Should my supplementary essay be bold?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>I am agonizing over which essay, if any, I should send in the Harvard supplement.</p>

<p>My bold essay is a sort of humorous story about chasing squirrels. (A squirrel chased me back and it was terrifying.) Although it has no theme, it does show my personality some and make me seem like, you know, a person. But I doubt that chasing squirrels make me a valuable asset to Harvard.</p>

<p>Alternatively, I can recycle Princeton essay, which is about realizing that extraordinary people are human and not superhuman. The part dedicated to humanizing a seemingly superhuman friend is longer than the part dedicated to explaining what I learn, which might have the effect of drawing attention away from me.</p>

<p>Yet another essay highlights my work in a preschool with special needs kids. My EC short answer was about volunteering with general ed kids, so this essay could complement it or look superfluous. My English teacher thinks I should submit this one, but ultimately it feels too generic to me.</p>

<p>Or I could submit a poem. I like writing and wrote a free verse poem a year or two ago that I'm fairly proud of, but adcoms won't share my emotional attachment to it.</p>

<p>And then I have the option of not sending in an extra essay, which feels like a lost opportunity. On the other hand, this may be best given that I don't have a clear favorite, and the rest of my app is pretty solid. Very excellent Common App essay, 35 ACT, 240 hours with special needs kids, 140 with gen ed kids, president of Spanish club and Beta club, three-time president of chess club, volunteer radio show host, etc.</p>

<p>Any advice? I can PM you guys links to the essays if you'd like a read.</p>

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<p>I like the BOLD one. I personally wrote about leading the crown at a football game. It not only got me in, but my admission officer called me personally to tell me how unique and awesome it was.</p>

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<p>I also have a question about the Harvard supplement, if you don’t mind me interjecting: 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>

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<p>Timmaka, thanks for your input; I’m sure that your essay must have been wonderful. Mine is less inspirational and more comedic, which is super atypical of college essays and quite possibly for a good reason. Would you like to read my squirrel-chasing essay and let me know if it’s dumb?</p>

<p>Thinkw1nk, please no threadjacking. But I will say to stay away from literary analyses unless it’s they’re excellent enough to be published and somehow offer a window to your personality. Poems, on the other hand, do reflect your essence, and will probably do better than stick figures! :)</p>

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<p>yo dude hit me up. pm ur essays they seem very unique and YOU. i suggest you pick the one that is the most YOU YOU YOU. like something that is complex enough that its cool the way you describe it but simple enough tat one realizes that you are special and you have a unique way of thinking/doing things…im at the same dilemma except im writing an essay just for harvard and yale that is really talking about a situation that might seem dull and boring but i put my twist on it and talk about how i approach it and how my brain/thinking works with it and hwat i get out of it…which i feel is very ME…</p>

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<p>^ Thanks matrix. You’ve been PM’d.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your help!:slight_smile: And sorry about that, I’m new to the cc and its rules of etiquette:)</p>

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<p>Yeah, you’re fine thinkw1nk. I could tell you were new by your post count so I wasn’t mad about it. I actually would have offered to swap essays with you via PM but I seem to remember you need at least 15 posts to use that feature, right?</p>

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<p>I’m done with college applications, so if you want me to read something, I most certainly can give you my opinion.</p>

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<p>I appreciate that Denlah:), but it looks like I have to have the 15 posts first:/</p>

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<p>@Denlah</p>

<p>Remember that the optional essay is best to show off another dimension of you as an applicant - one that may not be evident from reading your application otherwise. Personality/character is a very important thing that is often reinforced by the optional essay. But if you have tangible achievements that you can showcase with your essay to strengthen your applicant package, that may be a good move. I wouldn’t submit the poem unless it is REALLY good and doesn’t require context to understand - if you are submitting artistic work, it should be of professional quality. If it is true that your essay about humanizing your superhuman friend doesn’t focus much on you, then it might not be a great choice, because this essay should showcase who you are. And just not submitting one because you can’t choose wouldn’t be the best idea, because it seems like you have several well developed essays to choose from.</p>

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<p>@thinkw1nk - Well you better get to posting! ;)</p>

<p>@rsivyhopeful - I think I agree with you that I should submit something. My situation now reminds me of Buridan’s ass, who famously starves to death because he can’t choose which stack of hay to eat from. Mind if you send you the squirrel essay so that you can tell me what you think of it?</p>

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<p>Mind if I* send you the squirrel essay, haha. I caught that error 1 minute after my editing window expired.</p>

<p>Thanks so much to all of you who have helped already. Currently, I’ve had 2 votes for the squirrel essay and -2 votes for Princeton. Thing is, I still feel really weird about using the squirrel essay because it’s so… nonintellectual. Maybe I’ll make squirrels a metaphor for something. I don’t know.</p>

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<p>Use your squirrel essay if it either demonstrates a LOT about great character aspects OR if you can think of a way to show off your accomplishments. If it is too playful/silly then don’t. In the end, it is a venue for you to show them another side of you. It may be more compelling for them to read more about your achievements (like in your essay about service work). Depends on if your character or achievements are more of a compelling read. Additionally, if there is already ENOUGH about your achievements throughout other essays (and other parts of common app), character might be the way to go.</p>

<p>I don’t think I should read your specific essay, though - it is really up to you and I won’t have anything to compare it to in the context of your full application. The decision is yours. Whatever you choose, it will be okay!</p>

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<p>Thanks Rsivy, that’s probably the most encouraging thing I’ve heard so far. I’m leaning away from the service essay now because it feels too generic to capture anything my other essays have missed.</p>

<p>My squirrel essay does feel very playful and silly, but in a witty sort of way. If nothing else, it definitely shows one of the extremes of my character. I’ll revisit it and edit some and have a think, and then I figure I’ll send it–no one’s gotten into Harvard without ever taking risks, after all!</p>

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<p>I follow advice on these forums almost religiously, and my next four years are going to be so much better for it. But this is one of those rare times when the CC breadcrumbs led me down the wrong path. I sent my squirrel-chasing to Harvard and Yale, and they both rejected me. I sent my other essay off to Princeton, and that is where I have been accepted.</p>

<p>Luckily, Princeton was my first choice and I’m absolutely ecstatic. Thanks to you all.</p>

<p>I know there are tons of others reasons I could be an H/Y reject and still get accepted to Princeton. My Yale tour guide had the opposite luck; he got into H and Y but was rejected by P. But at any rate, I must have been a borderline applicant for H/Y, and the squirrel-chasing essay clearly didn’t help my case. I hope next year’s applicants (and indeed, the CC stalkers two and three and five years from now) can learn from my experience.</p>

<p>Cheers!
Denlah</p>