I have an interview coming up on 1/5, and I'm about to start working on those pre-interview essays. For anyone who's already been through this, I have a question regarding the "problem and how you solved it" topic. My life history is fairly unusual, and this topic figured prominently in my PS; I'm wondering if I should address the same material (though presumably in a bit more depth, since I'll have more space), or use a different, but much more innocuous example from my recent experience.
Normally, I'd assume that Upstate didn't want a repeat of any PS material, but I've heard that these interviews are closed file, and that the essays are basically the only thing the interviewer will know about you before you walk in the door. Is this true, and in that case, do you think it would be best to reuse my PS material, since it does address important issues in my application?
Thanks a lot for your input.