<p>For the Harvard optional essay, the "possible topics" are:
- 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>Can I write an essay about a topic that is not among those "possible topics"?</p>
<p>Yes. Some people who get in write about very unusual topics…</p>
<p>to add on to that, can i ask if it will kill my application if I upload supplementary essays for other colleges as Harvard’s optional essay?</p>
<p>^Depends if it’s obvious…if you submit, for example, Princeton’s supplement with their quote at the top, it wouldn’t be good. However, if for example you were to submit a subtle Yale supplement essay that didn’t refer to Yale (or you changed the references to Harvard), then I doubt any of the admissions officers would notice.</p>
<p>what about if the supplemental essay was from another ivy? do you think it would be a big deal? i feel like one of my essays from upenn describes really well, and i want to use it, but im not sure if they would penalize me for that.</p>
<p>^ i assume u are referring to the p.217 essay - I think that would be fine so long as it wasn’t obviously in the vein of an autobiography written for penn…</p>