<p>I'm applying to transfer from my current school, because I'm not very happy there. I'm applying to a few that I've been accepted to in the past, so I was wondering, apart from minor tweaks, would I be able to use essentially the same essays I submitted last year? Since I've only spent a quarter in college, I was planning on using my high school essays for the Common App questions. Is this a bad idea? Should all my essays be completely original and rewritten? Thanks for any feedback!</p>
<p>I would be surprised if you could reuse a lot of what you wrote, because the main common app essay is “why transfer?” for transfer students. In addition, it’s probably better to write a new essay to show how much you have grown.</p>
<p>I would not re-use essays. Colleges expect to see some growth and change in you, that will be reflected in your essays. Yes, it’s only been one term… but it’s been a while since you wrote those essays and there have been some big changes in your life.</p>
<p>That said, if you were already accepted and feel like you are a kind of shoo-in for transfer… sure, use the old essays. However, if you don’t get accepted as transfer, will you feel it was worth the time saved not to have worked on new essays?</p>