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I'm curious if you're going the extra mile for schools that you don't really want to go to and with your stats you should be able to get in to.
My issue is specifically about Pepperdine. The optionals are write about either a goal you pursued, your passion, a mistake you made, or who you'd want to road trip with. My personal statement is 3 pages and it definitely covers what i'm passionate about, a goal i pursued, and is sort of about a "mistake" I made and the postives that came out of it in that I wrote about my attitude changing from negative to positive when I overcame adversity. My GPA is well over the 75th percentile and my LSAT score is right under the 50th percentile. I don't mind writing the optional essay but I'd rather not if I don't have to. I worked really hard on my PS over a year and it took me a couple weeks to clean up my final draft. I can't imagine being able to write just as well about wanting to go on a road trip with Beyonce or something.
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I think writing optionals can help against Yield Protection, especially in schools where your numbers are above the 75th percentile
I didnt do it for pepperdine and I just got accepted with 25k/year from them (: not going to go there but it's a nice lil confidence boost and makes me realize this is all just a numbers game and i need to get my lsat score up
@7610 said:
@gregoryalexanderdevine723 @leahbeuk911
Do you guys mean that you're writing one optional essay for all of your schools? Or do you mean that you're writing all of the optional essays for each school?
I'm writing all of the optional essays for each school. I think with all of the information online you can research and find great reasons to attend each school. They can make a big difference from what I can tell :)
First idea is yes, write them. Admissions chose to include them and this is likely a good message for us to take and use in ways that benefit our applications.
I, too, have written all of the optionals. My take is that I would like every app to be successful. A school isn't a very good backup if I get rejected. My goal is to make each application as good as possible. Period.
I'm writing/have written at least one optional essay for all my schools and multiple if I feel they are applicable.
I don't want any of my schools thinking of themselves as backup schools. That's how I wind up hanging out on their waitlists instead of being given a scholarship offer.
@7610 said:
@gregoryalexanderdevine723 @leahbeuk911
Do you guys mean that you're writing one optional essay for all of your schools? Or do you mean that you're writing all of the optional essays for each school?
I intend to write one general diversity statement that I’ll use for all schools, but otherwise will likely write them all separately. Not every school has a bunch of optional essays. I’ll probably only write a Why X essay for a few schools that I am very interested in attending and have something in particular to say. But if there are unique prompts for additional essays (like the one you mentioned), I’d write them.
@gregoryalexanderdevine723 @leahbeuk911
Do you guys mean that you're writing one optional essay for all of your schools? Or do you mean that you're writing all of the optional essays for each school?
Ditto to the guys above. Even at safety schools, I especially want to maximize scholarship money so I'll do as much as I'm able.
I plan to write them all. Like @jhaldy10325 said above, they are "optional" but I think any serious candidate should write them. That's the general advice from admissions professionals, too.
A lot of time, the optional essays are actually "optional" essays and they really do expect serious applicants to write them.
Someone once said to me that you might be able to write yourself in but you can most certainly write yourself out... Think about that when deciding whether or not to do it and I'm sure you'll know what to do. If it is only going to help your application, then do it. If it's going to do any less than that then don't.