Hey everyone! I'm currently polishing up my Common App essay and I had this thought - since each college has a different vibe and what they're looking for in a student might slightly vary, do you think it's feasible to tweak my main essay slightly for different schools? Or once I submit the Common App for one school, is that essay set in stone for all others?
Hi there! Yes, you can definitely tailor your Common App essay to reflect the unique qualities of each college you are applying to. The Common App allows you to make edits to your essay up until the point you submit it to each school. Once it's submitted to a specific college, it's locked in for that college, but you can go back in and make changes before sending it off to the next one.
Just be aware of each college's deadline and make sure you're keeping track of the versions you're sending out. Also make sure you're budgeting your time well—while tweaking your Common App essay to a particular school is a nice touch, you don't want to focus too much on doing that at the expense of writing strong supplemental essays or investing in your coursework to keep your GPA up.
Saving a copy of the customized essay for each school will likely help you stay organized, and give you a safety blanket just in case you need to refer back to it at any point. It's a bit of extra work but can be worth the effort to show each school how you're an especially good fit for them—just make sure you're not spending all of your time on these adjustments and neglecting other important tasks.
Best of luck with your applications!
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