DC has deadline for the first school - can DC submit a rough draft for that school, go back and finish it for the other schools that have deadlines a bit later?
Thank you!
One should never submit a rough draft. The essay should be a finished copy, with a good review of the content and mechanics. A rough draft sounds like a quick attempt to just send any old thing to this first college. If that’s all this student wants to do…why are they applying early?
NOW if you are asking if a student can submit a completed essay and then amend it for other colleges…sure, that can be done. Just make sure you change the college names! Listen to the NPR broadcast by Rick Clark the director of admissions at GA Tech. He tells about students who neglected to change the college name when they submitted to his college. It’s actually a pretty hilarious broadcast from a number of years ago.
Here you go. Listen to The Old College Try, but don’t have food in your mouth. The part about the essays is well into the broadcast but the whole thing is worth listening to.
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The Common App essay is a personal statement. It should never have any college’s name.
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Of course it shouldn’t have any college names in it…but kids do the darndest things.
Enjoy the above linked broadcast. Probably something every parent should listen to.
Rick Clark also has a great blog.
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Yes, a student can use different essays. They can also modify their activities, awards and honors.
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I do realize it’s not ideal to send a final draft however, this one safety school has an earlier deadline for the honors college which requires more essays. I am pretty sure DC will get in no issues- it’s the Honors college essay part that needs to be turned in earlier than other school deadlines.
So basically, the common essay can be edited each time prior to sending to a specific school? (is this correct?) thank you
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Yes your daughter can edit any essay and reuse.
For that honors college essay…it needs to be her best effort…not a rough draft.
Rick is my favorite and have shared his blog to many. Personal essay no BUT the “why” essay yes. But most don’t need the name of the college they write an essay to. They know who they are BUT (YES two buts), they might need to change something else about that certain school. So just copying and pasting doesn’t work well to make a really good “Why” essay either.
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Absolutely. DD did it. She actually had 2 essays for common app and used different for different colleges. It depended of college and their supplements. You put one, submit app, then modify -submit one etc. You can have all different for all colleges nobody cares.
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Mine did the same. Different logic, but chose which essay to send to each college.
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