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April 29, 2024

Can You Use the Same Personal Statement for Different Schools?

There are some common questions we admissions consultants hear often from college and graduate school applicants: “I’m applying to six schools, and each one requires essays/personal statements . A lot of the content will be similar! Can I reuse the same essay for different schools? How can I keep the quality and not burn out while writing so many personal statements?”

We understand. We sympathize. Best of all, we have practical solutions for determining whether you can reuse any of your essays for more than one school. The good news is that what makes practical sense in terms of efficiency and not reinventing the wheel also makes sense in terms of quality – if you view the process not as “reusing” but as “adapting.” It is a very rare case indeed where reusing an essay almost verbatim would be advisable. On the other hand, the core content of a personal statement covers points that are important to your candidacy and would naturally be relevant to multiple applications. As you rework your personal statement for subsequent applications, sometimes the quality improves as you reflect further and discover new subtleties.

So, if various schools are asking similar questions, it’s logical to consider using – or really, adapting – some or perhaps even much of your previous essay response(s). However, the school’s essay lengths might be different, and your wording will vary based on the nuances of the question. Most important, many personal statements include some discussion of the specific program the candidate is applying to, and this part would certainly require fresh input for each school’s essay. Read each question out loud, so you can clearly hear exactly what the schools are asking. Many times, an essay prompt has more than one question within it. You don’t want to overlook any of the questions in a prompt. The key is to be guided first by the question and then, more broadly, by your understanding of the character of the school/program – and adapt your essay content (and tone/style) accordingly.

Additionally, we have this advice: 

1. Make sure each essay has a distinct theme.

You can do this by developing different aspects of a single experience. For example, if you plan to write about your first summer as a counselor at a sleepaway camp, in one essay, you could describe how you worked to build a relationship with a lonely camper and helped them develop their self-confidence and participate in more activities. During the same summer, you might also have been in charge of the drama group. This could offer the substance for a very different essay about teaching and organizing a group of highly energized, sometimes rowdy young teens. Don’t waste an opportunity to write about multiple aspects of the same experience that opened different doors to personal growth. Most significant experiences in our lives are truly multifaceted and offer various “threads” that are interesting to explore in essays. Don’t just reuse content by rote copying and pasting; instead, probe it to discern its most valuable points for the essay at hand. You’ll likely find that you can stretch your available material to cover more bases.

2. Chart your list of essays and the qualities you associate with them.

With multiple essays/personal statements to manage, consider using a spreadsheet to list each question, the school asking it, and which experiences, accomplishments, and skills you can associate with those questions. This will help you avoid using the same experience, accomplishment, or skill for more than one question at a given school and will also help you see where you can adapt some previous material for a new application.

3. Portray your multidimensional self.

Make a list of what you feel are your ten most positive qualities . Your list might include such traits as intellectual curiosity, an eagerness for new experiences, a sense of humor, strong DIY skills, and leadership capabilities. That was fun! Now, make a much shorter list (two or three items at most) of what you would consider your weakest traits. These might include procrastination, too much binge watching, and impatience. As you draft your essays, keep these different layers and textures of your personality in mind. (Sometimes, schools will ask you to identify a weakness and explain how you have worked to overcome it, so being aware of your shortcomings isn’t necessarily detrimental to your application!) Having this list front and center will spark additional insights and angles for your essays. As a result, you will reward the adcoms with a rich, multidimensional portrait of you as a human being.

4. Name dropping? Better double check the names!

If you do reuse and adapt material for different applications, check carefully (and then check again ) to make sure you don’t forget to change, for example, “Michigan” to “Chicago” in the new application essay. Sending a “Why I want to go to UPenn” essay to the Yale adcom or a “Why I want to go to Columbia” paragraph to NYU wouldn’t bode well for you! Believe me, it happens.

5. No matter how similar the essay questions are, never simply cut and paste an entire essay.

As we noted earlier, no two questions will ever be exactly alike. As you write or edit from a different essay, keep the school you are writing for front and center in your mind.      Individualize each essay as much as possible to accommodate each program’s unique culture, personality, and “flavor.” And by all means, reread the essay prompts when you feel you are nearly done to ensure that you really have answered every one of the adcom’s questions within the prompt.

Do you need help writing (or adapting) your application essays? Could you benefit from an expert’s assistance in identifying the strongest elements of your experience and profile? We can help! Work one-on-one with an experienced advisor who will help you get accepted !

