<p>My short answer to elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities is sorta duplicated to my common app essay. Will it look bad?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your overall goal is to show the admissions office what an interesting and wonderful candidate you are. You have a limited amount of space, so don’t spend it repeating yourself. </p>
<p>That being said, it isn’t necessarily wrong to discuss different aspects of the same activity in the two essay spaces. That may well be a very effective way to highlight your skills, background, personality, interests and/or goals.</p>