Welp. 1 of my supplemental essays is about an awkward/weird/funny situation I was in. I can’t go into details, but in 1 line, a mom tells me something funny but a tadddd promiscuous. I never took that quote out because I frankly didn’t think anything of it. My parents are telling me to chill, but now that I look back, I’m nervous that this somewhat suggestive quote will impact my decision for the worst–especially if AO isn’t in the mood for anything remotely funny.
I sent that supplement to Yale & Vandy.
(On the bright side… maybe it’ll make mine a memorable essay :|)
As long as it isn’t super vulgar or sexist I don’t think you did any damage. It is expected that applicants to college are on the edge of adulthood and will understand/enjoy off color jokes. You are after all 17 or 18 years old, not 5.
Nobody has great chances for Yale but if you don’t get accepted it probably won’t be because of R rated material in your essay.
It definitely wasn’t wildly inappropriate in any way at all, but the quote the mom said was suggestive. I commented about it in parentheses, saying that she actually meant something else. Would probably lean toward PG-13.
^^ Not to worry, my son included a couple of questionable sentences ("You can’t half-ass nothin’.” being one of them) in his supplemental essay, which he sent to 11 colleges. He received 10 acceptances, including one from Yale. As others have said, relax – you will not be rejected because of your PG language!
I also say relax. it could actually be the one thing that makes you stand out amongst a pile of other standout applicants, you never know. When my son (now Yale Class of '20) brought his essay to me, I told his dad later “well, this will be the essay that either got him into Yale, or got him rejected. Because it will definitely get their attention.” (he discussed a controversial issue at that time.
I think it sounds funny and would assume an AO would appreciate the quick smile/witticism you displayed by acknowledging it sounded bad but wasn’t. My Ds Princeton essay had a couple of quick little cracks bc she’s known as a funny person and writes that way.
The admissions officers are pretty open-minded and they definitely receive a lot of crazier things than just a suggestive joke. As long as there was nothing bigoted, I’m sure they would appreciate a risque joke if it was funny.