Hey, I was just wondering if it's possible to change my Common App essay for each college I apply to. I wanna tailor it so it's a better fit for each institution. Is that possible, or would I have to use the same essay for all of them?
You can indeed customize your Common App essay for different colleges, but you'll need to put in a bit more effort to manage the versions. Common App allows you to have only one active version of the personal essay at a time. So, if you want to customize your essay for each school, follow these steps:
1. Prepare all the different versions of your essay in a separate document (like a Word or Google Docs file).
2. Submit your application to the first college with the appropriate version of your essay.
3. After submitting, go back to the Common App website and make a copy of the submitted application for the next college on your list.
4. Paste the revised version of the essay into the newly copied application and submit it to the next college.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each college you want to apply to with a customized essay.
Keep in mind that some colleges may also have additional, school-specific essay prompts, which will allow you to share more targeted information about your fit with that particular institution. So you might not always need to customize your main Common App essay.
Staying organized is crucial when managing multiple essay versions. Make sure to double-check that you're pasting in the correct essay for each college before submitting and keep track of all your versions in a well-organized manner to avoid any mix-ups. Good luck with your applications!
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