<p>I just started my application to University of Pittsburgh and noticed that I am not required to submit my answers to the short answer portion of the application... Will it greatly hurt my chances if I don't submit responses? </p>
<p>The rule of thumb, is you should really treat optional essays as required. If you don’t, it looks like you don’t care of colleges that consider ‘demonstrated interest’. If you don’t, you miss a chance to strengthen your application for a college that is selective. For that particular college, I don’t know if it is important to them. See if they have an individual forum for that college to ask. They only way it is better is if you are adding stuff that is poorly written or is content you really should have skipped.</p>