After a successful career in business publishing, Cindy Tokumitsu has worked for more than 20 years with Accepted. Every year, Cindy’s clients have been accepted to top MBA, law, and med programs. She is a pioneer in the niche of EMBA application consulting. Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose , a free guide
• How to Project Professionalism, Positivity, and Confidence in Your Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Purpose versus Personal Statement

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Can You Use the Same Essay for Different College Applications?

What’s covered:, can you reuse your common app or coalition application essay yes, can you reuse your supplemental essays maybe, the bottom line on reusing essays, where to get feedback on your college essays.

It’s no secret that the college process is grueling. It requires that you put an extensive amount of work into every aspect of every application. It’s natural to want to find ways to save time and energy. This is an especially tempting prospect when it comes to your college essays. Consequently, many high schoolers wonder if they can reuse their essays for different colleges.

The short answer is “It depends.” The long answer is a bit more complex. Below are some of the different scenarios for reusing college essays and best practices for each.

It’s perfectly okay to use the same essay for both the Common App and Coalition Application. In fact, you can use the same essay for any application that requires a lengthy personal statement—like ApplyTexas—since the prompts are broad.

Given the number of colleges that now accept the Common App and Coalition Application, this will greatly expedite your application process and lessen the burden of the essay-writing process.

There are some instances in which you can reuse supplemental essays for different schools, but you must do so carefully.

For example, you should not reuse a college-specific essay for things like the “Why This College?” prompt or related prompts. You also can’t reuse essays that you wrote in response to prompts about specific programs or majors . However, in both instances, it’s often possible to reuse parts of the essay, such as when you’re describing why you have a specific personal interest.

For example, take a look at this prompt from NYU :

We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand—Why NYU? (400 words)

Because this prompt is very specific to NYU and your interest in the school, you definitely can’t repurpose the essay for another application. However, you might be able to take aspects of the essay and reuse them, such as talking about specific contributions you hope to make to the community—after all, you probably want to make similar ones at other schools.

You’ll want to make sure you’re always framing these contributions as school-specifically as possible—mentioning particular clubs or opportunities at NYU. For example, if you’re interested in attending NYU’s Institute of Performing Arts, you may express an interest in joining their Hammerkatz sketch comedy group. If you were to reuse this section of the essay, you’d want to find the equivalent at the school you’re repurposing the essay for.

Keep in mind that if you can simply change the school name in a college-specific essay and it still works if you apply it to another school’s prompt, then your response isn’t specific enough. You will need to name opportunities specific to each school, and if you decide to repurpose parts of your essays, remember to change the corresponding details.

Another essay prompt you’ll likely encounter is the “Why This Major?” question, which asks why you’re choosing to pursue a particular discipline. Whether or not it’s included in the prompt, you do need to address why you’d like to study that program at that school. That means your essay, at least in part, needs to be specific to the school and can’t be reused for another.

Consider this prompt for Yale University :

Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.

Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you and is related to one or more academic areas you selected above. Why are you drawn to it? (200 words or fewer)

Here, you’re being asked not only why you want to explore your intellectual and academic interests, but you’re also asked to tailor your answer specifically to Yale’s programming. This means you might be able to reuse some parts of the essay for another school, but some areas may be more challenging to repurpose or impossible to reuse altogether. For example, Yale’s Computer Science and Psychology program is relatively unique to the school.

On the other hand, some programs are essentially universal—like business, engineering, and communications, for example—and you may be able to reuse large portions of your essay. Just make sure to remove any mention of other colleges and their attributes and tweak your responses to be as specific as possible to the school you’re applying to.

One example of an essay you can reuse is one written in response to a prompt along the lines of “Describe one of your extracurriculars” , like this one from Harvard :

Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (200 words)

Since this prompt asks you about your pursuits that aren’t tied to your interest in Harvard, it’s probably fine to reuse the essay if another college has a similar prompt. Just make sure you’re fully responding to the particular prompt, as even with these common prompts, sometimes schools like to add their own unique flair.

You should also pay attention to the word count, as you may have to expand or cut your essay when adapting it to another school’s prompt. If the second school has a very similar prompt but requires 250 words instead of 150, you should add more detail, as you don’t want to let 100 words go to waste—that’s almost half the word count!

An essay that’s too short will make it look like you don’t care about the school in question. Conversely, an essay that’s too long will get cut off in most application platforms, or it will make it look like you can’t follow instructions.

