<p>If you genuinely don't believe the optional essays would add anything to your application, is it okay to not do them? I guess it's kind of a silly question, but I just feel like doing the optional essay is a way of showing the school that you have interest in it and are willing to put the time in for its application. I would think that not doing it would hurt your chances (I know it's called "optional," but I'd guess most people do it?) but I really don't think it would help my application at all; given that I'm not crazy about creative writing, I almost feel like it would hurt my application.</p>
<p>Do people get in without doing it? (I mean I'm sure people do, I mean on CC)... thoughts in general?</p>
<p>I also have the same concern =/ Given my English isn't that great (int. student), plus I'm not even sure whether my essay subject is considered appropriate (I wrote about experience immigrating to another country and expriencing racism-first hand. BUT this happened when I was around 7...). I'm considering whether its appropriate to submit it.</p>
<p>I asked the admissions rep that came to my school the same question, and she said only submit a supplemental essay if you do believe it will add something, and that admissions officers have plenty of info to judge you on w/o it</p>
<p>All of Tufts admissions that i have talked to have said the same thing...it really IS optional.
They've told me to do only do an extra essay if a topic jumps out at me. Personally, I think my common app essay portrays me well by itself, so I'm only doing an optional essay because I'd like to. As long as your app speaks for itself, don't bother with it. People have commented before on getting into Tufts---without doing the extra essays,
Happy applying!</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree... The admissions officer that I talked to said that you shouldn't feel the need to write the essay unless it can add something. She said that if you weren't inspired by one of the prompts but still felt like you had to write the essay to look good, odds are they wouldn't enjoy reading something you didn't want to write.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that my daughter did NOT write the optional essay. And she was admitted. If they really wanted you to write something, they wouldn't tell you it's optional. If they say it doesn't matter, I think you can believe them.</p>
<p>Wow. I'm impressed! I've seen this question bandied about in a variety of places on CC (with a variety of incorrect answers), but the information here is dead on. For verification!</p>
<p>If you like a topic and would like to write on one - do it.</p>
<p>If you don't - don't. Literally optional. </p>
<p>We worked to create topics that would interest a variety of students and possibly spark an internalized discussion that would yield interesting essays. But we know the essays won't speak to everyone. If you don't like the topics, please don't feel pressure into writing an essay. The mere presence of an essay won't help you. The essay helps when you have something to add.</p>
<p>is it okay if the optional essay has absolutely nothing to do with who i am? these short story prompts have sparked some pretty interesting ideas for me, but I don't feel like they will reflect anything about me in particular other than my creativity and voice as a writer. is this all this essay should reflect anyways?</p>
<p>i feel like i've really shown my voice throughout the rest of the application.. is a well-written, witty little story here a valuable contribution?</p>
<p>ElAlma627--
S. is a freshman this year, and he chose to do the optional essay in pretty much the frame of mind you stated above. He felt he'd already represented himself well enough in his other essays, so used the optional one more as a creative writing exercise (though obviously in response to one of the topics they had listed). Unlike the others (that he sort of agonized over) he wrote it in just one evening, but got good feedback on it. I think they'd probably love to see your creative side. Good luck!</p>
<p>Your essay doesn't have to be about you to help me understand who you are - and this is particularly true with the short stories. You wrote, "I don't feel like they will reflect anything about me in particular other than my creativity and voice as a writer"; but your creativity is a HUGE thing to be able to effectively reflect!</p>