Is it okay to submit the same essay to different colleges?

It’s definitely common—and completely acceptable—to use your Common App personal statement for all the schools to which you submit the Common App. That’s the norm, and colleges expect it. You do not need to write a unique personal statement for each school.

When it comes to supplemental essays, though, it gets a little trickier. If two prompts from different schools are genuinely very similar (for example, if they both ask about your favorite extracurricular activity or why you chose your intended major), it is generally fine to reuse content. However, it’s super important to customize each essay to address the specific prompt and school. At a minimum, change details so the essay feels tailor-made and doesn’t accidentally mention the wrong college’s name or values!

Colleges aren’t usually able to tell if you’ve reused an essay idea, but they can tell when an essay feels generic or doesn’t fit their question exactly. Customized, thoughtful responses signal to a school that you care. For example, if two schools ask “Why do you want to study at our university?” don’t just copy and paste—include at least one or two genuine reasons relevant to each school. Maybe you’re interested in a neuroscience research program at School A, and in School B you’re drawn to a specific urban outreach initiative. That kind of specific detail matters a lot.

If you’re running short on time, make a core version of your essay that covers the basics, then adapt it slightly for each prompt. This will help you save time and reduce stress without sacrificing the unique touch colleges appreciate.

So in short: for the Common App main essay, reuse away. For supplements, start with a master draft but always customize. Colleges mostly care about fit—both with the prompt and with their institution—not whether you’ve successfully written something entirely original each time.