Personal statement vs. supplemental essay — what's the difference
A personal statement is who you are. A supplemental is why you and this opportunity fit. Mixing them up is the most common mistake students make.
The personal statement is portable
Your personal statement should work as your introduction to almost any committee. It should answer: who are you, what shaped you, and where are you going. You can reuse it across many applications with light edits.
Avoid naming a specific scholarship or college in the personal statement itself — that's what supplementals are for. A personal statement should feel like you're handing the committee a sharp, honest portrait of yourself.
The supplemental is specific
Supplemental essays ask 'why us' and 'why this.' These are not the place for your life story. They're the place to show that you've actually researched the program and you have a real reason to want it.
Name specific professors, courses, programs, alumni, traditions, or values. If you could swap the school's name for another and the essay would still work, you haven't written a supplemental — you've written filler.
How to repurpose without sounding lazy
Keep a master doc of your best paragraphs by theme: identity, challenge, intellectual curiosity, community, future goals. For each new prompt, pull two or three paragraphs and write fresh connective tissue around them. This is allowed, expected, and how everyone does it.