<p>In my common app personal essay, I have written about an experience which caused me to reconsider my interest in engineering. I really like what I have written but as most colleges require you to write about your <em>Interest in Engineering</em>, I am scared that I run the risk of redundancy and being narrow minded!! I haven’t repeated the personal essay in any of the engineering essays and I feel that my activities/etc. show that I have a lot of interests… but I don’t want this to affect my college chances! What do I do? Do I write about something else(I have another topic in mind…not that clear though) or Should I just go ahead and submit what I’ve written??</p>
<p>Redundancy is not the best strategy if the whole essay is a repeat of your other essays. However, if you are recounting an entire new story/event that explains why you are steadfast in your interest in engineering, it could reenforce your commitment. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the admission folks are reading about 10 to 20 applicants a day for some of these top schools. They will only devote 5 to 10 minutes to each of your essays at best. So, if your essays are simple repeats, it gets boring. Some former admission officer once told me that what interests her the most are the personal stories. It tells them who you really are. The long and lengthy philosophical essays debating why engineering is the key to the betterment of the society is downright boring and even insulting. Keep in mind that no adult, especially the admission committee, wants to hear your “lecture” of why engineering.</p>
<p>The first part of your reply cleared my doubt but then the second part gave rise to a new one! Please could you answer another question…</p>
<p>In my personal essay I have recounted an experience which strengthened my interest in engineering. There is a bit of philosophizing about the pros and cons of engineering but it is directly related to the experience is more focused on why “I” should take up engineering. So will this be seen as boring/insulting?? Also… this experience of mine is not repeated anywhere else… but I have repeated “what I learnt/my aim” from this experience in the engineering essays… is that fine?? And ohh… none of my essays are over the 500 word limit… so shouldn’t that be fine?! </p>
<p>I really can’t tell without reading both of your essays. But from your brief description, that approach should be fine. Good luck with essay and make sure you have an adult proofreading it for you.</p>