Recently I was filling out my application for North Carolina State University and as part of it I had to complete 2 optional supplemental essays. I attempted writing one of them a few times but never got a great result out of it. While I know that everyone says to always complete the optional essays if you have a chance I was wondering, is it worth submitting an optional essay even if its not that good? Can it hurt my chance or will it have no effect if it isn’t very good?
With time closing in quick responses would be appreciated
Including an optional essay shows a level of eagerness that an application containing a blank space does not. To be fully effective, you want to use that space to either show something about yourself not found elsewhere in the application or go into greater depth on something meriting further highlight or discussion. Make it the best you can. Set it aside for a day or so and then look at it with fresh eyes. Overall, as long as it is well written and coherent, I think writing something is the better way to go. Writing nothing says something too: “I couldn’t be bothered.”
I agree with @Groundwork2022 , if you are really interested in the school, you should submit the optional essays. The fact that you’ve taken the time write something school-specific is another way of showing demonstrated interest. Hopefully, you can get them to the point where you are satisfied with what you’ve written.
@Groundwork2022 @tkoparent thank you both very much for the feedback, I’ll spend these last few days before my deadline touching up on it!