Profanity in the essay?

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<p>My guess is the worse the profanity the bigger the negative impact. But why would you want to include something you think will have a negative impact? You should include only things that will have a positive impact. That way you won't have to worry about how negative the negative things are. Why deliberately add that extra worry? </p>

<p>Getting accepted into Harvard is difficult and uncertain enough without having to also estimate how much profanity you can include on your application before it destroys your chances.</p>

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<p>If you're on the margins -- as most applicants to a place like Harvard are -- then anything can break your application by itself. You should be using every minute of the reader's time to give her reasons to admit you, not reasons to reject you.</p>

<p>Edited to add:</p>

<p>"here is the aforementioned essay that got one kid into harvard"</p>

<p>Unless your admissions officer told you point blank, "I remember your essay, and it put you over the edge," there's no reason to think that any essay "got" a kid into Harvard. Many kids who get in do so in SPITE of their boring/offensive/poorly-written essays.</p>

<p>"50 Successful Harvard Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice"</p>

<p>No point of the edit, I'm only paraphrasing the title of the book not making my own assumptions Hanna. </p>

<p>Of course, there are a couple stories around where just the brilliance of the essays and little else got people into Harvard, a few of which I read about on this website</p>

<p>Go right ahead, all the more admission slots for everyone else...</p>

<p>Ok, I'm SweetestSith's sister, and I feel a need to comment on this amusing thread...</p>

<p>First of all, I must admit that I could not believe that someone SERIOUSLY asked this question... But that’s a personal aside. :) </p>

<p>To answer the question, of course they want your 'voice' and individualism yadda yadda yadda to show through, but that does not mean you should include something extremely colloquial like profanity. Your essay is written for an academic purpose, putting in something like profanity would be very difficult to justify, and really not nessicary. I read the link to the essay that got that kid into Harvard... He could have done without it... To me, it just sounds childish, immature, and shows a lack of creativity... (ohhhh! I'm going to be flammed for that comment! lol) Surely you can think of better way to think through and word such an important essay? Show some respect... People usually appreciate it...</p>

<p>High school kids are silly... :P</p>

<p>For all of you planning to put profanity in your Harvard essays I have just one piece of advice: Make sure you also apply to plenty of safety schools. You're going to need 'em.</p>