<p>I've written two different essays for the same open-ended Harvard prompt. However, I'm not sure which one would make for a stronger essay. One is about my relationship with my sister and our shared interest in collecting "awkward" photos, and the other is about a novella a wrote and how it fueled my interest in creative writing. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Most likely the first one.
The issue with the second is no matter what you did, someone else did something better so your accomplishment will almost never be “good enough.” </p>
<p>Forget Reply #1. The “resume” part of your application is where readers will make conclusions about the quality of your accomplishments. For very selective schools, the essay tells readers other things. First, it assures readers than you can express yourself clearly and imaginatively. Second, it suggests how interesting you are. In this case, the quirkiness of the photos topic sounds more interesting than the creative writing topic.</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter (a 2014 admit) is also a creative writer. She didn’t write <em>about</em> being a creative writer. She wrote creatively, and that seems to have spoken for itself.</p>