ThomasJefferson

I've already applied to Umich which was my top school. I had to write three essays for the school and since it was my first choice, I put an effort in my essays and the topics are similar to those of other schools so I am thinking of recycling my essays..all the colleges other than umich won't be my top choice..Will the colleges notice? and Can I actually do this? do you??

GeekMom63

My son is recycling as much as possible! For scholarships as well as admissions. But you have to not actually just dump the old essay in the new space - you have to adjust the focus a little to answer the prompt.

Mde

I'm in the same predicament, man Umich definitely made me write a lot and umm yeah I"m recycling. For schools that accept the common app I'm using umich's essay in common app (since they don't accept commonapp). You have to be wise if you're doing this. As in make sure the essay you have on commonapp is the not the essay you would want for another colelge's specific prompts... which sometimes happens to be the same. Their "schools-specific short answers" were similiar to cornel and such.. and thus I was able to recycle. Nothing wrong to recycle. They can't expect you to have 12 different "life-changing events" and expect you to care, remember and ethusiaically write about all of them. lol

metalmethod741

as long as you custom tailor the essay for a particular application (that addresses the strengths of the college and what you hope to make of a particular college experience), i think it's okay to recycle the core. james