If I write an essay about one of the topics provided in the Northwestern University application, then carry it over to those of other colleges under either the “significant experience” prompt or the “topic of your choice” prompt, will this be really obvious?
Thanks…
<p>No, people do this all the time. Try to at least proof it though, and tweak it so it fits the question a little better. No need to write a whole new essay though.</p>
<p>It won’t look really obvious though if I’m answering one of the questions Northwestern gives? Her are the prompts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pablo Picasso said, “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” Write about a time when rather than being handed an answer, you had to work it out for yourself. What did you learn from the process?</p></li>
<li><p>James Joyce wrote in “Dubliners,” “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” Describe a mistake or mistaken idea of your own that led to a discovery.</p></li>
<li><p>An old expression says, “what is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.” Give an example of a time when you made a choice that was not popular, but you felt was right. Why did you make this choice? What happened as a result?</p></li>
<li><p>The last two lines of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” are: “I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference.” Discuss an instance when you departed from your plan while pursuing research, independent work, or a non-academic activity. What difference did it make?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So that won’t hurt me at all at say Brown or Cornel if I re-use one of those essay topics?</p>
<p>I dont see why it would, as long as your essays are coherent and answer what the Brown and Cornell apps are asking.</p>