<p>i had a couple of questions about the harvard supplement to the common app...</p>
<p>first, when they ask about how definite your plans are, is it a bad thing if your plans are pretty definite?</p>
<p>second, the online application only has three answer spaces for the question about places you have lived, but i've lived in six..should i just leave a couple out or what? also, i lived in one country twice, once in 96-98, and again in 07-09..should i just write it twice?</p>
<p>lastly, would it be to my benefit to write a supplemental essay? i live in the middle east, although i was raised in texas, so it would make for a fairly interesting essay..</p>
<p>any help would be appreciated. thanks!</p>
<p>The definite plans thing is pretty minimal in the context of the rest of your application--that being said, I personally think I put that I was somewhere in the middle, which I imagine would be good because Harvard wants kids who have ambition and goals but also who are willing to learn and grow and change based on what they do those four years. </p>
<p>Call the admissions office about the places you have lived thing.</p>
<p>Definitely write a supplemental essay. Anything extra you can do for these competitive schools will help (except, of course, you don't want to be sending in an artistic supplement or whatever if you don't actually have exceptional talent in any area). The ivies want large yields based on the people they accept, so doing a supplemental essay shows that you have more than a passing, might-as-well-apply-here interest in the school. Plus, it gives them more information about you to better inform their decision.</p>
<p>i agreed with everything harvard 1636 said until the last two sentences. harvard doesn't care if you show interest in their school. EVERYONE is interested in harvard. it's freaking harvard. they're not gonna reject you because they wanna protect their yield.
if you decide to write a supplemental essay, which you absolutely don't have to (i didn't), write one about YOU. they want to get to know YOU. write something personal and heartfelt that only you could write. for one of my commonapp essays, i wrote about my first day of kindergarten. my regional admissions officer called me to tell me how much she enjoyed it, so write wisely.</p>
<p>I work in admissions, I've talked to them...trust me, they want to protect their yield. Just because "it's Harvard" doesn't mean someone is going to come here when all is said and done (and if they do, that's bad, it shouldn't be why you decide to attend). Of course they won't reject you based on showing interest alone, but let's say they're deciding between you and someone who clearly showed more interest and they're fairly certain will attend...well, they're going to pick the other person. They want people who love Harvard and want to come here specifically, not someone who just wanted an Ivy or whatever. There's a reason Harvard's yield is like the highest in the country (I think 80% accepted come here)...I mean, if they accepted the same people who also applied Yale and Princeton and Penn without caring which they got, that would be impossible.</p>
<p>I do agree that your supplement should be something that you haven't otherwise expressed on your application that reveals more about who you as a person are...like I said, the more you can express about yourself, the better equipped the admissions office is to decide if they want to admit you.</p>
<p>thanks to both of you for all the help :)</p>
<p>Never follow the advice of just one poster--but I'll break my rule--what Harvard1636 says makes perfect sense--of course they want to see your enthusiasm for the school--and the effort that goes with it--and anything else that would help your cause--all else being roughly equal (as it will be for thousands of qualified applicants)
Back to my rule, Token89 didn't do a supplement but was a recruit if I recall. Everyone's circumstances are different.</p>