Re-Applicant Essays

Prep School Admissions
1

Hey guys!

As I’m sure many of you know, I am a reapplicant applying to repeat the 10th grade. Last year I also applied for 10th grade. I am currently a sophomore and was a freshman last year.

To my dismay, I found 9/10 schools had the exact same essay questions as last year. This left me with a dilemma: Is it bad to just copy & paste essays from last year to the same schools for the same prompts? Will they notice this? Will that effect me poorly in the process?

Of course, I am not doing this for many of the essays. But there are some that I think are already at their best and it would be best to just re-use. I’d love to hear some thoughts or what others have done in the past.

(NOTE: The above inquiry excludes the SAO from question)

Thanks everyone

2

I wonder, would they be able to see/remember that essay from before? And would that yield you a lower chance?

3

@ReadyPlayaOne They totally have access too it. I just don’t know if they’d go that far. Or if that would yield a lower chance as you say.

4

Yes, they can refer to your past essays. Whether they do or not, IDK.

But really to answer the question, I’d make 2 points:

1/ If your last effort was unsuccessful, wouldn’t you strive to make this application stronger?
2/ You have another year of life experience, which, when you’re 16, is a large chink of your life? Would you not want to share some of your learnings from the last year?

5

I think they are expecting that you have grown and taken on more responsibiity and now a year older may have different likes and new challenges. I wouldn’t cut and paste even if they were good essays for a 9th grader. You’re not a 9th grader any more, and if nothing else it gives the impression you don’t think the app process is worth more than a cut and paste job.

6

There is no perfect essay. You have 10 great essays inside of you for each prompt. Accept the challenge and forget the old essays entirely.

And for future reference, if you ever have to remarry, do not cut and paste your vows from the first wedding. [-X

7

@skieurope @preppedparent Yeah, I think you guys are right…Especially about the fact that it would look like I cared so little that they weren’t even worth a re-write. And in all honesty, the ones that I would copy and paste for anyways are the ones that were boring to do…so it would show through even more. Great advice guys, thank you!

@Altras About your second comment: I’m hoping that you are not speaking from personal experience! Haha

8

Also… @skieurope @preppedparent @Altras and whoever else is here…
It seems as if writing about the challenge of getting rejected from schools last year and how that affected me and how I had to recover is super appealing to write about for nearly every prompt…I’m guessing that this is something many people do and that I should not do? Especially for schools with only 2 prompts. I was hoping someone could confirm this for me.

I do think I will write about it on the SAO for one of the short answers though because it is relevant. Again, thoughts?

9

You should assume that where “X” = # of prompts, “X^∞” = the number of responses. It is highly unlikely that an AO has resd a response that is truly original. But no worries. Your challenge is to make your essay the best possible; don’t worry about others’ essays.

10

If you really wanted to use the old essays I would at least change them up a little bit.

11

yes, I think many write about getting over that disappointment of rejection. Go for a fresh new interesting response, and you’ll fare better!

12

As the misattributed quote goes: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

13

@skieurope I agree. Those were my initial thoughts on it.

Anyways, the only school I was considering doing this for, I went to a reception last night which totally changed my perception of the school and I totally want to give it the best shot. So, I won’t be reusing any essays.

Thanks for all the help though, guys!