<p>how bad is it if there is one tiny grammatical error in the common app short answer (the one about important activities) - when it was sent to a safety-ish school?</p>
<p>So while you view it as a little thing, your reader may view it as a big deal. I know that it is stressful trying to get all of the applications ready and have to balance the rest of your life so you can over look things (it's human). You should try to make sure that your application is free of errors regardless of the type of school you are applying to as it is a reflection of you and the level of care you take. Sometimes it does help to ask another person to read your work because you can get so caught up that you do not even see some of the errors that you make.</p>
<p>It is funny because I was in class this week, one of my professors made a comment to the class to make sure that you spell and grammar check your work. She said when you turn in grant request proposals, submit articles for peer reviews, or submit your dissertations, when readers see errors, some view your whole document differently.</p>
<p>Also, don't just rely on spell check because a word may be spelled correctly, but still may be wrong. For example, "Deer Admissions Officer," probably would not be caught by spell check.</p>
<p>Dear all,
I'm in a fix. I've just submitted my EA supp essay and found out immediately afterwards that I wrote "makes" instead of "make" in the last paragraph. This is an awfully competitive school. Please say honestly if you think I'll get kicked out, so I can start assembling the other apps (OMG)</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about it. Colleges don't expect you to be absolutely perfect. If you were perfect, you wouldn't need to go to college.</p>