Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Essays?

[WinterWasp]

For any repeat offenders out there, what have been people's strategies with reusing personal statements/essays? I've been using pretty much the same essay for longer than I'd care to admit, with a few tweaks here and there, but I was wondering what other folks had been up to? My basic motivation and desire really hasn't changed significantly since the last cycle, so to try and write a brand new essay from scratch almost feels disingenuous, since the theme is identical. It would inevitably end up as the same thoughts, just in different words, and I couldn't even guarantee that they were better words. Basically just putting it through Google Thesaurus. 

On the other hand, slapping the same essay through feels like I'm not putting the effort in, and I worry that it will appear that I'm lazy. I mean, I definitely am, but they don't need to know that yet. I don't know how many readers there are, but I'd like to think that my experiences are somewhat unique, and it's certainly possible that someone on the admissions committee would recognize the same essay, or at the very least, the same typos. Does that show commitment, like "Oh my goodness, this applicant is so dedicated to Dal Med that their essay is starting to sound familiar - let's just do them a solid and let the poor soul in." Or is it more like "Wow, this nutcase thinks they can just change the date and resubmit this assignment?! That's self plagiarism, and that's the second worst kind of plagiarism! Let's blacklist this nincompoop and force them to move the Caribbean and then laugh at their sunburn(s)." Essentially, are there originality points awarded for essays? Is it a faux pas to not write about a new Eureka moment every time you submit an application? 

 

 

 

Preferential weighting will be given to following answers:

1) Those that can prove they are current Admissions Councillors at Dal Med, hopefully Renee who is an angel and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. 

2) Applicants who have applied more than once, and have received feedback directly from a member of the admissions committee. 

3) Med students who have been successful after more than one cycle.

4) Applicants who have been unsuccessful but still feel quite strongly that they know the answer (confidence is sexy, and I respect that)

5) Med students who have gotten in their first try, and still want to contribute to the conversation, despite not having had the walk of shame down the virtual hallways of the application process. 

6) Anyone. It's an internet forum. You can be whoever you want to be, so back up your stories with some wild, not necessarily true anecdotes, and I'll get behind them 100%. 

 

 

[DrDre]

3rd time was the charm for me! Year 1: reject, Year 2: waitlist, Year 3: accepted. To be honest, I think what made a difference for me was the interview. But re: essay my second application had slight tweaks after some feedback from peers, and then the third year it had more of an overhaul after more feedback and some advice from friends in med. Change involved elaborating more on some select experiences, and removing mention of others. So it became less of a list of experiences (which adcom can get from your supplemental ECs) and showed greater depth in my thoughts, emotions, reflection on certain experiences. In some cases I also dialed down the formality and let my personality show through a bit more. It's possible none of this really applies to your writing, so not sure if it's helpful!  Of note, my supplemental score increased 3 points btw 1st and 2nd try and my ECs didn't really change. So editing the essay can be a good thing. My advice would be to let some trusted ppl read over your essay to get feedback, and if you can find examples of essays from successful applicants that could also be helpful.  Feel free to pm me to chat more about it!

[Bachwall]

Looks interesting!