Reusing similar approach to a secondary for a school I'm waitlisted at?

[robertjnixon]

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Hi! Currently am sitting on two WLs. I have begun prewriting secondaries and have added the school I'm currently waitlisted at. The school has several secondaries (including a long one). I will completely write new secondary responses for these shorter prompts but for the long prompt, I kind of like the approach I was going for but might just expand on it more.

I actually received an interview for this school in the first wave of interviews they sent and I feel like my secondaries (particularly this long one) played a big role in getting an interview (as my old PS/activities were really weak). Is it fine to use the same topic for this secondary but maybe elaborating more on it? I actually took a small part from this secondary and integrated it into my PS (just the cultural background part of the secondary I talked about).

Also, I remember the admissions saying they are open to offering feedback, so should I reach out to them about feedback if I'm still on their waitlist? Thank you!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It's hard to say without dropping names and prompts of course, but remember your responses were satisfactory enough to put you on the wait list at that school. If you can revise or update what you wrote, that would be fine. For the longer prompt, perhaps consider some update if the prompt allows you to, or a different story if you are asked to "recall a time when."

The hope is that all this is a moot exercise, but if it isn't, at least putting in a little effort to show you learned something about the school from your near-successful cycle could be worth the nudge up the offer priority staircase.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

As someone that was in a very similar situation to you, my recommendation would be to write an entirely new essay for everything, at least a first draft. Just sit at your computer and write whatever comes to your mind for each prompt for ~30 minutes. Afterwards, look back at that narrative and compare it to your old one? See if you can incorporate aspects from it to update it or you might even like the new one more. I say this only because after being WL at my top choice two years ago and being told my interview was great, I kept most of my secondary the same, especially one that I knew was a hit as both my interviewers talked about it. I ended up not getting an interview that next year and while their feedback didn't say it, I feel like I didn't show enough growth in my app.
Also if you have not gotten feedback from them already, I would reach out now. While there is little that you can change now as your primary is probably already submitted, since you received an interview you can at least get feedback on that aspect of your application.

 

[robertjnixon]

As someone that was in a very similar situation to you, my recommendation would be to write an entirely new essay for everything, at least a first draft. Just sit at your computer and write whatever comes to your mind for each prompt for ~30 minutes. Afterwards, look back at that narrative and compare it to your old one? See if you can incorporate aspects from it to update it or you might even like the new one more. I say this only because after being WL at my top choice two years ago and being told my interview was great, I kept most of my secondary the same, especially one that I knew was a hit as both my interviewers talked about it. I ended up not getting an interview that next year and while their feedback didn't say it, I feel like I didn't show enough growth in my app.
Also if you have not gotten feedback from them already, I would reach out now. While there is little that you can change now as your primary is probably already submitted, since you received an interview you can at least get feedback on that aspect of your application.

Thank you! Do you think I should I reach out to them now or wait till I get the official rejection? I'm technically still on their waitlists and one of them said it is dynamic late into June still.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

Thank you! Do you think I should I reach out to them now or wait till I get the official rejection? I'm technically still on their waitlists and one of them said it is dynamic late into June still.

Yeah just reach out to them now, no harm in it.

 

[robertjnixon]

As someone that was in a very similar situation to you, my recommendation would be to write an entirely new essay for everything, at least a first draft. Just sit at your computer and write whatever comes to your mind for each prompt for ~30 minutes. Afterwards, look back at that narrative and compare it to your old one? See if you can incorporate aspects from it to update it or you might even like the new one more. I say this only because after being WL at my top choice two years ago and being told my interview was great, I kept most of my secondary the same, especially one that I knew was a hit as both my interviewers talked about it. I ended up not getting an interview that next year and while their feedback didn't say it, I feel like I didn't show enough growth in my app.
Also if you have not gotten feedback from them already, I would reach out now. While there is little that you can change now as your primary is probably already submitted, since you received an interview you can at least get feedback on that aspect of your application.

Also I'm encountering some prompts I did before like "what's the personal accomplishment you're most proud of" or UCSD's long personal statement prompt, is it fine if I keep a good amount of the ideas the same (stuff like greatest personal accomplishment didn't really change much in the past year) but just reword everything?

 

[PickaGodnPray]

There is going to be stuff that is relatively the same, but see if you can improve it or fit it into your narrative in a better way. For example, I have done research for years in neurodevelopment, but my reasons for doing so weren't really highlighted on my application. Tying it back to growing up in Flint and the lead crisis being what made me want to better understand genetic and external factors impact on development makes my narrative more cohesive and stand out. Try to do the same for yours, avoid a checklist but rather a full narrative.