Damn, that sucks especially if one is applying to a lot of schools. Did you abridge some of your essays and reuse them for secondaries?
this is extremely difficult (or I found it to be - maybe I'm just lazy or take my writing too seriously). I just looked through saved secondary essays and I'll show you the difference in word limits:
Penn State
Explain the negative aspects of medicine that you considered in making this career decision. (Maximum 50 words)
Is there a unique aspect of your application that should be considered by the admissions committee? (Maximum 50 words)
Explain why you decided to apply to Penn State College of Medicine. (Maximum 50 words)
CCLCM
.What is it about the CCLCM curriculum that you feel makes it a good match for your learning style? Please limit your essay to 300-750 characters and leave a blank line between paragraphs.
..Targeted areas for improvement are identified by our students at the end of each year. Other than knowledge, what would you identify as an area that is not a strength for you? Design a plan how you could improve it. Please limit your essay to 500-1000 characters and leave a blank line between paragraphs.
..The Admissions Committee is interested in gaining further insight into you as a person. Please describe the experience which you found most personally challenging to this point in your life and discuss how it helped shape you as a person. You may discuss a moral or ethical dilemma, situation of personal adversity or other life-event you believe to have been an important hurdle for you. Please limit your essay to 1 page (about 3,500 characters) and leave a blank line between paragraphs
Mich
Select one experience from your list in part A (Non-Academic Activities) and describe in a brief essay how it impacted on your decision to go into medicine. Do not exceed 1500 characters (about 250 words).
At the University of Michigan Medical School, we are committed to building a superb educational community with students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions, and backgrounds. What would you as an individual bring to our medical school community? Do not exceed 1500 characters (about 250 words).
and so on
as you can see they ask the same exact thing. You will start out with writing one. You will either feel the need to add to an essay or cut out everything. If I had to do it again, I think I would have looked over my previous essays of similar topic and just write fresh ones. That would be faster and more coherent.
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