Reusing essay prompts
The Texas A&M Prompt is "Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today?". Because Texas A&M doesn't require a common app prompt, I'm thinking of reusing my common app essay to save time. The common app prompt is "The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?" I'm wondering if these two prompts are similar enough that I can reuse them, particularly because the common app prompt only asks for one challenge, while the Texas A&M prompt seems to ask for more.
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2 answers
For the wording you quoted, I鈥檇 focus on whether the essay shows how the experience shaped you, rather than counting challenges. Keep the strongest story, then check that the ending explains what changed in how you think or act. Compare the current prompt and word limit in your application before reusing the draft.
I鈥檓 helping promote EZCollegeApp. It keeps school-specific essay prompts and word limits beside each draft, which can help with this final comparison. Save a separate version for each application so revisions for one school don鈥檛 overwrite the original.
I think you can reuse the body of the essay but if you are incorporating language from the prompt in your essay (specifically in the beginning) I would reword that part to be specific to TA&M. Just shows more interest and dedication to the school, but you don鈥檛 have to rewrite the entire essay!
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