<p>I recently finished a relatively short (418-word) optional essay for Harvard. It was free choice, but some suggested topics were:
- Unusual circumstances in your life
- Travel or living experiences in other countries
- What you would want your future college roommate to know about you
- An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you
- How you hope to use your college education
- A list of books you have read during the past twelve months</p>
<p>I wrote it about how the novel "The Book Thief" impacted my views about books and life and all that. I would love to have a couple of readers before I send it in :) If you comment I will PM it to you.</p>
<p>FYI I have up to 1000 words and I wanted to have a deeper topic for this essay since my main Common App essay is a humourous essay about being a germaphobe, trying to fix a vacuum cleaner, and making a fool of myself.</p>
<p>Hi, I have a question related to that supplement! I have been agonizing over what to include in the optional Harvard supplemental essay section. I have several literary analyses and poems I was considering, but I’m afraid I might as well send the admissions committee a stick-figure drawing. Are these kinds of submissions of any value to the committee, and are they likely to strengthen my application?</p>
<p>Hello! I know I’m a year late (ahah) but The Book Thief is and will probably always be my favorite book; it drastically changed what I wanted to do in life and how I approached knowledge. I’d love to read your essay if possible!</p>
<p>@ThatMathySciGirl Sure, I can send it to you. I actually have a newer version of it that I adapted from the Harvard one when I was thinking about using it as my personal statement this year (I am applying to college again this year because of reasons explained in that essay). Or, I also have the old version which I sent to Harvard. Do you have a preference about which I send to you?</p>
<p>@LAMuniv I’d like to read the one sent before, but if you want opinions about your new one (I’m not qualified past high school, but I could tell you what I think) I’d be happy to do that as well. Thanks!</p>