<p>I want to write an extra essay for Harvard, but I have no idea what to write. Is the list of books I've read in the past year a good and helpful option? I feel like it would be too easy to fake. :P I'm trying to decide between either the list of books or something a little more creative (probably a one act play), depending on how much time I have.</p>
<p>What did you write?</p>
<p>no one?</p>
<p>10chars</p>
<p>im just writing some extra stuff i couldnt fit. like more awards
grade president
some extra jobs i had.</p>
<p>If you used the CommonApp - wouldn't the Additional Info for that have sufficed? : P</p>
<p>Is it ok if I give them a seemingly random essay?</p>
<p>for additional info I put my research abstract
i guess you can do that.</p>
<p>I attached a resume, because there was no way I could fit all of my significant ECs onto the common app.</p>
<p>Not gonna lie...I wrote "n/a" for any additional info fields.</p>
<p>most college admissions officers who've spoken about what they look for in an application insist that "optional" fields really aren't optional at all. if have you have the ability to fill out an "optional" field--then do it. a college admissions board is looking for what you're passionate about, what makes you interesting and sets you apart from the thousands of other highly competitive applications they receive each year. leaving out additional info is really quite foolish and makes you appear uninterested, lazy, even--not something you want to do at one of your top-choice colleges, for certain (unless, of course, you have a three generation legacy, a 4.0, 2400 SATs, and your parents just donated an enormous sum of money to the school--then you may not need to worry).</p>
<p>and about the books you've read as a supplement--i think that could work if the books you've read are particularly interesting or especially pertain to your passions. that and you have the ability to clearly and effectively articulate why these books were darn fabulous (or weren't, if you're like me and made the mistake of reading the davinci code within the past year :/ )</p>
<p>I'm not sure if I want to write the optional essay. i still ahve to finish the supplements for the colleges.</p>