@saranya01 --This isn’t anything to worry about. Admission officials will spend less than a nanosecond reading that blurb. Some may realize that you pasted in the wrong description, but many may not even notice your error. You definitely shouldn’t contact colleges specifically to correct this, BUT … if you have another, better reason to be in touch with admission officials at some point, then you can mention the mistake, explaining what you did and that you didn’t want to bother the busy college folks by sending a correction. But, meanwhile, don’t sweat this. It will have no impact whatsoever on your college outcomes.
Hello!
Under the honors section, I accidentally put the wrong name of a category in an event that I had participated. The award that I won was correct, but the name of the category that I had won it in was incorrect.
The extended resume that I have also submitted has the correct information. Should I be concerned?
Also, this application that I submitted was for a college in which I have automatic admission.
Thank you!
@nbabaria --From what you’ve said here, this is a a clear-cut “Leave it alone and don’t worry about it at all” situation. But, even so, it would be helpful if you would post again and explain what your honor was, which “category” your award SHOULD have been listed in, and which incorrect one you chose instead. Do you mean that your honor was a “School” honor and you put down “National” or something like that? In any case, it sounds like there’s no need to do anything, but let me know what the actual honor was and how you mistakenly listed it. You can send a Private Message if you worry that providing specifics might also provide identifying details.
Hello,
I am in choir the full school year, about 36 weeks. However, in the activities section, I only put 25 weeks because I just divided 180 school days by 7. I realized this after I submitted an ED application. Is this a big problem? My transcript also shows that I am enrolled in choir for the full year, so will this confuse admissions officers? Should I send an email to the admissions office?
Thanks so much!
@greenbean98 -This isn’t a big deal. In fact, it’s not even a small deal. It’s no deal at all. Admission officials will understand what you mean. So don’t worry and send no correction.
Hi, and thanks so much for this help. What if a student thought she read a quote in some source that she cited, but it turns out the quote wasn’t from that source and she didn’t realize until after she submitted to the common app (it was a supplement). Wasn’t intentional, but it might look bad. Meant to double-check and forgot. Yikes.
Thank you for the response! Even though you said my error is not really an issue, can I still change it for future submissions or just leave as is? Thanks!
Hello,
I made a mistake in reporting my sibling’s level of education. I selected “completed primary/grade school” instead of “some primary/grade school.” Should I correct this? Also, I put that I received an honor in 10th and 11th grade but it should be 11th and 12th grade. Is that a major issue?
@Becca1719 --This is PROBABLY going to be yet another, “Leave it alone,” situation, but I could advise you more effectively if you sent me the specifics. (The actual quote and its true source along with the source you SAID it was from).
You can send this info via Private Message if you don’t want to post it here. If the quote you used is a well-known one and it’s very obvious that you were way off when you named the source, I MIGHT suggest a correction, but I can’t say for sure without more details. In any case, this mistake–whether you correct it or not–isn’t going to affect your admission outcome.
@greenbean98–Yes, of course … make the change in any subsequent applications you submit but, again, don’t worry about this minor error in your first application.
@curioussquirrel -These are not errors you should contact a college to correct. and they’ll have no impact on your admission decisions. However, make sure to correct them in any future applications you send out.
@Sally_Rubenstone thank you!
Hello!
desperately need help. My daughter use the template for her resume provided by her teacher and forgot to change the name and relevant info of the previous student. After submitting it she figured it out. I am not sure what steps we need to take? She has her info, name, address, email address and telephone number underneath the other persons name. Please suggest what to do. She is not able to sleep or eat because she is so scared.
Thanks in advance!
@Naso --Please tell your daughter that this isn’t a big deal so she should start eating and sleeping right away! All she has to do is to make a correct copy of her resume and email it to her admissions rep at every college that received the wrong one. She should also Cc the main admissions office email address. (Her “admissions rep” is the staff member who oversees applicants from her high school. If your daughter doesn’t know who this is, she should first look on the college website. If she can’t find the name and contact details there, she can just telephone the admission office to ask.)
She can send the resume as an email attachment. In the email itself she should BRIEFLY explain exactly what you’ve explained here (that she used a template provided by her teacher without fully removing the name and related info that was already on the template). So she should ask the admission officials to please use the NEW resume and to discard the original one.
This mistake is not going to have any impact on your daughter’s admissions decisions, so she should stop worrying about it. But–before she sends out the revised resume–make sure that she proofreads it extra carefully this time, She needs to be certain that she won’t have to send ANOTHER correction later on (because that MIGHT hurt her chances!).
