Accidentally wrote Common App essay on the same topic as a classmate. Worth rewriting?Answered
Here's the situation:
Over the last month, I've been working on my Common App essay, and I've written about board games and how playing games with my family has helped me bond with them and taught me broader lessons. Today, I learned that someone else in my class wrote about pretty much the same thing. Obviously, I didn't copy her, and I'm positive she didn't copy me--this is just an unfortunate coincidence. My concern is that I know admissions officers often read all the applications from one school at the same time, and I worry that it could come across as being unoriginal.
Is it worth starting over with a new topic?
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2 answers
I would pick something else because a.) you don't know if the admissions officer will like yours more than hers b.) if the admissions officer reads back to back similar essays, she might feel that that is not very imaginative topics coming from the same school. You both might get dinged. If it bothers you, you should talk to your classmate and see if she sees this the same way or not. Who knows maybe she'll bow out of the essay topic as well.
Good luck.
You should do some soul searching and figure out whether this is the best essay that you can write. If it is, let everyone else be damned and keep your essay. If it isn't, write your essay. Don't worry about it being the same topic. Just word it a little differently and try and make sure that you aren't talking about the same broader lessons.
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