<p>Basically, if there are errors in your application will you have a reduced chance of gaining admission to the top five schools in the country? This question is mostly aimed at current college students who had made errors in their apps--whether they got in or not, still, is what I want to know. Anyone, though, who applied early somewhere and made a typo or grammar error in their essays can comment. Hell, anyone can comment!</p>
<p>Uh, let's be honest. If you make a typo on your application, with Microsoft Word and all the things that allow you to check your spelling and grammar, and all the people you could ask for advice, ask to read your paper(teachers, counselors, parents), THEN YOU DON'T DESERVE TO GO TO THAT SCHOOL, GIVEN IT'S A GREAT COLLEGE.</p>
<p>I mean your application essay is one of the more important essays you will write during high school b/c it's an indication to colleges of whether you are good for their school or not. Many colleges don't have face-to-face interviews, so all they got is your application, your grades, your GPA, your activities. That's all they have to go on to see if you're good enough for their school.</p>
<p>You think good colleges will just rub that off? Making typos? That shows a LACK OF EFFORT, LACK OF CARE, AND LACK OF ATTENTION. Colleges don't just look at what you write, but how you wrote it, and that includes grammar and spelling. </p>
<p>I didn't make mistakes and if I did, they were few and far, but damn, don't make mistakes. That's the last thing you want to do. Unless it's a school that isn't as tough to get into, in which case, it may not matter as much.</p>
<p>i don't think it's that brutal. sure, it's best to not make any typos, but really, admission officers are human too. they understand that sometimes five billion people can look through your essay and never catch that one little mistake. so don't be too hard on yourself.</p>
<p>I have no idea of the answer for "the bills fan" but I'm guessing that s/he sent off an app and now sees typos. Ouch.
There are all kinds of typos. A missed word,forgetting a space, misspeling (sic)...to me, some scream "that writer has no feel for the English language" while others whisper, "hmmmm, typing too fast, it must have been close to midnight."<br>
My hope (but I don't know) is that colleges will evaluate you as an entire package. If they think everything about your ap is "right fit" for them and they want you, you could get in even with a typo (one or two, not ten). If you aren't right in important ways for that college and they don't take you, please don't spend a lifetime thinking it was over a typo. Usually decisions are made as an entire impression of all your pieces and parts of the ap, is my impression of how it all works. It doesn't help an ap to have typos, but you're asking: is it dealbreaker? And in my heart of hearts, I just have to hope (can't say for sure) that it's not dealbreaker.</p>
<p>It is a matter of degree. A few typos throughout an essay is not an issue. A lot could well be. One thing an admissions person reading an essay may notice is the "computer-age" student who relies far too heavily on spell check for corrections and thus indicates he did not bother to review his draft essay carefully to correct real errors. The problem with spell check is that it will not correct many errors that applicants make, e.g., it will not correct the word "too" to your intended "two" or the word "there" to "their."</p>
<p>I am inclined to agree with bears</p>
<p>So, do you guys suppose submitting commonapp one or two days late will significantly hurt our application ? I mean hurt REAL BAD, say they will look on our application with a very jaundice eye or ignore it ? And if we submit late, will they still download it ?</p>
<p>They are human? They are animals. They are investing in us. We are the future of the new world. You think good schools want to accept idiots who don't even have the nerve of trying to correct easily made mistakes? I'm not talkin about those couple errors everyone makes.</p>
<p>You may not think so, but we do bring schools more income and if they accept boneheads, then that will make the school be looked down upon and won't be highly regarded. SO IT DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE AT A HIGHLY KNOWN COLLEGE WHERE EDUCATION IS REAL IMPORTANT</p>
<p>um bears, take a chill pill, k? calm down...</p>
<p>In my essay I noticed a grammar mistake right after I sent it off. I was so ticked. The mistake was that I left out an entire word. The sentence reads:</p>
<p>"and I'm convinced I'm not the only whos enjoying this more"</p>
<p>I missed a "one" between 'only' and 'whos'. How bad do you guys think this mistake is? Imo its not that noticeable. In other words, the sentence still kinda seems to flow despite the missing word.</p>
<p>billsfan,</p>
