Re-hashing an essay (my own)?

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I'm currently finishing up my writing supplement for Stanford, but I have one concern I'd like to hear some input on. I've already applied to Viterbi at USC, and one of the supplement essays was about being a geek or nerd. I ended up really pleased with what I wrote and thought it was a great representation of myself so I decided to re-hash it and get it to fit the Stanford "letter to roommate" essay. My worry is that Stanford adcoms will be aware of the USC prompt and look down on me for being "lazy" and re-using an essay idea. If the adcom reading my essay might know of the USC prompt, will it be an automatic red-flag even if my essay is well written? </p>

<p>Any opinions or personal experiences with this type of situation are appreciated. Thanks!</p>

<p>I don’t have any personal experience or definite knowledge (this being an informal disclaimer) but as far as I know one college can’t see your essays to another college, so you should be fine. Others may correct me but I have plenty of friends who use similar if not identical essays in different applications.</p>