submitting same secondary (re-applicant)

[anon9301]

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I'm re-applying to some schools whose secondaries have not changed from last year. I have read about this topic on SDN, but I think my situation differs enough from the old threads that I have read to create a new one.

Three of the schools that I am re-applying to, all of which I was interviewed and wait listed at, have the same secondary. Additionally, the subjects of the essays aren't about things that would have changed over the past year, but rather still hold true today, such that if I was a first time applicant I would write the exact same thing.

I guess my real questions are: Does submitting the same secondary to a school, despite being reasonably successful in the past and the content of the essay not being changed over the past year, look bad and show laziness/unwillingness to improve? Should I change my secondaries, not because I think I can improve them, but for the sole reason to show that I put the time and energy in to change them?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

 

[Catalystik]

Should I change my secondaries, not because I think I can improve them, but for the sole reason to show that I put the time and energy in to change them?

Yes. I've seen applicants criticized for not switching things up. And if it didn't work the first time . . . .

 

[anon9301]

Rough...not what I wanted to hear (I'll likely heed your advice though). I think a large reason I didn't get into the schools the first time was my late application. Viewing the message boards it appeared that those who interviewed as late as I did received very few, if any, regular acceptances from the schools I applied to.

Despite, in my opinion, my secondary not being the problem, I guess if it looks bad to resubmit the same one I better start writing..

 

[Catalystik]

You might be fine with just a bit of tweaking, primarily focusing on changing the first line and maybe some vocabulary word changes throughout.