<p>did anyone choose to do the optional essay? i'm not sure if i should or not.</p>
<p>definitely definitely do anything that's optional. tufts is the kind of school you have to show interest in; you can't just do it half-heartedly.</p>
<p>also, think about it: you have the academic/test stats to apply to get into tufts -- but so do most of the people who apply. the things that make you stand out, that make you more than simple numbers/averages, and the like, are your essays. those make you an individual in a pile of applications.</p>
<p>i would say this advice applies to every college application you're working on; not just tufts.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree. Do all of the optional essays. It is assumed that if you really want to get in you will take the time to write one more essay.</p>
<p>At my tour I asked the admissions officer who spoke during the info session what he would think if I wrote every optional essay. He said that it would not help my chances at all (he did not know my stats) and that they would rather not have students do that.</p>
<p>It's not the quantity of essays you write, but the quality of them. And doing them all does show interest, no matter what this buffoon told you.</p>
<p>The guy I heard said Don't do an optional essay just to do it. If it isn't great, then it's just annoying. He didn't say "Annoying" actually, but that was the gist. I think what he meant was, it's not going to help you at all just to pump out a bunch of mediocre essays. If your required essays are awesome, you're better off stopping there, and not throwing in a mediocre one just to try to impress them, because it won't.</p>
<p>^ ^ ^</p>
<p>Well, it should be obvious that if you're going to write something that's supposed to help you get into college, it should be well-written, otherwise it won't help you.</p>
<p>If I'm not mistaken, I believe that on the Tufts Supplement it says to only write ONE of the optional essays...</p>
<p>The only essays I wrote for Tufts were 1) essay for the common app and 2) an essay on why I want to go to Tufts. And I got in.
I agree that you should not overload the admissions people with essays (it just makes their job harder), but don't just half-ass it.</p>
<p>^^^ Yeah, Sam, but the Tufts app has changed. The supplement is a lot longer than it was before.</p>
<p>Oh, I see. Why make it so much longer? I find it silly how admissions are just adding to the stress of their applicants. Maybe this isn't the place to ask that question...</p>
<p>I actually really like the Tufts application. The questions are so creative and it's probably going to be a lot more interesting for them to read this year. Since everyone is going to approach the questions in such different ways you know?</p>