club in New York City. In attendance was Harvard’s Regional Admissions Officer, Sally Champagne, who has since retired. As each student introduced themselves (“Hi, my name is …”) Sally recounted a bit of their common app essay. Sally, and the Admissions Committee in general, got to know each student by their essay. I am convinced that after all the comparing of transcripts, test scores, ECs etc, it all comes down to the essay!</p>
<p>And I agree with Gibby (who’d a thunk it?). But the takeaway is that if you’ve written a strong common app essay, the supplemental essay really won’t make much of a difference one way or the other.</p>
<p>How do you know if you’ve written an essay that “jumps off the page”? </p>
<p>Certainly I think what I’ve written has captured who I am, but whether or not the essay is amazing is difficult for me to judge. After all, I’ve written and rewritten those 500 words too many times to count…</p>
<p>Go away and don’t think about it until August 20, at the earliest. If you still think that after some distance, it’s more likely to be true than if you keep meditating on it eternally. And if you haven’t had any of your reliable friends/relatives take a gander at it, you should do that, too.</p>
<p>As exultationsy suggested, getting some distance from your writing often helps. Put your essay away for several weeks. When you revisit it, read the essay out loud and ask yourself: What does the reader learn about me? Do I come across as mature? Passionate? Intellectual? Curious about the world? Do I have a concern for others? </p>
<p>Admissions Directors are trying to figure out who you are from your writing. So, your essay should be so specific and personal that if you accidentally dropped it in the hallways of your school, and it did not have your name on it, a fellow classmate upon finding it, should be able to read the essay, and immediately know that it was yours and return it to you. </p>
<p>When school starts, give your essay to the teachers who are writing your recommendations and ask them: If this did not have my name on it, would you know that it was my essay? What is something new you learned about me that you didn’t know before reading it? Do I come across as the student you know in the classroom?</p>
<p>Essay writing is tremendously subjective. Be open to suggestions, but in the end, you need to be thrilled with what you have written.</p>
<p>And, in the end, you need to feel that the essay reflects what is unique about you. Don’t write it for someone else; write it for yourself.</p>