@nschooler99 -Definitely leave this one alone. It’s not a problem.
Thank you so much!
Hi @Sally_Rubenstone I was reviewing some information on my commonapp for scholarships and saw that my current high school’s entry year was 8/2017 not 8/2016. Should I notify the colleges I applied to?
@BileStorm -Only send a correction if you applied to universities that don’t require a high school transcript sent by your school until after you’ve been admitted. But if all your colleges will receive a transcript from your high school before evaluating your application (likely), then let this go. The college folks will see from your transcript that you actually started at your current high school in 2016, and the mistake is not a big deal.
Do I have to update my fall grades on CSU app or do I only have to send transcripts?
@cpre98 -It is my understanding that policies can vary among the CSU campuses and that some will require T7 grades. (This means 7th semester grades … i.e., grades from the first semester of senior year) and some won’t. But I’m no CSU expert, and your best bet is to contact the specific campuses you are applying to in order to find out if you need to update your grades and/or submit at 7th-semester transcript. This list can also help you determine which campuses expect T7 grades: https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/student-services/casper/Pages/transcript-requirements.aspx
On this page you can find contact info for all of the CSU admission offices by campus: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/Pages/contact-a-campus.aspx
It appears that I may have input my grades wrong on my CSU apps. My GPA is much lower than what it really is, in fact, it does not meet the minimum requirements. Should I contact Admissions? I have already submitted my transcripts to one of the schools. CSU Eastbay and did my SJSU supplemental app. No word from the 3rd school I applied to SFSU.
@enveier -Yes, you should definitely contact admission offices … and right away. Significant discrepancies between a submitted transcript/course list and/or GPA should always be reported.
Because you want to make sure that your true GPA is recognized immediately, start with a phone call and ask the receptionist who takes your call if you can speak to an admission counselor. Email should be only a backup approach, but at this busy time of year, emails can pile up before they’re read.
Also, if you have a responsive school counselor, you should alert him/her to the discrepancy and ask if a call can be made from the guidance office to correct the error.
It’s especially important for you to act fast because not only is your submitted GPA lower than your real one, but more critical is the fact that your submitted GPA/transcript doesn’t meet admission requirements.
Hi Sally 
It appears that I listed my housing situation incorrectly on my Common Application, though it’s correct on my FAFSA. That is, I wrote that I live with both my parents, but my official household is my mother’s. My mother is very worried that it will affect either our financial aid package (even though it’s correct on our financial aid documents) or my admissions decision. Should I correct it?
Thank you!
@smiley.maria73 - I think this is worth correcting. While the fact that you’ve provided accurate information on your financial aid documents is really what’s critical, I still think that you should get rid of the inconsistency with an emailed correction. If you’ve applied to a lot of colleges, you don’t have to write a separate email to each one (unless you want to take this as an opportunity to say a quick howdy to your regional rep and/or ask a question). The easiest approach, however, is to just put your own name on the “To” line and then Bcc all of the admission offices that you need to contact. The Subject Line should be something like: Application Correction for [your name]
Be sure that your message includes ALL the additional information that will allow colleges to find your application: your full name, school name, home town, city and state.
Another reason to correct this kind of error that may not apply to YOU but could affect other students in a similar situation is that, if a student lives with one parent and that parent did not graduate from college (even if the non-custodial parent did), then the student may be viewed as “First Generation” in the evaluation process. So if your mom didn’t graduate from college but your father did, you don’t want the colleges to think that you reside with both of them because it may work (at least a tiny bit) in your favor to have the admission officials view you as “First Gen.”
Thank you very much for the explanation. Have a great week!
@smiley.maria73-You’re welcome. Hope you have a great week, too.
@Sally_Rubenstone Hi Sally, in my application I had written that I had been working at a certain job from 2015-present in my Additional Comments section and on my resume. There was also a question to elaborate on a certain extracurricular and I chose to talk about my job there because it’s extremely important to me. I started off the paragraph by saying “Since 2014…” and I’m concerned that it’s going to make my application look bad. Should I email the college to correct the mistake or leave it alone? Do you think I have just ruined my shot at this college?
@astrorocket10 -This is not a big deal at all and won’t have any impact on your admission decisions. Definitely let it go.
Hi @Sally_Rubenstone , I was wondering if I should update my Princeton application with the fact that our sports team was honored by our state representative during Congressional meeting (I think it’s called a Congressional Record?) for winning state for so many years. Do you think I should upload it? My parents say that it won’t make much of a difference, but I wasn’t sure!
Thanks so much!
@techilliterate -Your parents are right. (Of course, of course, of course! 
) This won’t make a lick of difference at Princeton, and the admission officials will NOT want to have to deal with an extra submission at this very busy time. As a sports fan myself, I do appreciate your team’s achievement, but it will not move the needle for you at all at Princeton.
@Sally_Rubenstone Hi sally!
I recently found a few mistakes on my UC application (I applied to 6 of them). The first is that I accidentally left off a grade for a college class I took at school first semester this year. The second mistake was that I forgot to input my CSS number (which I realized today that I didn’t need, because I go to private school. When I sent my “CSS” number, I sent them my California Scholarship number accidentally, but they probably won’t use it so I’ll be okay). I emailed the UC support system and they’ve emailed the colleges to fix the info.
Do you think these mistakes will affect my chances of admission, or the fact that I found them late? I don’t want the schools to think I was careless and didn’t proof read my app, because I did like 3 times.
@Sally_Rubenstone Haha ok, gotcha! Thanks so much! (and also thanks for answering all of our questions in general!)
@kt1215 -These mistakes will not affect your chances of admission at all, so don’t worry. If you are not admitted to any of these UC schools, I promise you that it won’t be because of this. Good luck!
@Sally_Rubenstone Ah, thank you so much! I’ve been worrying for the last week or so, so your response helps a lot! Have a nice day