Is it okay to use the same personal statement for different universities?
Asked by: Rosemary Hegmann | Last update: December 5, 2025Score: 4.5/5 (55 votes)
If there's no prompt or guidelines, you can re-use the same idea for your personal statement – but change the details wherever relevant, making sure to emphasize why you're applying to this specific program.
Can I use the same personal statement for different schools?
Yes, you can use the same personal statement for all universities. The university part of the documents has to be modified according to the respective institutions.
Is it okay to reuse a personal statement?
You can, but ideally you'd want to rewrite the PS and any 2nds to incorporate new experiences, etc...
Do you send the same personal statement to all Unis?
You can use the same personal statement for UCAS Undergraduate, UCAS Conservatoires, and UCAS Teacher Training applications. Our checks will prevent your own statement being reported if you have applied for more than one scheme.
Can you submit the same personal essay to multiple colleges?
Can I use the same essay for all my college applications? You can use the same personal statement and additional information essays for all of your college applications. The supplemental essay is a bit different as it tends to be more specific school focused.
Can I Use The Same Personal Statement For Different Universities? - CountyOffice.org
Can I use the same personal statement two years in a row?
It's OK to reuse your previous statement if you have applied before. However, if you are now applying in a different name, make sure you fill in the 'Previous Name' box when completing your application.
Do colleges know if you use the same essay?
While admissions officers might not be able to tell whether a student has used the same essay for different schools, they are certainly adept at discerning whether or not the essay meets the requirements of the prompt at hand. It's important to be mindful when making those minor adjustments.
Is 3,000 characters enough for a personal statement?
Personal statement – practicalities
4000 characters (not words, so includes spaces) or 47 lines of text, whichever comes first. No formatting such as bold, underline or italics.
What is copycatch?
Copycatch finds statements that show similarity, works out how much of the statement may have been copied, and reports the findings. This helps admissions staff at universities and colleges judge applications, and it is the providers who decide what action, if any, to take regarding notified cases.
Can you send different personal statements to different universities common app?
Yes, you can definitely tailor your Common App essay to reflect the unique qualities of each college you are applying to.
Can you reuse statement of purpose for different schools?
In short, yes. If you're applying to other schools through individual application portals or other application systems (like Coalition), you're allowed to reuse your personal statement. But there's a catch. It's likely that you wrote your personal statement in response to a Common Application prompt.
What happens if you plagiarize your personal statement?
The UCAS Similarity Detection Service
2.3 If a personal statement shows 60% or more of plagiarised matter, the application will be considered by Admissions but the applicant will be informed of the detected plagiarism and the seriousness of this offence.
What words should you not use in a personal statement?
- Passionate.
- Team player.
- Watching TV.
- We.
- Extensive.
- Also.
- Jokes and puns.
- Expert.
Is it okay to use the same personal statement?
If you're applying to multiple graduate school programs, you should tailor your personal statement to each application. Some applications provide a prompt or question. In this case, you might have to write a new personal statement from scratch: the most important task is to respond to what you have been asked.
Can I submit the same essay to different scholarships?
You can reuse the same essay on multiple scholarships if you edit them to fit the scholarship you're applying for. To do this, pay close attention to the detailed requirements of the scholarship and spend some time tailoring your essay.
Can I edit my personal statement after submitting to one school?
Once submitted to one school, that version of your personal statement is fixed for that particular school only. For the remaining schools on your list, you have the opportunity to make edits before you make any more submissions.
Does Turnitin detect copy?
Turnitin is an originality checking and plagiarism prevention service that checks your writing for citation mistakes or inappropriate copying. When you submit your paper, Turnitin compares it to text in its massive database of student work, websites, books, articles, etc.
Can you share your personal statement?
Don't be tempted to copy or share your statement.
Does Turnitin know if I plagiarize myself?
1. Can Turnitin detect self-plagiarism? Turnitin's Similarity Report draws from an industry-leading database for comprehensive coverage of internet, scholarly, and student paper content. This means that Turnitin tools are capable of surfacing potential instances of self-plagiarism.
What should I cut from my personal statement?
Avoid clichés and quotes
Go through your personal statement and remove any clichés – for example, 'I've wanted to do medicine since I was young'… The same goes with quotes: unless they add true value to your personal statement (and most of the time they don't!) it is usually a good idea to remove them.
Is 700 words enough for a personal statement?
Set aside enough time: Although personal statements are generally short in length (approx. 700 words; 1-2 pages), give yourself ample time to write a strong, well-written statement. It takes more time than you think to develop a final draft for submission.
How much does 4000 characters look like?
The following character counts give an approximate number of an equivalent word count: 1,200 characters = around 200 words. 3,000 characters = around 500 words. 4,000 characters = around 700 words.
Can you use the same personal statement for multiple colleges?
For many/most applicants, the prompts are similar enough that the same personal statement template can be used with minor adjustments for each school (see Tip #2 on personalization). For some applicants, however, the prompts are different enough that you should write multiple personal statements.
What are admissions officers readers looking for?
Admissions officers want to know what kind of student you are and how you will fit into their campus community. The best way for them to understand this is through your essays. Students often share topics or stories that the admissions officers might not be familiar with.
How do colleges know if you plagiarize?
A quick and simple method that essay evaluators and professors use to detect plagiarism is to enclose a sentence or a paragraph from the applicant's essay in quotes and Google it. The search results will show exact matches to earlier works in which the sentence or paragraph was used.