Harvard Supplemental Essay

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hey guys! :)</p>

<p>What are you writing/have written for the supplemental essay for Harvard (basically the optional one that allows you to write about whatever subject you want to)? Topics/Ideas anyone! </p>

<p>Are you guys doing the essay in a story-type format (ex. day helping the homeless, significant experience, etc.) or something more straightforward (ex. research done over the summer, etc.) Or is it important to use creativity and do something completley new? I guess I just dont understand what it is they are asking, and what it is they are looking for...</p>

<p>thanks! :D</p>

2

<p>I wrote about my interest in bio and medicine in a semi-creative format (figurative language within a rather traditional framework). My main essay was also in a semi-creative format, but more about what experiences shaped me as a person than my interests.</p>

3

<p>I'm entertaining the thought of doing mine on how all my relatives (heck, even my dentist!) are trying to influence the college app process. It's funny (in my opinion), but I can't decide, since it isn't necessarily ABOUT me...</p>

4

<p>You can write it about yourself, even if the main subject is not you. Subtlety is acceptable.</p>

5

<p>can it be about how a paticular person has influenced you and made you the way you are? i kinda want to write about this convos between me and a family member, and some important secrets i learned that has helped shaped who i am...does that sound like something original or just corny?</p>

6

<p>^ You can probably use it for the common app topic.</p>

7

<p>I wrote about something innovative; the essay had both immediate and lasting shock value. Don't go by other people's opinions, even if they're Harvard students. A 2010er told me I sounded like a "raging communist." (dave chappelle voice: "Man was that ***** wrong!")</p>

8

<p>^ if you dont mind telling us, piccolo, what was your essay about? what was your topic? please help a harvard hopeful! :)</p>

9

<p>Sorry, that information is classified until the end of the summer.</p>

10

<p>My son (rising sophomore who decided not to attend Harvard) used his second MIT essay for the supplemental essay. It was about what do you do for fun.</p>

11

<p>@Piccolo, I remember reading a topic of yours a while back. Didn't you say it was on ideologies and morals? I'm guessing that you did a lot of disagreeing with standing values? Meh, I'd like to see it when you finally re-release it :)</p>

12

<p>lol @ piccolo hiding his essay </p>

<p>=D</p>

13

<p>I would start a new thread, but I just wanted to ask here first... How long are they expecting their supplements to be?</p>

14

<p>I assumed it should be about as long as the main commonapp essay, so between 500-700 words.</p>

15

<p>^Mine was under 400 >_></p>

16

<p>i didn't even write a supplemental essay.
oops.
if i did though, my advice would be don't pick something cliche like community service or helping the homeless. pick something unique to you. after you write your essay, go back and read it asking yourself, "could anybody else have written this essay?" if the answer is yes, rewrite it. because with 25,000 applicants, someone will.
my commonapp essay was about my first day of kindergarten haha....maybe not the approach you wanna take but hey it worked for me.</p>

17

<p>What do you guys think about the suggested prompt, "List of books you have read over the past year?"</p>

<p>(Or something like that)</p>