<p>this is semi-related. which from this group applied to the university of penn. and wrote their optional essay. i just want to see if anyone who didint do it for duke did it for penn.</p>
<p>My Why Penn and Why Duke essays were the same (plus a paragraph of specifics for each school)</p>
<p>For the record my Duke interviewer also asked if I wrote the essay, and gave positive feedback when I told him that I had. Not quite as obvious as joshuar's though.</p>
<p>This is kind of like Harvard's optional second essay. A lot of people will say that you obviously can make yourself stand out more/look better/whatever if you write these allegedly 'optional,' essays; others claim that the label of 'optional' should be interpreted literally.</p>
<p>I don't mean to be rude about it, but frankly, it doesn't really matter anymore. If you are rejected, there is no way of knowing if it was because you didn't write the 'Why Duke' essay, but I really don't think that that would be the only thing that barred you from acceptance.</p>
<p>Than again, I am one of the speculative 16-18 year olds somebody referred to in an above post. So who knows.</p>
<p>I didn't write the Why Duke? essay, and I got an early letter.</p>
<p>You don't have to bs a paragraph to show a college that you are a serious and interested student. My thought was that the admissions people probably didn't want to add another identical essay, and if I didn't have anything really unique to say, it was better to say nothing at all.</p>
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by the way during my interview i said yes i did the optional essay and the guy said yeah good cause its not really optional.
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<p>I didn't write it and I got a likely letter.</p>
<p>I didn't write it when it sent in part A back in November... then I realized after applying and visiting to all these other colleges that I really -did- want to go to Duke, so I sent the essay with the common app by mail at the beginning of January and told them just that.</p>
<p>and now I'm in, and a finalist for a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>yeah but it come back to the same argument. If you got a likely that means duke really wants you. They might use it to distinguish between two applicants they can't make their mind on. Obviously, they wouldnt have had to think twice about admitting you :-)</p>
<p>i didm't mean to come off rude it was meant more as a concerned that i know a ton of people who couldn't write a why____ for their schools but I feel people should know what they like or why its a good fit for their own happiness</p>
<p>Well you can tell everyone is getting stressed that decisions are coming out in a few days lol...I think in every forum people have been slamming each other on whatever post they can find to attack. 'Tis the season on CC to attack apparently. Not that I can say that I haven't wanted to post a few remarks that would be considered attacking in my mind lol :) I wonder if it's CC overload b/c I probably check this site about 10 times a day at a minimum now.</p>
<p>only? :D /* fgsfd*/ (wrote both Duke and Penn essays, if anyone's interested.)</p>
<p>I wrote the optional "essay," and I got an early notification. Though, mine was nothing more than a paragraph discussing how I really liked the overall academics at the school, the PPE certificate program, and the whole Duke basketball scene. When I submitted it, I also found a grammatical error (that my dad hadn't picked up on when he read it over, but it wasn't exactly unobvious) so I panicked about the optional essay hurting me rather than helping me. Ultimately, I really don't think it matters much, though. I don't think it's why they accepted me, at least.</p>
<p>Penn, on the other hand, I wrote a full page (close to 800 words) in a very complete, thorough, honest essay about why I wanted to go to Wharton. Different schools place different stress on the "Why ___?" essay, and I did get the feeling that it mattered more at Penn than at Duke.</p>
<p>I didn't write the Why Duke essay, and I got a likely letter. I did write the essay on original research experience though. I don't think it makes much difference.</p>
<p>I did all the optional essays for every other college but on the Duke application, it CLEARLY said "THIS ESSAY IS TRULY OPTIONAL SO PLEASE DON'T FEEL PRESSURED TO WRITE IT", and so I didn't write it because I didn't feel like it would add anything to my application. furthermore, I believe the prompt said "If there is anything in specific you would like to talk about regarding Duke, then please feel free to do so in a short paragraph" or something to that effect. Hence, I didn't have anything specifically special to talk about since I think Duke is a phenominal university as a whole and I don't need to list out obvious reasons why(omg amazing academics!).;)</p>
<p>If I get rejected purely based on my not writing this so-called "optional" essay, then it's Duke's loss, not mine. Besides, I don't see the point for Duke to purposefully be ambiguous and trick their applicants.</p>
<p>i didn't, and i got a likely.</p>
<p>i wrote it and got in</p>
<p>i'm actually happier with my why duke essay than my commonapp essay. Go figure.</p>
<p>I didnt write it, simply because by the time i got down to it, I was far too sick of life in general and admissions in particular to even care. And well, if they say its truly optional, then they better mean it. Otherwise, they're just deceiving applicants and they might as well go to hell.</p>
<p>Hmmm well it seems like the essay is probably used as some sort of tie-breaker for applicants on the fence. So if your good enough to get a likely letter anyway, it won't matter that you didn't write it. My guess is it's used to distinguish among the applicants which might not get in at first glance. </p>
<p>Just speculation, but would explain why not everyone who got a L.L wrote the essay.</p>
<p>like all parts of the application, the why duke essay is simply used to get to better know the applicant and know what exactly their reasons are for applying to duke. i think it's stupid to say "you should have written it if you really cared." what if someone applied to 20 schools? they might not have had the time. or with my perspective, if you're going to have an interview, just let your answer be known then. in fact, the first thing my interviewer asked me was why duke. if it was such an obvious question, in general, why dont all schools have a why x paragraph/essay? </p>
<p>if you feel you had to answer this question, then you should write something good. if you're going to write some useless material, don't write the essay at all. it's optional. if you do write it, shouldnt you have visited the school? how else will you get a true feel for it? should everyone thus visit the school? i know this is a loose argument, but i think it's important not to say retarded things like "sorry guys u should hav written it (now i am goin to get in b/c i did (my note: more insecurity)"</p>
<p>decisions out tomorrow so whatever.</p>