<p>how many of you actually write the 2 optional essays? It says that it won't hurt you, but is that true? Anyone know of people who got in without writing the optional essays?</p>
<p>Quite a few people (myself included) only wrote one of them.</p>
<p>if they say it won't hurt you, then it won't... they aren't lying whatsoever</p>
<p>I wrote one and I'm applying ED</p>
<p>I wrote one (CAS one).</p>
<p>
[quote]
if they say it won't hurt you, then it won't... they aren't lying whatsoever
[/quote]
</p>
<p>"It won't hurt you" is a very friendly thing to say, but it simply doesn't make sense. If writing it helps you, then not writing it hurts you. There's a finite number of spots.</p>
<p>What they mean is that writing it won't hurt you. (though not writing really won't kill your chances it is advisable to write it)</p>
<p>Most people probably only wrote one, seeing as the second required you to explain any "significant extracurricular research".</p>
<p>Sorry for the misunderstanding.</p>
<p>when they say it doesnt hurt you it means that not doing it will not lower your chances whatsoever. doing them doesn't give too much unless your borderline and you just write a really really super essaay that wows them.</p>
<p>Blowing off something you can do to increase your chances of admission is a pretty big misstep on your part. It makes it appear as if youre not as interested if you don't even bother doing a "why duke" essay. By saying it doesn't hurt you is somewhat misleading because if everyone else writes the essay then you're at a disadvantage. If you didn't do one, hopefully you submitted your app early to do an interview. I got really lucky with that second essay, but I would imagine that not doing the research essay wouldn't hurt you because its a pretty niche thing.</p>
<p>It depends on what context the phrase "it doesn't hurt you" is used in.</p>
<p>"Writing the essay can't possibly hurt you" makes sense. This means that it's the office's policy that, even if it's poorly written, at worst they'll take it as a sign of interest and discard it.</p>
<p>"Not writing the essay can't hurt you" does not make sense. There's a finite pool of spots. If writing the essay helps, not writing it hurts.</p>
<p>no I don't think that is true. When I spoke to an admission officer they told me that not completing them doesn't hurt your application but sending a bad one does and makes you look worse. It is another way for them to learn more about you but a bad essay will hurt you, a good essay will help you, and not doing it won't have any effect.</p>
<p>My post #12 is unclear.</p>
<p>Ignore it and replace with the following:</p>
<p>It depends on what context the phrase "it doesn't hurt you" is used in.</p>
<p>If they say"Writing the essay can't possibly hurt you," then that I can believe. This means that it's the office's policy that, even if it's poorly written, at worst they'll take it as a sign of interest and discard it. I don't know whether this is their policy, but at least it is a possible one.</p>
<p>"Not writing the essay can't hurt you" does not make sense. There's a finite pool of spots. If writing the essay helps, not writing it hurts.</p>
<p>If you write a horrible essay, yes it will hurt you</p>
<p>If you do not write it at all, it won't hurt you</p>
<p>Basically, it can only help you, unless you screw it up and then it MAY hurt you</p>
<p>And the confusion continues.</p>
<p>I don't think the hurt/doesn't hurt viewpoints will ever be reconciled.</p>
<p>If you can't write a paragraph to say why you want to go to Duke, then why are you even applying? Duke wants to accept people that want to come here because there is a better chance that they will actually decide to come if they get in, which increases Duke's matriculation rate. If everything about you is similar to someone else but the other person wrote a really passionate essay about why he/she wants to come here, who do you think they'd rather give a spot to?</p>
<p>By theory that is very true, DukeRose. but no two people are the same, and very rarely are two people so close that a single 2 paragraph essay will be the deciding factor...</p>
<p>You'd be surprised.</p>
<p>For one thing, I think an interest essay is much more important than people seem to be giving it credit for. Duke doesn't want a series of mercenaries who are trying to climb the USN rankings; it wants to build a community. Among qualified kids, interest is the make-or-break factor.</p>
<p>For another thing, there's a ton of kids and a lot of them really do look awfully similar. The thread above this one, for example -- I'm not linking to it because it's just an example -- has a kid who has good grades and good scores and did some speech stuff in high school. She's probably basically indistinguishable from a quarter of Duke's applicants. If you knew one of them really, really wanted to come to Duke -- or had at least put in the effort to research the school! -- wouldn't you want that kid here?</p>
<p>My son is currently a sophomore engineering student at Duke. His SAT's were good but not remarkable and his GPA was certainly not outstanding. He was never interviewed. He had excellent EC's and excellent recommendations. He did submit the 2nd essay but it wasn't a 'Why Duke?' essay - or about research - it was about the importance of his family. Why did they admit him? Who knows - but they obviously saw something in him beyond grades and scores because he is doing great there and has been asked to participate in various forums etc. by his dean. My advice - just be who you are and not who you think they want you to be. If you do not get in then it wasn't meant to be. Good luck to you all - you are all amazing!</p>