Reusing essays for multiple applications, yay or nay?

Hey folks, with the application deadlines around the corner, I'm curious about the ethics and practicality of reusing the same essay for different college apps. Obviously, I'd tweak it to fit each prompt, but is this a common practice? Or does it somehow lower my chances if the colleges find out?

Absolutely, students often reuse essay content when applying to multiple colleges, especially if the prompts are similar. It’s a smart way to manage the vast amount of writing required during application season. The key is to ensure that the essay still answers each prompt comprehensively and that any school-specific references are accurate.

For example, if you write about a challenge you faced, the core story can be molded to fit prompts asking about resilience, learning from failure, or personal growth. Just be certain that the essay feels fresh and specific to the question you're answering—admissions officers should never feel like they're reading a canned response. If you need to adjust your response to a new word count, whether lower or higher, you also want to be sure that the overall flow and structure still work, as the essay shouldn't feel like half of another one, nor like a shorter one stuffed with filler content.

Cohesion with the prompt is especially important with a "Why Us?" essay, as the #1 key to that kind of essay is that the school feels like you're talking to them specifically, not to them and their peers who are similar in certain ways.

As long as you're making the necessary adjustments, though, reusing essays shouldn't lower your chances at all—admissions officers are busy enough reading applications, so they won't be reaching out to their colleagues at other schools to ask if they've encountered a similar essay amongst the tens of thousands they receive.

Good luck with your essays!