Repeating PS content on Secondaries..

[Shawnpremed]

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If you receive a secondary from a school that asks you to elaborate on say, a volunteer experience, already described on your primary, will an inevitable overlap of primary content on your secondary be ok?

Thanks!

 

[MilkmanAl]

Yep, that's fine. I'd switch up the verbiage, but if they ask the question, give them the answer, even if you already have. Don't reference your other essays, however. Act like they don't exist.

 

[dw2158]

Yep, that's fine. I'd switch up the verbiage, but if they ask the question, give them the answer, even if you already have. Don't reference your other essays, however. Act like they don't exist.

whoops. in one secondary, i said "in my PS i mentioned that blah blah inspired me to blah blah, but this other thing has had almost as much impact on my decision to blah blah." le sigh.

 

[BlueElmo]

I tried to set them separate.

 

[reisub]

The problem with referencing other essays is it's like saying, "I already told you..." If the reader is in a bad mood, you might come off as a jerk.

 

[FutureScaresMe]

I don't think there's anything wrong with referencing your PS. Sometimes it's awkward writing about an event or situation in your secondary that requires more elaboration which may be present in your PS. Rather than assuming the reader has already read the PS, it would be appropriate to just reference the PS for further elaboration. The reader will likely read both, but who knows if they read the PS or secondary first. I believe it's better to reference your PS rather than wasting space, sacrificing flow, or assuming a reader's knowledge of your PS.