Hi,
What should I do if parental information is a bit off because my family situation is complicated? I live with my dad (and I am financially dependent on him soley) and I have a real complicated elationship with my mom so when my dad and I filled out my applications he put “never married” even though they were and are now divorced. they had a toxic relationship and I guess he just didn’t want to be associated as divorced so he made me select never married but then I put her maiden name as my dads last name in her section. is that ok? and then i don’t know educational information about my mom so i selected the “limited information on this parent” option for her but then I talked briefly about my uncles and aunts on my moms side of the family in my essay so would that be conflicting? Thank you!
Hello, and thanks so much for the help! I just submitted my Common App for some schools but after I submitted I realized I had two errors. First, I forgot to list my future AP tests and dates in the testing section (they’re listed in the current coursework section). Second, for the question for international applicants in the testing section asking wether or not they had leaving tests, I answered no even though I’m not an international applicant (I thought the question was for anybody)? I’m kind of freaking out because 1 of the schools I applied to is my top choice school but will these errors ruin my chances of getting in?? Should I email the colleges to correct them?? Again, thanks so much for the help!!
@nnanz22 -College officials realize that some students have complex family backgrounds that don’t mesh well with the questions and check boxes on applications. But what you SHOULDN’T do on ANY application is to be intentionally deceptive. So listing your parents as never married and giving an incorrect maiden name for your mom MIGHT get you in hot water later on. Thus, what you need to do instead, NOW, is to send an email to every college that already received this incorrect information and explain the real situation. Admissions folks will not hold it against you that you sent it the wrong info initially if you provide the reasons for the misinformation that you’ve provided here. They will see that you have experienced troubles at home and that your dad was pressuring you to do whatever you could to make his marriage to your mother go away.
But also explain to your dad that–at any point during your college experience–should inaccuracies on your application or financial aid forms come to light, you could face penalties … perhaps even expulsion … for your initial misrepresentations.
However, it IS okay to indicate that you have limited information about your mother even if you wrote about her side of the family in your essay. It’s certainly possible that you know SOME details about your mother’s life without knowing others. So don’t worry about changing that.
If you are applying for financial aid, colleges that use only the FAFSA form will only require your father’s information, assuming that he is the parent with whom who live more than 50 percent of the time.
However, colleges that require the CSS PROFILE will ask for your mother’s financial information too. If you really have limited contact with her and she refuses to give you the figures you need, you will have to explain this to colleges individually, and they may let you off the hook for it. But, in that case, you will have to be careful that your essay doesn’t suggest that you still see your mother with some regularity. Because, in order to waive the requirement for her financial data, the college folks will have to assume that you don’t see her at all.
Again, if you’re not applying for financial aid or if you’re applying to FAFSA-only colleges, this shouldn’t be an issue.
But, in the meantime, do email your colleges to explain the sticky situation you’re in. Again, it won’t be held against you that you answered incorrectly on any applications you’ve already sent, ,as long as you are forthcoming now.
Keep in mind that admission officers are a lot like doctors. In other words, there’s little they haven’t seen! So even if you feel that it’s uncomfortable to explain your home life, your parents’ relationship, or the inaccuracies on your application (and the reasons behind them), keep in mind that you are dealing with people who are experienced and compassionate and who will make great efforts to understand what it’s like to be in your shoes.
Good luck!
@scottt23 -Stop freaking out! Your errors are too small to be seen with a microscope! College folks will not notice them, or–if they do–they won’t care. I promise you that, if you don’t get the admission news you want, it’s not because of these tiny oversights.
Of course, if you end up submitting additional applications, be sure to correct your Common App first. But, meanwhile, don’t give a second thought to the minor mistakes you’ve already made.
These are complicated applications that are being filled out by 17 yr olds. Mistakes are going to happen, and these schools know that. It also happens in the professional world when you apply for jobs too. If they’re going to get hung up on little technical errors, it’s probably not a school you want to attend anyway.
Hello,
I’m an international applicant and there are two mistakes in my Common App but I’m unsure whether I should inform the AOs about them:
- I only reported three of my courses in the "Current or Most Recent Year Courses" but I'm actually taking 5 courses. I left out English and Computer Science because my school is heavily focused on PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Math). It's an honest mistake and my transcript covers all 5 courses, but should I still inform them? Will I get in trouble because I didn't list the courses in my transcript?
- In my "Honors" section, I listed that I secured 1st rank in International Olympiads but I didn't mention the name of the organization. Is this a problem? It's because these are probably not recognised outside India (where I live) and it may seem from what I wrote as if it's a well-known Olympiad.