Are secondary essays normally weighed more heavily than most meaningful essays?

[deleted1041777]

Are secondary essays normally weighed more heavily than most meaningful essays? Would it be wise to save the most impactful stories/lessons of certain activities for secondaries rather than using them in the MM section?

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[Goro]

They all count.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Are secondary essays normally weighed more heavily than most meaningful essays? Would it be wise to save the most impactful stories/lessons of certain activities for secondaries rather than using them in the MM section?

That's a great question. Lot's of overlap in the application process and it's hard to not be too repetitive. I struggled with this too. I think what I did was covered stuff in a general but fairly complete manner for MM and then in a secondary, I would expand more specifically as needed by the prompt. Trying to minimize any obvious overlap.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Are secondary essays normally weighed more heavily than most meaningful essays? Would it be wise to save the most impactful stories/lessons of certain activities for secondaries rather than using them in the MM section?

Don't "save" material for the secondaries. Some schools -- admittedly fewer and fewer -- screen primaries before sending out secondaries.

PUt your best stuff in the primary in order to get the secondary. Then realize that even if there is some overlap between primary and secondary, the secondary should highlight those aspects of any story that allow you to show fit with the specific school that you are using the secondary to apply to. New material is great, but if you have to reuse an experience you can and should go deeper or approach it from a more specific place. That specific place being the mission and values of the school.

And as Goro said, they all count.

 

[sarcasmrules]

They all contribute to your entire application. Your question is very school specific or even adcom specific. Stronger and unique essays will drive an application further than generic and cookie cutter essays. That's all you need to know.