<p>I was looking over the harvard supplement, and they have an additonal topic that they've marked optional. In their words, </p>
<p>"Occasionally, students feel that college application forms do not provide a sufficient opportunity to convey important information about themselves or their accomplishments. If there is something you would like us to know, please inform us in the essay section at the end of the document. If you wish to include an additional essay, you may do so."</p>
<p>They then provide a set of suggested topics, including</p>
<p>Unusual circumstances in your life
Travel or living experiences in other countries
Books that have affected you the most
An academic experience (course, project, paper, or research topic) that has meant the most to you
A list of the books you have read during the past twelve months</p>
<p>Are the other EA candidates writing them? Are we expected to write them?</p>
<p>really? cos I've heard that although they say it's optional, it's not REALLY optional, and most ppl actually do go ahead and do it.</p>
<p>I'm not really sure. I would think that telling the adcoms more about yourself in an extra essay could never hurt your chances, so why not go ahead and do it?</p>
<p>I'm also an Early Action candidate at Harvard, and I did not write a supplementary essay. My reasoning was that after looking over my whole application, I decided that I felt pretty well represented. Additionally, I'm betting that Harvard means exactly what they say in the directions because it simply doesn't make sense for them not to be direct about what they want from their applicants - that just makes the process more difficult for everyone :) </p>
<p>well when i went to one of those informational meetings at harvard, the people said that every little bit (ie the supplemental essay) that gives them a better impression of who you are is useful</p>
<p>As a parent of a current Harvard freshman, here's my take: only do the supplemental if you feel there is an aspect of yourself that would be left out if you didn't write it. An essay that's not really sharing something different and important could be a negative...adcoms are not simply looking to do more reading. If, on the other hand, you feel there's another side of yourself that you'd like them to know about, by all means do it. Just give it as much time an effort as your original personal statement--realize that, used properly, this can be another opportunity to make your self stand out. In my son's case, he had two divergent "passions", and he felt that not illuminating the importance of the second one would leave the admissions people with an incomplete sense of who he is. However, he made sure the two essays were very different, and that both were creative, compelling pieces of writing.</p>