Opinions on submitting an optional essay Forum

[SoCalKevin]

Leave well enough alone unless it's something extraordinary, or take advantage of any opportunity to tell more about yourself and stand out from the crowd?

[writetrack]

I would highly recommend that you look into submitting what is better termed as a Diversity Statement or Supplemental Statement along with your personal statement. Some schools will specifically ask you for a diversity statement which focuses on what you can offer the school in terms of adding to its over all diversity. As opposed to the personal statement, here you can talk more specifically about international travels, volunteer work, and extra curricular activities that have helped make you a more unique person. Therefore, for those school that do not ask for anything additional to the personal statement, I would nonetheless submit it as a supplemental statement. Together with your personal statement it should provide the admissions committee with a better overall picture of who you are. I did this with UC Berkeley Law and it paid off with dividends (Class of 2008).