Reapplying with same secondary essays

[Hope4Me2BADoc]

Hey guys! Just looking for some advice and thoughts on reapplying with basically the same or very similar secondary essays that I wrote last year. So I spoke with someone on the admissions team just to get feedback on my application last year. She had told me that my secondary essays were very strong and that I would not need to change them if I decided to apply this year. But isn’t it generally frowned upon to recycle essays as a reapplicant? Do most schools look at past applications? Just looking for advice to see if should follow the admission advisor’s advice or just completely change up the essays to be safe. Thank you!!

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[ppushpak]

Was a specific medical schools admissions advisor you spoke to? If so that may only hold true for that medical school.

If it was an outside advisor like your undergrad admissions advisor I would recommend changing it up. If you didn’t get in or an interview for a school the first time, then you should think that your responses can be improved someway.

 

[gyngyn]

We always compare.
Identical essays makes you look disinterested in improvement.

 

[Goro]

We always compare.
Identical essays makes you look disinterested in improvement.

Or simply lazy

 

[crossroad]

Hi not to hijack OP's thread, but what about secondaries at schools you previously interviewed at before? If you feel like what you wrote about in the secondary was looked upon favorably (brought up during the interviews). Do you think we can re-use the same theme and maybe just rephrase it/provide new insight? Or should they be entirely new topics?

I don't want an adcom to compare the two side-by-side and think I'm lazy if I simply restructure my essay.

We always compare.
Identical essays makes you look disinterested in improvement.

Or simply lazy

 

[Osteosaur]

I was a multi-time re-applicant. I panicked after the first time I got waitlisted, and reapplied using the same essays. No one took favorably to it when I tried again, even places where I interviewed.

Just give them something new, or rephrase it enough it looks fresh.

 

[Hope4Me2BADoc]

Thank you so much for all of the advice! I’ve realized that I do have newer experiences that I can talk about so I’ll definitely be rewriting those secondaries.