Reusing old HS essays on apps

themagster
Tue, 03 Jan 2006 21:45:09 +0000

Don’t get riled up, I just have a question.

I have written 4 long (500+ essays) for colleges and I think they are pretty good. I am now working on Washington University in STL’s Scholarships. For the writing scholarship, you are supposed to submit two samples of your writing (which I am). In addition to several other short essay topics, you are also supposed to write a 750 word essay on:
“Describe and evaluate critically a historical event; or philosophical issue of particular interest; or a literary text, musical composition, film, or work of art that has captured your attention.”

One of my all-time favorite pieces of literature is “Death of a Salesman,” and I would like to write on it. However, I DO already have a great essay I wrote on it for an AP class that “evaluates it critically.” I feel like I’m “cheating” to submit this, especially since it would be more like submitting 3 samples of your work. Should I just suck it up or do you think it’s ok to submit it?

It’s not that I’m lazy, I just think if I wrote another one it wouldn’t be as good.