Time is precious in the college process, and you can certainly save yourself some by reusing your essays if you come across a similar prompt more than once. However, you should be careful not to do so at the expense of the essay’s specificity and quality.

Remember, your essay package at each school should present a comprehensive picture of who you are, without overlap from one essay to the next.

So, if you’re reusing an “Extracurricular” essay about golf, for example, and the school also has a question about your leadership skills, you don’t want to also write about what you’ve learned from being captain of your golf team. On the other hand, if you have another school on your list with a leadership prompt and no “Extracurricular” essay, you could definitely write about your golf captainship.

Ultimately, what matters most is that schools don’t feel like you’re two-timing them. So, make sure that each essay you write feels like its own singular piece of writing, and, if a school has multiple supplements, that each essay enhances, rather than repeats, the others.

Maybe you’re recycling an essay and wondering if you’ve done enough to reflect the new prompt, or you’ve written a brand new one and can’t decide whether it’s working. Situations like these inspired us to create our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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PA STATEMENTS  RESOURCES

TIPS FOR UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT AS A REAPPLICANT

After spending months and months constructing a seemingly perfect 5,000-character personal statement for PA school, it may seem daunting to update it. But, as a reapplicant, it is necessary. Your personal statement is unique to you and should express important parts of your PA school application journey, which may include the experience of being a reapplicant.

You have changed and grown since the previous application cycle and your essay should reflect this. Use the opportunity of a personal statement to express “Why PA” from your current perspective, which has shifted since you lasted applied. Although you may believe your personal statement was crafted perfectly, re-writing it is highly recommended.

The whole personal essay does not have to be completely different. It may still contain similar sentences and phrases but avoid simply copying and pasting entire paragraphs. You have experienced new patients, new scenarios, new things since you wrote your previous essay. Brainstorm how the past year or few months have further contributed to your desire to be accepted to PA school and become a PA. There is a reason that after being denied in one application cycle that you are persevering as a reapplicant. Communicate this passion!

If you believe that your personal statement was an area of weakness in your overall application, read through in in the perspective of an admissions committee member. What makes you stand out? What could have any other applicant wrote that is not unique to you? What lacks depth and specificity? Was the introduction paragraph enough to make you interested in the rest of the essay? Were all words chosen meticulously? Use prompts such as these to evaluate your essay and pick it apart. It will make for a better reapplicant essay.

Ask for help! Allowing others to read through and critique your essay is essential. This can be a school advisor, a PA you previously shadowed, a member of your college’s writing center, a family member, and, most importantly, a member of myPAresource. All personal statement editors who participate in revisions through myPAresource are certified physician assistants who have been extensively trained by current and former admissions panel members. They are well aware of what PA schools look for in personal statements and can provide crucial guidance on your essay.

As for the approach to upgrade your personal statement as a reapplicant, I suggest creating a plan! Pick one part of the essay to evaluate, revamp, completely delete, etc. each week. Once all paragraphs have been considered, brainstorm which additional paragraphs can benefit the overall picture you are tying to portray. After drafting these additional paragraphs, piece the whole essay together and you have a full rough draft! This is not the end though, just the beginning! Allow yourself to step away from the essay for a few days before revisiting it. This will give you a sharper perspective of the overall flow and tone of the essay. Read the essay out loud to yourself. What sentences are clear and precise, and which need some fine-tuning? Crafting a great personal statement takes great patience and effort.

Referencing how you have grown as a person and PA school applicant since the previous cycle is key. Explain what you have learned about yourself and learned about your goals over the past year. Convey how this time has prepared you for the rigors of PA school. I do not suggest dwelling on why you may not have been accepted in the previous cycle or any specifics about doubting your abilities. Use this space as a positive way to tell your story and enlighten the reader that you are an even better candidate for a spot in the PA program than you were before!

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Home » Can I Re-use My Essays for All Law School Applications?

Can I Re-use My Essays for All Law School Applications?

When applying to law schools, one of the most significant components of your application is the personal statement. It serves as a window into your personality, experiences, and motivations for pursuing a legal career. Alongside this, diversity statements and addenda can provide additional context about your background and any unique circumstances. But can you reuse one personal statement for multiple applications? And what about your diversity statement and addenda? Let’s dive in to find out.

Understanding Personal Statements

A personal statement is a written description of your achievements, interests, and experiences that are relevant to your application. It allows admissions committees to understand who you are beyond your grades and test scores. A strong personal statement should be well-written, engaging, and tailored to the specific law school. It should highlight your unique qualities and explain why you are a good fit for their program.

