<p>how bad is it for students from the same school applying to the same schools to have essays that talk about very similar things? at the beginning of the year a friend and i looked over each other's essays and we realized they're super similar- we have different writing styles but we wrote about the same event and we got sort of similar things out of it. we planned to go over our essays to make sure they were different, but (for personal reasons that aren't necessarily my place to share) that doesn't seem like it's going to be an option anymore. since i'm pretty sure we're applying to some of the same colleges, should i do anything to try to fix this or trust that admissions officers will realize that we both just had a similar inspiring experience? should i mention it in additional info since they'll definitely notice (since we're from the same high school i'm guessing they'd read our applications within the same time frame) or should i try to rewrite parts of my essay event though i think that'll make it weaker? do you think i should email the colleges ahead of time to hear their perspectives on essays that are similar?
any thoughts would be appreciated :)</p>
<p>Try to rewrite parts add different things its suspicious</p>
<p>what exactly would be suspicious? like they’d think we collaborated or something? the thing is i’m not quite sure how to go about this without completely starting over (which i really want to avoid- i’ve been working on this essay since august) since it’s the main themes of our essays that have some similar threads…</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>If you are that concerned, then write a new essay about something else.</p>
<p>I would not worry about it for 2 reasons:</p>
<p>1) if you are applying to different schools within the colleges, chances are you will have a different admissions counselor looking at it - unless admissions in the college are regional based, then it might be the same person. </p>
<p>2) who is to say that the topic is not ‘equally inspiring’ to both people. My 2 sons wrote essays somewhat on a somewhat similar topic, and the fact of the matter is that the topic (person) in question has been a pretty significant part of both sons’ lives. Why can’t they both write about it? They both applied to 9 schools (3 of which are the same) and 1st son was 2010 grad - so a bit different situation but still the same concept.</p>
<p>thanks 
and yeah i’m hoping it won’t be that big of a deal since we happened to both go to an event that interested both of us (and it’s slightly different- we both wrote about protesting with an organization but we talked about different protests so hopefully they’ll be ok). rewriting the essay completely really isn’t an option since i worked really hard on it, but for those of you who thinks it’s a big deal, do you think i should try to explain it to the colleges or would that draw unnecessary attention?</p>
<p>You absolutely do not owe anyone an explanation for your essay topic. I would absolutely not contact a college on this.</p>
<p>thanks for your advice does anyone else have thoughts on this? i don’t seem to be getting much of a consensus- it’s kind of a tricky situation so it makes sense people are saying different things, i’m just hoping to hear a few more perspectives before possibly taking any action.</p>
<p>Check the school admissions web sites to see if they have identified regional admissions representatives. If so, this will usually be the first person to read your app. It will then be passed on to a second reader. In contrast, some schools specifically say that they are random in terms of which admissions rep reads which app. (I saw a video from Dartmouth that said they do not read from one school, state or region).</p>
<p>If your favorites fall into the first category I would ask yourself if you think your essay will be better and your entire application will be stronger than your classmates (assuming competitive colleges/universities). It would be difficult not to compare them that is the case. One of the key self-check questions that one is supposed to ask is, “Could anyone else have written my essay?” Be sure that your take on this shared experience passes this test.</p>
<p>^that’s an interesting point (about it just making them compare us), so do you think it will just make them compare us more as applicants rather than thinking we were somehow dishonest in the process? i don’t know whose application would be stronger- my grades and scores are a bit better i think but she’s smarter than me so that might come across in the applications, idk. that would be a lot less worrisome than adcoms faulting us for being similar though- i’m ok with being compared to others as long as they don’t think that we did something wrong.</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>The main purpose of the common app essay is to tell how you were impacted, changed etc. by the experience. It doesn’t matter if the experience is the same as long as your response to it is personal and well expressed. Recognizing that these are trite examples . . . 2 people should be able to have gone to Woodstock, heard MLK’s dream speech, seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, etc. and written completely different essays about their personal experience and emotional response to these events. The event is only supposed to be important in so far as it draws out your personal response. Ditto for Junior State conference or incredible summer program, or national youth symphony or other more realistic kid based activities. It’s not the event that matters - it’s you.</p>