<p>Relax. In the age of paid college counselors, parent-written essays, and whole HS courses devoted to writing the college essay, the importance of college essays as a credible writing sample is slight. A minor slip or two won't be decisive. I've heard adcoms say that when essays are too polished, they're in a bind as to how to interpret them, because they know full well that 99+% of high school students could not produce such writing without significant assistance (that's one reason they like the SAT writing section; at least they know it was written by the student).</p>
<p>If a college rejects someone because of a typo or two, that is ******* stupid. They have worked and slaved for four years, and rejected becuase of a typo? Give me a break.</p>
<p>I don't think they care that much if it is minor. They know it happens. No one is perfect.</p>
<p>I think a lot of it is going to depend on the luck of the draw. If you had someone who has read aboout 40-50 applications before getting to yours, having typos, can be reason to put it down and not go any further with the application. On the other had if someone is reading with fresh eyes, they may wink at a typo or two.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there are literally thousands of students applying to schools, there are also going to be a great number of students with error free essays who are going to be denied admission. While an error free essay may not get you admitted, one with errors can keep you out.</p>
<p>I got into UNC out of state (with a likely letter) and BC Honors with a typo in my essay.</p>
<p>m4gician....when i read your sentence i automatically put the word ionthe sentence in my mind!!! I didn't even notice, and I was lOOKING for a mistake. So, i think you're good to go.</p>
1 Like
<p>drusba has it right. Some typos will be missed by the reader since his/her brain is anticipating the next work in the sentence and will not "see" a typo as long as it is a word they were expecting -- it's psych 1.</p>
<p>However, a big no-no, is saying I've always dreamed of Harvard and living in Boston and sending that exact wording to MIT. The MIT reps on this board make it clear that they try to accomodate that student. LOL</p>
<p>lmfao bearsfolife is acting like a typo is the end of the world... anyways, i doubt a tiny typo will keep you out. no point in worrying about it now, it's already submitted. you'll be fine.</p>
<p>lmao at bearsforlife. dude stop being such a douche, you're just feeding the already supersized egos of elite colleges.</p>
<p>the OP probably did go to great lengths to make sure the essay was polished, meaning that it may just be an error that the brain missed. which means the adcoms may miss it too.</p>
<p>just relax, one typo cannot make or break your application. most people would say that your essay doesn't even make or break your chances. if a school rejects you bc of one tiny typo, **** them.</p>
<p>Ok, I looked through my college apps and found 3 typos in the short paragraphs we have to write about each activity. Here they are, "after that term, I was elected to server for the 11th and 12th grades". I can't find the others again, but they were those same type. No mispellings, just a simple mistake in the mechanics. It's not even the college essay or the short answer, or such. It was just the lil paragraph you have to write describing each extracurricular activity for the U of Washington. Should I freak out?</p>
<p>Breathe, kids. Seriously.</p>
<p>I made a few typos in most of my applications too - one of the risks of doing essays last minute and cut/pasting between various essays. At first, I freaked out. Then, after considering for a bit, I realized that my essays still showed that I was an accomplished writer and an interesting person. If it's clear that you have the structure, mechanics, and style of writing down well, an omitted word, misplaced modifier, and/or mispelled word is probably not going to be the end of you.</p>
<p>If there are a ton of errors, or if the errors are significant, of course that's bad; and if you're right at the edge, the typos may be what tip you over to the reject pile. Or, they may not. Anyway, it's too late now to do anything about them but smile, forget they ever happened, and make a mental note to proofread better next time.</p>
<p>Also: Bearsforlife, I'm not sure why you're really feeling the burning desire to excoriate the OP for mistakes of an undefined magnitude - is this a sore spot or something? Colleges will care more about the grades you spent years earning than the apostrophe you may have missed in paragraph 2 of your short answer. Is it good? Of course not, but it's not the end of the world.</p>
<p>(PS: I kept making typos as I wrote this - hope I got rid of all of them, or I'm going to feel like a bit of an idiot.)</p>
<p>just to answer the original question, i made 2 grammatical errors in my essay. i noticed when i was at the post office...so i couldn't change it.</p>
<p>i still got in ED. so..don't worry!</p>