<p>When Yale says it has an optional essay, I heard that they really mean that you have to do it. Is that so with Harvard, Or could having 2 essays dilute your app?
Does anybody know their unwritten policy on this? I'd appreciate some EA posters reporting whether or not they got in with 1 or 2 essays.</p>
<p>There are tons and tons and TONS of posts on this topic. </p>
<p>But, no, optional really does mean optional.</p>
<p>I got accepted to Harvard without the optional supplementary essay.</p>
<p>If you would like to stress your good writing quality, you might as well attempt it. I think doing the optional essay definitely helped me, however, because I wrote in two different styles - one serious and one silly and lighthearted.</p>