Is optional essay REALLY optional?

[waterlily]

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The reason I'm asking is b/c I'm b*ching and moaning about UC Davis's secondary. I thought I was done with their secondary, writing 3 long essays....then I go to the very last page, where they tell me there's an optional section. This section involves giving them every single total hour of all our ECs and clinical experiences. Okay not bad, but then there are a total of 6 optional essays in regards to all of our different experiences, with 6000 characters max each! That's 9 essays total!

My question is, is it really optional like they say it is? I really don't want to fill it out but I'm afraid that the school will look down upon my incompletion of the optional section and deem me as not as interested or serious about the school, and thus, won't grant me an interview. For those who have already been through this process, have you ever not filled out an optional section and still get an interview?? Any advice is appreciated. I guess I'm just bitter b/c I thought I was DONE, but I then got a surprise at the end 😱

 

[billybama]

Do you mean UC Irvine? Because UC Davis has like 15 essays.

 

[nairay]

Ah, the monster secondary rears its ugly head again. I did all those essays and it took them months and an update letter before they granted me a late interview (March). I'd do them, it gives you plenty of material to copy and paste to other secondaries after you're done with that, plus you don't want to end up regretting not doing them. It's better to give the adcoms a whole picture of you than leave them shortchanged.

To answer your question, I did most of the optional essays (I didn't do one or two on UCLA's app, didn't get an interview with them) listed on applications.

Hang in there!

 

[Freakingzooming]

no he means UCDavis- next to Rush, it is probably the mount everest of all secondaries. I remember thinking too, ohhh 3 essays not that bad- but then you click continue and you're like oh my god.

I did them because I had done Rush's secondary beforehand and figured I could reuse a lot of the essays into Davis. Really think you should answer them tho because even tho it's optional, it's giving you an opportunity to express yourself to the adcom. In this case in essay format.

I think with the way UCDavis filters and finds students who are untraditional but fit the school's philosophy/style, they'll want applicants to do them.

 

[bubbleyum]

huh? i thought rush only had 3 essays to write... hope i'm not missing something.

 

[domukin]

I'm pretty sure I did all of them for UC Davis, I second that it helps to create some extra content that can later be recycled.

That said, I wouldn't write an essay for the sake of just filling a hole, if you just repeat yourself or have nothing substantial to add, just don't answer it. I left plenty of blank spaces during the whole process; I usually just said something along the lines of - "Since I don't consider having a pertinent experience relating to this question, I cannot answer it".

I figure writing too much fluff can be worse than not writing anything at all in these cases.

 

[SigPi]

huh? i thought rush only had 3 essays to write... hope i'm not missing something.

check your webpage again. I'm sorry but you'll be very disappointed 😳

 

[willow18]

On the "sample application" Rush shows there are only three essays. There's the question of "what will you do during 05-06" but not another essay as far as i can see.

btw, how long were your Rush essays? Their questions seem more pointed to brief essays. Here's the text from the sample app. on the website.

1. Cite two examples of working with people that highlights your leadership, problem solving ability and maturity.
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2. Please describe experiences you have had working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and explain what you have learned from these experiences.
~


3. State one major problem you encountered during the past 3 to 5 years and explain how you resolved it.
~


4. List other careers you considered:
~ a.
~ b.
~ c.


5. Please indicate your planned activities between July, 2005 and September, 2006.
~

 

[NapeSpikes]

I've only looked at the sample for Rush as well. Are there more on the actual secondary??

Perhaps they shortened it from last year?

 

[JustR]

On the "sample application" Rush shows there are only three essays. There's the question of "what will you do during 05-06" but not another essay as far as i can see.

btw, how long were your Rush essays? Their questions seem more pointed to brief essays. Here's the text from the sample app. on the website.

1. Cite two examples of working with people that highlights your leadership, problem solving ability and maturity.
~


2. Please describe experiences you have had working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and explain what you have learned from these experiences.
~


3. State one major problem you encountered during the past 3 to 5 years and explain how you resolved it.
~


4. List other careers you considered:
~ a.
~ b.
~ c.


5. Please indicate your planned activities between July, 2005 and September, 2006.
~

NICE!!!! Did they really make it THAT short????

 

[JustR]

I've only looked at the sample for Rush as well. Are there more on the actual secondary??

Perhaps they shortened it from last year?

Yeas!! they are !!!
I had done 10-15 essays..
This is just nothing compare to last year!!!
Oh!! lord!!! got to go check that out this year...

 

[titoincali]

NICE!!!! Did they really make it THAT short????

Yes, but I actually had trouble with Rush because I couldn't fit what I wanted to say into their character limit. I was so happy when I finally sent that sucker off.

 

[JustR]

Nice!!! that you're done with the long one!!!

 

[titoincali]

Nice!!! that you're done with the long one!!!

It still did not come close to touching the beast that was UCSD.

 

[willow18]

Yes, but I actually had trouble with Rush because I couldn't fit what I wanted to say into their character limit. I was so happy when I finally sent that sucker off.

I didn't see a character limit, what is it?

 

[titoincali]

I didn't see a character limit, what is it?

1000 character limit.

 

[willow18]

Thanks for that tito.

For the "State one major problem you encountered during the past 3 to 5 years and explain how you resolved it. " question on the secondary, would it be too cheesy/etc to write about dealing with the death of my best friend?