Repeat Secondary Answers

[MedSchoolAdvice20]

As a re-applicant, what is the consensus on repeating an answer for your secondary? The secondary in question has >5 questions which are identical to last year. I was very happy with my answers from last year (which were good enough to get me an interview). It seems to me that if I change 100% of the responses, I will be going to my second best idea in many cases, which in the end hurts my total application. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[Doug Underhill]

This really seems like you're phoning it in to me. Write a different essay on the same subject.

 

[inky]

In almost all cases I re-wrote the essay, even if it was on the same topic with the same moral, etc.
For a couple of schools that had a bunch of essays (8-10) if there was 1 essay whose topic had not changed at all and whose contents and style I was still 100% happy with I kept it, but I made sure to re-write all the others.
I believe I did this in 2 of my applications.

It is hard because if you are happy with everything about your essay from last year it's hard to try and re-write but I think an essay with all the same content that has clearly been re-written helps to show that you are serious about trying hard and making changes as a reapplicant.