[求教]关于OPTIONAL ESSAY

eeyupyup

anything that doesnt repeat other essays while making yourself unique to a substantial degree can be useful. for instance, if you have had a chance to display your leadership in the other essay, you might not want to repeat it in the optional essay. you'd better off just leave it blank if you dont have anyhting unique to write about.

spread

I remembered that one admission officer said in an interview that the optional essay was really optional. So you may want to put something only if you feel strongly that it is necessary.

Another point is that, some optional essays have specific requirements, such as Wharton's for this year. I think it is better to follow the instructions if there is.  

yaoyao99

How would you answer this question at the interview?

If you were less busy post your TOEFL exam (it'll be REALLY hard to explain that you have remained THAT busy) and you don't believe the scores were a fair reflection of your language abilities, why didn't you retake the test?

Don't give them any opportunity to corner you.  Explain the situation if the question comes up at an interview.  Putting it in the optional essay only emphasizes your weakness and could easily be interpreted as "a bad excuse" if someone reads the story in the wrong light.

zhaoyak7

The most effective defence is attack(or 以攻为守)right?

Thanks for all

eternalwind

最有效的方式是再考一次T

zx_nju

不谈为好.

leonchan

感谢楼上诸位；看来，和“resume中不要解释离开上一个公司的原因”，是同种道理。

zhaoyak7

以下是引用leonchan在2006-9-26 22:43:00的发言：
感谢楼上诸位；看来，和“resume中不要解释离开上一个公司的原因”，是同种道理。

我的理解的原则是“民不告，则官不纠”，只要招办不问，偶就没有短处。呵呵。不过楼上几位提醒的好：如果哪个地方自己觉得都有问题的话还是应该有所准备的，材料上不体现，INTERVIEW也会问的。有大批的申请人都在等着，学校通常不需要招一个充满疑问的人吧——这是偶个人拙见，没有理论和事实依据。

另外是否需要在材料中解释，也要看学校的要求，有的学校的申请表上工作经历一栏里，在每个工作经历后面都有一栏就是明确要求你填“为什么离开这个单位”，躲不掉的，应该想着怎样自圆其说，还得符合老美的思维，有时候咱觉得振振有词，人家恰恰觉得这不是理由"a bad excuse"（by yaoyao99），那不是适得其反吗？SIGH，难啊。

vanessav

我也是觉得也许确实老外的思维是，任何的gaps，应该如实相告。

如果你有什么需要说的，解释的，或者是你看到觉得别人会提出疑问的，老实说明原因就好。

似乎所有的人都是这样说的。

不过没有人真正知道具体的审核过程和adcom的真实操作。所以不敢贸然下定论。