Reusing Personal Statements: Is it Advisable?

Reusing a personal statement for multiple law school applications can seem like an efficient approach. However, it’s essential to consider the potential pitfalls and benefits of this strategy.

One major advantage of reusing a personal statement is the time and effort saved. You can focus on perfecting one version. However, a significant drawback is that law schools value applicants who demonstrate genuine interest in their specific programs. A generic personal statement might lack the tailored touch that shows you’ve researched and are genuinely interested in that particular school.

Customizing your personal statement for each law school can greatly enhance your application. Mentioning specific programs, faculty, or opportunities that attract you to that school shows a sincere interest and can make your application stand out.

Crafting a Unique Personal Statement

Creating a unique personal statement for each law school application can be challenging, but it is a crucial part of the application process. Here are some tips to help you write an effective personal statement.

Tips for Writing an Effective Personal Statement

• Research Each School: Understand the school’s values, culture, and programs.
• Be Authentic: Share genuine stories and experiences that highlight your passion for law.
• Showcase Your Fit: Explain why you are a good match for the school’s program .

Avoid being too generic, focusing too much on others rather than yourself, and submitting a personal statement with spelling or grammatical errors.

The Role of Diversity Statements

A diversity statement is an opportunity to explain how your unique background and experiences will contribute to the diversity of the law school community. Diversity statements allow you to discuss aspects of your identity, background, or experiences that might not be covered in your personal statement. They highlight how you can bring a unique perspective to the law school.

Be specific about your experiences and how they have shaped your perspective. Explain how your background will enhance the diversity of the school and contribute to the learning environment.

Reusing Diversity Statements: Is it Advisable?

Just like personal statements, diversity statements can be reused. However, there are important considerations to keep in mind. Reusing a diversity statement can save time and ensure consistency in your applications. However, each law school might value different aspects of diversity. Tailoring your diversity statement to highlight aspects that align with each school’s values and mission can strengthen your application. When reusing diversity statements, consider the unique aspects of each law school. Highlight how your background and experiences align with their specific diversity goals and community values.

Writing Effective Addenda

Addenda can provide context for any anomalies or unique aspects of your application. They are an essential tool for addressing potential concerns proactively. Addenda are used to explain any discrepancies or unusual circumstances in your academic or personal history. This could include lower grades in a particular semester, gaps in your education, or any other unusual situations.

Types of Addenda and When to Use Them

• Academic Addenda: Explain any irregularities in your academic record.
• Character and Fitness Addenda: Address any issues related to character and fitness questions.
• Optional Essays: Some schools may have additional essays that allow you to explain aspects of your application further.

Reusing Addenda: Is it Advisable?

The main advantage of reusing addenda is saving time, especially if the same issues need to be addressed in each application. However, different schools may interpret the same issue differently. Tailoring your addenda to address the specific concerns of each law school can make a significant difference. Ensure that each addendum is clear and directly addresses the potential concerns of each law school. Highlight how you have addressed any issues and why they should not negatively impact your candidacy.

Writing a compelling personal statement, diversity statement, and addenda is critical for a successful law school application. While reusing these documents can save time, tailoring them to each school shows genuine interest and can significantly enhance your chances of acceptance. By putting in the effort to customize and carefully write each part of your application, you can present a comprehensive and compelling picture of yourself to admissions committees.

How To Write a Resume Personal Statement Professionally With Examples, Tips, and Guide

What Is a Resume Personal Statement?

Key elements of a strong resume personal statement, how to write a personal statement for a resume, professional personal statement examples for job applications, best practices for crafting the best personal statements for resumes, additional resources, frequently asked questions about crafting a professional personal statement.

Writing a personal statement for your resume can help recruiters and hiring managers get a better idea of who you are as a candidate and how your experience and achievements align with the company’s mission. Learn what to include and how to format this section in this personal statement writing guide.

A resume personal statement is a few short sentences at the top of your resume that provide an overview of your professional background and experience. It’s designed to create a strong first impression and catch the hiring manager’s attention quickly. This is important considering research shows most recruiters spend just seconds per resume on average.

A personal statement differs from a resume objective in that it focuses on showing the hiring manager why you’re a good fit for the company’s needs instead of talking about your personal career goals.

Clarity and conciseness

A personal statement should be brief — no more than two to four sentences. Space is at a premium on your resume, so convey your message as clearly as possible, and leave out unnecessary details. Fragment sentences are fine, as long as they are still cohesive and otherwise grammatically correct.

