Hi!
Harvard says I can talk about a topic of my choice if I want. So can I just copy/paste my USC short answer about my favorite online destination, which I believe is one of my best essays, and Harvard won’t care that I most likely just recycled an essay I’d already written? Btw, if anyone’s willing to read this short answer feel free to PM me, I need all the help I can get to get into Harvard ;(
Says who? One aspect of an Admissions Officer’s job is know what essay questions other colleges are asking each year. I can just imagine a Harvard Admissions Officer reading your favorite on-line destination essay and saying “Oh, look @sukhtheduke1 is sending us his USC essay. I guess he doesn’t care enough about us to write something original.”
My advice is to NEVER recycle a college’s specific essay question – such as those asked by USC or UChicago. You can certainly recycle a more “open-ended” essay, such as a response to Yale’s supplemental essay question:
And some wonder why Harvard’s acceptance rate is so low!
I disagree with gibby. There is no compelling reason to re-invent the wheel for each school. Students have better things to do than to spend months on applications. If an essay works for two schools, by all means use it as long as it is your writing.
I don’t necessarily think it is a bad idea to use it, but since you mention it is a short answer perhaps expand it into a more in depth essay? If admissions really cared that it was Harvard specific they could easily come up with a prompt. My S wrote a Princeton specific essay, and then changed up the opening paragraph to remove reference to the prompt and sent it to Yale. Then he added an additional paragraph to that and sent it to Harvard. He did a copy and paste of that essay for Dartmouth. Finally he used the essay for a major national scholarship competition. He won the scholarship and was admitted to all of the schools so recycling worked out fine, but his essay was deeply introspective rather than quirky.
@Lostaccount: Let’s look at the situation from the viewpoint of USC and UChicago. Why doesn’t USC or UChicago ask a more open-ended supplemental essay question? Because those schools are trying to eliminate students who are too lazy to write a specific essay. They don’t want to be a student’s back-up college, so they ask specific questions hoping to receive applications from student’s who care enough to write on their topic.
I believe Harvard cares just as deeply. And when a student blatantly recycles a USC or UChicago essay, it shows disinterest, and does not demonstrate these factors that Harvard considers important: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/what-we-look
You’re welcome to not follow my advice and recycle another college’s specific essay. But, be forewarned!
I agree with gibby - I think the Princeton prompts are generally quite vague, at least this year. They’re about culture/community service/a person who has influenced you etc. - prompts which don’t scream Princeton. Admissions officers are unlikely to know that the essay has been recycled, and wouldn’t speculate. On the other hand, UChicago/USC prompts scream UChicago/USC, and I think that just becomes a bit too obvious. If you can adapt it to make it seem slightly less USC, then I think by all means go for it.
Hmmm, @planner03 in that case I might just modify my Princeton essay a little bit and send it to Harvard since that prompt is fairly open-ended… I just don’t know if it’s that good tho haha
I think it’s fine to use the same essay, as long as it works with the question, and the optional essay can be as short as you like.
Usually the point of these essays is to tell the college something about yourself that cannot be expressed elsewhere. It is not to prove your work ethic. Presumably you would want to tell more than one college, that extra thing about yourself, so I don’t think there is a problem.
Speaking as a parent of two Ivy grads.
I was looking through this right before I found this thread: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-requirements/application-tips#writing-questions
On the information pop-up for the additional essay, they say, “Applicants use this space in a variety of ways: some students send us an essay that they wrote for another school that they thought turned out particularly well; many students leave the space blank.”
Of course, they don’t necessarily say that the recycled essays work, but as it’s part of their “Application Tips” page, I would assume they’re saying they’re okay with it? As long as it’s not a specific essay like a “Why College X”.
I haven’t submitted my application yet, but I’m planning on using a recycled essay. The prompt is about how your five year old self would view your current day self. Is that open ended enough?
What do you guys think about this link and my situation?
@PHLe98 ehhhh, I don’t know about that one. What school is this prompt from? In my opinion, Harvard will guess that your essay will be recycled because of that somewhat unique prompt. Do you guys think Harvard would get more “offended” if someone recycled an essay from another Ivy as opposed to from some other school? I’m planning to send my Princeton essay to Harvard.
@sukhtheduke1 It’s for Ohio State.