It is probably not a surprise that Harvard is certainly in all the major top-rates according to the standards of education and success of the students. Due to a huge competition during appliance, this institution also considered being extremely selective to the candidates. As for the recent statistical numbers, the rate of acceptance is less than five per cent. So, if you have been dreaming about Harvard experience, you’d better be prepared for this challenging process.
The best thing which you can start your preparation from is just by reviewing samples and requirements towards the completion of Harvard supplemental essays. If you have been searching for some practical recommendations on this topic, then this article is right for you. Here you will find the most professional approaches and tips to create the best text ever.
Can an Optional essay higher your chances for success?
We’ve decided to start this article about Harvard supplemental essays from the most neglected topic – an optional essay. Usually, students prefer to skip all the optional tasks and assignments just because they consider them a waste of time. However, if you want to have higher chances for an acceptance letter, you should better spend some time and write this text.
Such additional writing is needed in case the application form hasn’t given an opportunity to provide all the information about your accomplishments and personality in general. The topic can be connected with anything you would like, and there is no word limit for an applicant.
As it is clear from the above-discussed task, you can write absolutely anything, but there will be several recommendation topics for you to orient on. This thing with no word limit is also a rather relative fact because admission officers have hundreds if not thousands of texts to review during a day. That’s why they are searching for laconic candidates who can specify their ideal in the shortest possible way. As a rule, they don’t read further than 500 words, so keep that in mind!
When you have a feeling than need to skip this task, then just for your personal motivation, recollect the percentage of applicants who pass this process successfully. Don’t miss your opportunity to stand out from such a huge number of candidates.
Essay: unusual life circumstances
When brainstorming this Harvard supplemental essay’s topic, you should keep in mind that unusual is a relative thing when recollecting how many of your peers can discuss the absolutely identical situations. It is possible to write about your ethnic background and still be exclusive in terms of your unique personal experience. To cope with this assignment, it is highly recommended to discuss your idea with your friend or relatives and find out their point of view – whether this idea is really unique.
If you have a niche hobby that most of your friends aren’t interested in, then it is the best choice for your essay. It will definitely show your exclusivity when compared with other applicants.
One more helpful recommendation is to choose only that story which is really connected with you. Don’t try to interpret the story of your cousin, neighbor, or a usual local gossip.
Essay: How you can use college education
Of course, it is not evident from the topic, but here you’d better include specific knowledge that you have about Harvard. Yes, it is not specified that your experience should majorly connect with this particular institution; however, it will show your motivation.
This topic is easily connected with the course which you would like to take or challenges that can occur only at Harvard. Think about your research passion and how it can influence the success of your career and try to describe it properly in the article.
Here as in every Harvard supplemental essay, it is recommended to avoid broad topics or clichés. Ideally, your answer should include the dedication to the Harvard community, an experience that you receive while being a leader of a specific group, and maybe even advantages of university facilities. A narrow focus will definitely stand out your writing from hundreds of others.
Essay: what would you like your future roommate to know about you?
Concentrate mainly on the impression that a reader will get. This is an extremely broad topic where you can discuss absolutely anything you would like starting from your ultimate goals and ending with the usual everyday routine. Use this essay as an opportunity to share every aspect of your life, including hobbies, plans for the future, habits, and your expectations from the learning process.
As there is no direct instruction of what you should share about, you may also become a little bit emotional and tell about the excitement of this university. Here will be appropriate to discuss courses and extra curriculum activities that you would like to attend. Via such a method, you are combining both the deep knowledge of Harvard and your excitement from the learning process.
This topic might be awesome for those students who are afraid to deep into global issues and prefer to find philosophy in everyday life.
Essay: a list of books that you read last year
In this Harvard supplemental essay, you’d better be sincere in your explanation. If you are not a big fan of reading, you can just include one or two books. It is okay, but then you should concentrate more on the impressions that you have got or haven’t after reading a particular story. Please, don’t enumerate all the texts which were required according to the school curriculum.
If on the contrary, you are a reading fanatic and the list is really gigantic then this is definitely your topic. Here you know better what you would like to share about and what books to include in the list. Such intellectual curiosity will impress the admission officer and give you several additional points to your success letter.
This task doesn’t orient on how well you know the plot of the chosen book. It is more about the knowledge and experience that you consider to be useful in life. A great conception that will certainly intrigue is to share your bad feedback about the particular book. However, when you choose such a method, you should be detailed with your explanations and rather constructive according to facts or irrelevant information. This thing should be characterized as a collection of evidence, but not your emotional decision.
Additional tips about writing Harvard supplemental essays
After reviewing some practical recommendations towards specific topics, let’s proceed to more general recommendations which will be helpful for any Harvard supplemental essay.
- Try to be specific. There is a stereotype that more information and longer texts mean that you have a deeper knowledge of the specific topic. However, this conception is a total failure when talking about an admission essay. Officers review so many compositions every day, and they want to understand the general idea right away, but not after a couple of useless pages. Avoid general knowledge; otherwise, you will have less opportunity to speak directly on the topic.
- The choice of the topic really matters. Pick only that which correlates with your interests or at least is interesting to discuss.
- Try to express the characteristics which this University is prioritizing. Each institution or even company is looking for candidates that support their conception of learning, goals, and strategy. It is not a secret that every college and university has a list of preferable characteristics, and they are easily accessible online. Among Harvard’s criteria, there are such as the ability to concentrate under pressure, maturity, sense of humor, and enthusiasm. While checking your essay or initially at the stage of brainstorming, try to focus on these characteristics.
Final thoughts about the secret of successful essay writing!
Harvard supplemental essays are something special where it is needed to share your personal experience more than usual general knowledge. Your story should be certainly unique and stand out from lots of other applicants. So, don’t afraid and share the most exclusive experience that can think of. Suppose you think that writing such kind of decisive composition is extremely hard and almost impossible for you. Then there are lots of online options for you to choose from. For instance, online paper writing services with a professional team of writers can really help. This online process of ordering will take online a couple of seconds, and you won’t have any other bothering problems, just contact experts. In case you need a really reliable service with a proven reputation and only high-quality texts, contact our experienced team, and we guarantee to complete everything in time while still meeting all the requirements and recommendations. In addition, you can be sure in your confidentiality, low price rating, and qualified support assistance whenever you need it.