Relevance to the job role

Focus on your most relevant experience and qualifications in your personal statement, and tailor this section to each job. Look for keywords or must-have skills from the job description that you can include. For example, if the position requires a specific certification that you have, make sure this is included in the statement.

Highlights key skills and achievements

Resumes cover a lot of information in a small amount of space, and it’s easy for hiring managers to gloss over your contributions. Ensure they notice your most relevant skills and accomplishments by including them in the personal statement as well as a separate key skills list .

Start with a strong opening line

How to start a resume personal statement depends on the position, but begin strong with an opening line that grabs the recruiter’s attention and shows that you’re an immediate fit for the position. Include a key metric, such as how many years of experience you have, or a specific industry skill.

Focus on your most relevant skills and experience

Look through the required skills and experience in the job description, and pick the top three to five that match your professional background. Include these in your personal statement by tying them to career accomplishments or general strengths and proficiencies.

Include some personality

While a resume should always be a professional document, more employers are looking for candidates who are a good cultural fit for the company. Injecting a little personality into the personal statement by showing how your passions and aspirations align with the organization’s mission or goals can help you stand out.

Personal statement for entry-level job seekers

A 2023 marketing degree graduate specializing in social media strategy with internship and volunteer experience in multiple verticals. A proven track record of working with cross-functional teams to create multimedia content, manage social media calendars, and host live events across various social platforms to increase user engagement and support campaigns.

Personal statement for mid-level professionals

Dedicated and results-driven business analyst with over seven years of experience. Background in fuel-related systems optimization and renewable energy. Possesses a strong analytical mindset coupled with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Leads cross-functional teams, conducts data analysis, and identifies opportunities for process enhancement.

Personal statement for senior-level and executive roles

A digital marketing director with over 10 years of experience defining marketing strategies for enterprise organizations. A proven track record of building high-performance marketing teams and collaborating with C-level executives. Adept at leveraging data-driven strategies to enhance market penetration and achieve positive business outcomes.

Personal statement for career changers

Experienced and dedicated technical support professional seeking to leverage skills in customer relations and product sales. Recognized for ability to find creative solutions and communicate complex instructions in a user-friendly manner. Adept with customer relationship management (CRM) software.

Tailor your statement for each application

Your resume should be customized for every job application you submit, and this includes your personal statement. Tweak the wording to reflect the keywords in the job description, and mirror the action verbs in the posting.

Keep it simple and straightforward

Your personal statement isn’t the place for industry jargon or overly complex language. While it’s fine to use key terms already present in the job description, stick with a clear, professional tone and easy-to-read language. Clear communication is an important skill for nearly every job, and your resume should reflect your abilities.

Proofread for clarity and accuracy

Just a few typos in your resume can dramatically reduce your chances of getting an interview . Always spend a few minutes checking your document for grammatical errors or inconsistencies before you hit the submit button. This is especially true for the personal statement because it’s the first section the hiring manager will read and is prone to errors when you’re adjusting it for each job.

Seek feedback

Ask a mentor or career advisor to take a look at your personal statement before you finalize it. They can help you identify confusing or vague words, suggest areas that could be more concise, and help you look for typos and other errors.

• Action Verbs, Power Words, and Strong Synonyms To Use on Your Resume
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• How To Build a Professional Resume (Plus Examples and Templates)
• How To Write a Convincing Resume Profile

A personal statement is often also referred to as a resume summary . While the two are similar and almost interchangeable, there is one key difference. A resume summary pulls from your professional experience and skills to provide a two-second summary for the hiring manager.

Though a personal statement is formatted in the same way, there’s a little more leeway in what you can include. For example, a writer may add that they are passionate about the Oxford comma, and a French translator may indicate their love for classic French literature.

One of the best personal statement tips for job seekers is to use this section as part of your personal branding. Many applicants are likely to have a similar professional history or skills and qualifications, and it’s who you are as a whole candidate that can help you stand out.

The personal statement section is a place where you can immediately catch the hiring manager’s attention and give them something to remember you by, whether that’s being a Six Sigma Black Belt or having advanced Excel skills.

Your overall resume length should be between one and two pages, and your personal statement is a small fraction of that. In general, the personal statement should be about two to four sentences long, but depending on your resume formatting, it can be more helpful to measure it in lines of text. In most cases, it should be four to five lines at a maximum.

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.

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