<p>Years ago my son recycled his MIT essays for Harvard (no tweaking except the last line which was something on the lines of “That’s why I want to go to x college.”). He got into Harvard, but not MIT. Go figure!</p>
<p>As to the question about U of Chicago specifically - I don’t really think it’s a problem, but it would really depend on the essay. My younger son’s UC essay last year was so weird and so specifically a joke on the question, it would have been useless. In his case it was a recycled Georgetown essay that he added a twist to. Now the joke here, is that he was rejected from Georgetown and accepted at Chicago.</p>
<p>I think it was at GW that the admissions officer said they love it when they get kids who use the “Write your own prompt” because they get so bored with the answers to the Common App. questions.</p>