<p>Hi,</p>
<p>This is probably a rather strange question, more of for the W&M admission counselor who's on here than anyone else.</p>
<p>Anyway, for my optional essay I did something related to Harry Potter. Most of what I've written I gave background to, so even if someone had never before seen the movies or read the books they'd understand what I was referring to, but I close the essay with a reference to seeing socks in the Mirror of Erised, like Dumbledore saw. Do you think that's too obscure a reference or that the counselors will get it?</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback =)</p>
<p>I believe they will get it, or the burden will be on them for not having read the Harry Potter books like everyone else. Nowadays, referencing Harry Potter is like referencing Cinderella or the Gingerbread Man. You’ve got to know it!
Also, most of the Admissions Reviewers at W&M look pretty young, if you’ve seen the pictures and the video, and they are all involved in Education.</p>
<p>Sounds like you wrote a really interesting essay. Don’t second guess yourself, and good luck!</p>
<p>I see you’re also a Les Mis fan :)</p>
<p>Anyway, I think you would be OK based on how they worded the question. It seems like they really want to see what you like, and what kind of a person you are. If you love HP and you want to show them that, I don’t think they’ll hold it against you that they haven’t read the book. </p>
<p>That said, I’m also applying this year, so it’s not like I would have any reason to know better than the next person, haha.</p>
<p>Sorry for the delay in responding. We were closed for Thanksgiving break.</p>
<p>Most of us have ready Harry Potter but not all of us have. That being said, we encourage any student making any kind of reference to make their essay about something we can understand or relate to whether or not we are familiar with the reference. So if you write about Harry Potter, the main message of your essay shouldn’t be to summarize Harry Potter but should be to relate it to you in some way. If you focus on relating it to you and what you’re trying to tell us about yourself, whether or not we’ve read the book shoudn’t matter. You should be the primary focus and content of the submission, and not the plot of any particular novel because we want to learn about you and not the novel. Does this make sense?</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses 
I submitted my essay last week, and I definitely know I related it to myself rather than the plot (it’s the one essay I’ve written that I’m really proud of), but I agree that’s very good advice =)</p>