Hey so I’m an ED2 applicant for only Emory University. I only regular applied for Oxford College (I have other schools I’d rather go to than Oxford) and was wondering how not doing the optional oxford essay would affect my chances at Emory University during ED2. The “optional means required” mentality for college apps is something I usually pursue, but I really did not care about getting into Oxford and my only real aspiration was to get into Emory. At the time I believed that the Emory admissions staff wouldn’t even see it, but maybe they check to see if I did it for demonstrated interest? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Hi, I was just accepted into Oxford ED1 but not Emory, and I looked into this topic a few months ago too. If you believe that Oxford is a safety school for you, then don’t bother with the essay; otherwise, I highly recommend writing it because Oxford seems to put a lot of weight on the personality/character of the applicant. Consider this, Oxford put that essay as an option because they really want to get to know their applicants. Admissions staff are always more inclined to admit applicants that they feel like they know.
And since Emory and Oxford review their applications independently, I don’t believe writing the essay will have any impact on Emory’s decision.
Thank you!