College Essay Examples & How to Repurpose Your College Essay for Multiple Applications

Chances are, by the end of the college-application process, you will have applied to over ten schools, many of which require multiple essays and a personal statement. As you are tackling each new prompt, remember what you have written before. Some schools ask the same question, just in slightly different ways. All schools expect that the applicants will reuse essays. Doing so effectively requires a keen eye and deft editing. Repurposing your essays is an art in paying attention to your own story and paying attention to the intent of the prompt.

The University of California system’s application is a treasure trove of recyclable writing. It requires 350-word responses to four prompts—and gives you a generous eight from which to choose. They are called “Personal Insight Questions”—a positive, non-confrontational moniker—and contain probing prompts within the prompts to further light the way to the center of your story. Moreover, prompt eight is essentially an “open” prompt, allowing you to articulate whatever is essential to you that is not triggered by more conventional prompts about academics, extracurriculars, and teamwork:

Prompt: Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

What liberality! It throws open the door to honesty and, therefore, compelling writing. So much choice means you will, upon reflection, choose well. And then you will have four golden nuggets to mine, again and again, for the applications to other schools.

Actual College Essay Example Repurposed

One astute writer repurposed her University of California essays for a variety of applications. Her tactic was simple: she read each prompt carefully, identified the similarity between prompts, and then molded the previous UC essay to suit the new prompt organically. She did not stuff the square peg into the round hole; she identified what fit, and then she made it fit better.

In one instance, she uses the bulk of her UC response verbatim. Here is her (slightly downsized) response to the following UC prompt:

Prompt: Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

In her first paragraph, the writer bypasses the pedestrian and goes straight for the glandular:

Lymph nodes as the seminal source of academic inspiration are too unusual to be exaggerated. Thus, from the first image, we are convinced that the writer has been truly inspired, and we are eager to see where that inspiration will take her.

In this portion of the essay, the writer grounds herself: she is, first and foremost, a student. She takes classes, but she also takes more away from them than even she expected: in this case, an elevation of the diminutive plant. Lymph nodes . . . plants . . . what other sources of inspiration might this writer find in her academic journey? We, the readers, expect to be surprised, and we are not disappointed.

As with the opening imagery, the specificity is arresting, even unnerving. One does not typically equate the witnessing of mutilation with a “carpe diem spirit,” yet this writer’s blithe depiction of the scenes makes the equation ring true. The tilting of “liposuctioned fat” demonstrates how fearless and irrepressibly curious the writer is as a student. She finds lessons in everything, and she savors each one equally.

Who wouldn’t accept her?

The UC prompt is tidily divided in two: identifying the paramount academic subject and then describing how she has “furthered this interest.” The writer’s response follows suit. Formulaic as that sounds, though, the essay is anything but. It is, rather, ripe with description, a miasmic cornucopia of physical detail offered up with an air of such euphoria about things that might otherwise induce nausea.

It is no surprise, then, that the writer employs those paragraphs, almost verbatim, for Cornell’s College of Human Ecology prompt, which reads as follows:

Prompt: How have your experiences influenced your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future? (650 words)

The Cornell prompt, like the University of California’s, bifurcates. In this case, Cornell does not (necessarily) want to know about the leap from inside to outside the classroom; rather, it demands the writer speculate on how the present will impact the future. Both, though, are a measurement of ambition, which this writer possesses in abundance.

She begins her Cornell essay as follows:

The writer draws from her UC essay, but compresses a bit to allow those two paragraphs to demonstrate a unified quality to her academic experience. Then the writer launches into the other part of the Cornell prompt: her future goals. Cornell grants her a wide berth, word-count-wise, and she luxuriates in it. She divulges another inspiration—politics—and then masterfully connects it back to her passion for biology.

The writer uses her experience to describe her goals at both Cornell and beyond. She paints a vivid portrait of herself—a person who provides the pulse to so many endeavors—with Cornell as the clear backdrop. She effectively convinces the reader that Cornell—and only Cornell—can satisfy her disparate and dynamic academic goals.

So, of course, Cornell accepted her.

Another College Essay Example Repurposed for Another Application

In another instance, a writer found himself compelled to cut a masterfully written UC essay back from 350 to 250 words for his Stanford application. It seems harder, at first, to subtract rather than add to an essay. You have done so much editing, have come as close to perfection as possible; every word seems essential. Moreover, this writer had chosen to cut back what we felt was the showpiece of his UC application. Once this writer started editing, though, he found he had as strong an essay.

Let’s examine how the process went down.

First, let’s look at his longer, UC version, which was the response to the following prompt:

Prompt: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

The pedestrian response to this prompt is to name the community, identify your role in it, and then describe what you have done in that role. This writer, however, does exactly the opposite; he describes a very specific act of doing: offering up the first lesson in Java. At the outset, his style accurately captures the content, with the controlled confusion of any first class:

public class HelloWorld{
  public static void main (String[] args){
    System.out.println("Hello World");
  }
}

public class HelloWorld{
  public static void main {
    println("Hello World")
  }

The writer replicates the learning experience in a compressed fashion. The differences between the correct and incorrect versions are presented with clarity and the nonjudgmental patience of a true teacher. He lets the students make mistakes so that they can learn. How the writer then leads his students to full comprehension is earmarked by continued patience:

The tone of that paragraph blooms to the full crescendo of the classic “aha!” moment all teachers wish for, and all true students seek. It is clear that the writer loves that moment more than the subject matter itself. He is there, above all, for the students.

The essay then transitions to describe how the writer has taken his love for learning to the larger community, linking the essay back to the prompt. He reports the following:

What a gift! The writer has, as a high-school student, changed lives. Still, his conclusion offers a humble denouement:

This conclusion reinforces what we have already learned about the writer: he possesses a truly altruistic spirit. Any child—wherever they are—would be lucky to have him as a teacher, and they will never forget him.

What college wouldn’t accept him?

That the writer chose to recycle this essay is no surprise. It was a natural for the following Stanford prompt . . . except that it needed to be cut by 100 words. Here is the prompt:

Prompt: The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.

Fits perfectly, right?

What the writer decided to do was excise the development in the middle—which is so overtly about “community”—the section that gives his history of teaching and the side story about Panama. As a result, he is able to rethink his conclusion and make it veer directly back to the new prompt. What excites this writer about learning is teaching, every facet of it. See how well he explains that feeling:

public class HelloWorld{
  public static void main (String[] args){
    System.out.println("Hello World");
  }
}

public class HelloWorld{
  public static void main {
    println("Hello World")
  }

The reframing of the conclusion as an homage to teachers makes this essay entirely new. Moreover, the delivery of the final “because” expresses gratitude that is refreshing and an expression of it that is surprising. There is an energy behind the articulation of “I know every time I step into the classroom with an excellent teacher . . .” that compels us to believe it, that compels us to see the writer as the consummate learner because he has learned what it takes to be the consummate teacher.

The omitted portions of the essay—such as teaching students in Panama—could very well have served as another essay for another prompt. The moral of the story is that contained in one essay are many essays . . . you just have to look closely.

By the way, the writer was waitlisted at Stanford. I honestly don’t know what more Stanford could have wanted. I really don’t.

Berkeley was much smarter. That is where this writer will matriculate.

Would you like help in writing and editing your college essay for the Common App? Schedule an appt. with me.

Cover photo: Unseen Studio on Unsplash, Unsplash License

Originally published August 3, 2021.