<p>This year's Rutgers undergraduate admissions essay reads
"Rutgers requires that you write a short essay that is your original work. Please reflect on what you consider to be an important personal experience related to your talents, interests, or commitments. Using this experience, please tell us what you learned about yourself. How will this experience prepare you for success at Rutgers?"
Does the last part mean we are supposed to write something Rutgers specific? Or if I did a common app essay that addresses the original topic and concludes with how the experience prepared me for the future in general, can I essentially just copy and paste from there?</p>
<p>I didn’t get it at first either, but my college adviser says to write about an instance in your life that taught you something about yourself you didn’t know before, or that caused you to think out of the box, or overcome failure - basically anything that highlights a positive aspect of your personality. Use personal examples that demonstrate your passion.</p>
<p>Make it Rutgers-specific, definitely. You could use a small part of your Common App essay but show how your personality will be a valuable addition to Rutgers. Like if you did prompt #3 of the Common App, explain how at Rutgers you will not be afraid to challenge conventional ideas, and that’s really what an engineer needs.</p>