How to avoid mixing up application essay drafts in Vithi
Two application essays can describe the same project while answering different questions. A filename called “final” will not tell you which one belongs in an application. This guide is written by Vithi and explains how to use its portfolio essay records alongside your actual draft documents.
Give the essay a purpose before giving it a version number
Start with the exact prompt and the destination you are preparing for. Keep the prompt, any current length limit and the application route in your private working notes, checked against the official instructions for that application. This guide does not prescribe a universal essay format or limit.
Choose a title that identifies the purpose: “engineering motivation: project reflection” would still need a clearer destination in your notes, but already says more than “essay final”. In your actual record, use ordinary punctuation and names you can recognise. Avoid relying on a version number alone to distinguish two unrelated responses.
Use the portfolio fields as an index to the work
Vithi’s essay form includes Essay title, What’s this essay about and Sending to (comma-separated). Use the title to identify the response, the description to summarise its central example or argument and the destination field to identify the intended institutions.
For a hypothetical entry, the title could be “design course motivation, robotics project”; the description could be “explains the redesign of a gripper and what the failed prototype taught me”; the destination could name the institutions you have actually checked. These are planning examples, not claims about your experience.
The current form records this metadata. Do not assume it stores a full draft, provides document version history or sends the essay anywhere. Keep the complete text in the editor or document system where you write and review it.
Keep a clear link between the record and the draft
Use a consistent name in your working document, such as “design-motivation-robotics-2026-10-26-v03”. Keep the essay title recognisable across Vithi and your files so you can locate the correct document without guessing. This naming pattern is your own filing convention.
Preserve a separate copy of any version you actually submit, with the destination and submission date in its private filename or record. A later revision should not silently replace the only copy of what the institution received.
Do not create a new portfolio entry for every spelling correction unless you need that level of tracking. Use separate records when the purpose or destination genuinely differs, and keep document revisions in your writing workflow.
Reuse evidence without reusing an unsuitable answer
A robotics project might supply evidence for several essays, but a response about teamwork needs a different emphasis from one about an academic interest. Before adapting a draft, identify which parts answer the new prompt and which are simply familiar wording.
Keep the underlying facts stable: your role, the decisions you made and what happened. Do not turn participation into leadership or a prototype into a successful product because the new prompt seems to invite a stronger story.
Check each destination listed under an essay. If one response cannot meet all the relevant instructions, split the work into clearly named records rather than allowing a single destination list to imply that the text is suitable everywhere.
Perform a destination check at submission time
Open the actual application and read its current prompt before copying text. Confirm the institution, course or opportunity, required format and length instructions. Then open the matching draft and inspect the first and last paragraphs for names or references left over from another version.
Check any pasted text in the destination field or editor. Formatting, paragraph breaks and character counts may differ from your document. Follow the actual application’s instructions rather than assuming the source document’s appearance is enough.
Vithi’s Sending to field is an intended-destination record, not a submission confirmation. Complete the real submission process and preserve its confirmation separately. Do not infer successful delivery from a saved essay record.
Use a short identity check for every draft
Keep this checklist with your writing notes: exact prompt; intended destination; purpose of the response; central evidence; working document name; version reviewed; current instructions checked; submitted copy and confirmation location. Fill it with facts rather than guessed requirements.
After saving an essay record in Vithi, confirm that the title, description and destinations are correct. If a save fails, preserve your text and inspect the list before retrying to avoid accidental duplicates.
A well-labelled record cannot judge the quality of your writing, but it can help you ask the right final question: is this the response I intended to send to this destination?
