So, I made a mistake on my UChicago supplemental that just really annoys me every time I see it and it’s not hard to see either, although I missed it when I proofread before turning it in.
I indented all my paragraphs of a 700~ word essay except for 3 by accident, and they’re kind of in succession to each other. All three paragraphs are short, either being like 2 sentences or just dialogue but it’s still annoying to look at when I reread them. Do you guys think this would look bad for me?
There are 22 “paragraphs” total in this essay and I didn’t really repeat this error in any other essay but will it hurt me? Should I contact them to clear this up?
By the way, UChicago makes you submit pdfs instead of just copy+paste common app so that’s why I indented
Students at this juncture are obsessing over tiny things that make no sense to anyone else. I bet covid and lockdowns make it worse.
Your essay will be read over 2-3mn. Then if you make first cut it’ll be read again. Indentation will not figure into what they look for.
So relax and do something else with your time.
Sometimes slight errors like this can make people reviewing an application question the authenticity of the application. Although it may sound silly, some people question whether or not the essay was truly written by the person who submitted the application. There are stories about admissions officers reading amazing essays only to find out that a parent wrote it. It is possible that it may lead to suspicions about copying and pasting other people’s works on a similar topic.
@Stupidaspirithous In my opinion, it is always better to be safe than sorry if you want it to be as perfect as you can make it. I am sure a quick email to your admissions officer explaining the silly mistake may be fine. You can ask your AO if this is something that could impact your application as well.
Thank you for your response! I appreciate the honesty. I don’t think authenticity will be a problem because the essay, in response to UChicago’s quirkiness, was a fictional story based on the prompt and the lines wouldn’t have worked in any other essay or any other year because the prompts are cycled each year. Do you think this will still raise suspicions or make my application weaker?
Thank you!
I think that indentation errors suggest that a parent had something to do with any essay. In fact, silly errors like that are much more likely when a stressed high school student is trying to finish their applications at 2 AM.
There really is no way of telling. I do not know much about UChicago. If you think it may raise suspicion, then I would suggest informing your AO. As @MWolf mentioned, there should be no problem, but if you want to be 100% sure, an email wouldn’t hurt. It is better to be safe than sorry. I remember reading several articles on red flags in a college essay, and spacing is one, that is, if the AO does not believe that this is your true voice.
As for me, I am a type A person. I will do everything I can to make sure something is 500% perfect, so I would send an email right away. I am that annoying kid who asks a million questions for clarification. One day, my mom asked me, “Do you use two spaces or one after a sentece?” I looked at her confused and said, “Two, why?” She said that she read an article saying that two spaces raise suspicion that a parent may have written the college essay. Like I said, it is better to be safe than sorry. An email would not hurt. An AO would be the best person to make the decision of whether or not it would raise suspicion or make your application weaker.
Please DO NOT bother your adcom with an issue of indentation. Do you realize how “small picture” that is? Do you really think that’s the kind of information UChic looks for? Do you think UChic wants to admit a kid who thinks that’s what matters about their essay?
(As for parents, if anything, if your parents had had a hand in it, they would have caught it, so, if anything, it shows they didn’t.)
@annahebert : when adcoms read an essay, and see 2 spaces where they ought to be, they think nothing because good punctuation is expected. If an applicant is from an upper middle class family it’s expected parents will have read over the essay, what matters is that parents didn’t temper with it by adding sentences.
Voice is NOT punctuation.
@annahebert I agree you’re obsessing over nothing. And that it can be dangerous advice to this OP.
Plenty of errors happen in the download itself. Most often, formatting and wacky characters inserted. (Not common anymore, but it happens.) Adcoms can read through these. They aren’t playing junior detective or guessing that, OMG! The parent wrote this.
But if you bug them unnecessarily or fret over the wrong minutiae, you can bet they’ll wonder about your app.
NO, you DO NOT contact an adcom to bother them with your obsessive (and not accurate) feelings about perfection. Instead, you focus on what IS key. They aren’t grading you or judging you for some high school assignment.
So, OP, not to worry.
ps. I think MWolf has a typo in there, is not agreeing a parent was involved.
@MYOS1634, I do agree that it is a silly issue; although, I have friends who got into certain schools—I will not disclose which school(s)—and such, awarded certain scholarships, and got As in high school English classes because their mom actually wrote their essays for them. I am not saying that what they did is undeserving of their successes, as if they were to have submitted essays without their mom’s “help”, they would have received all of that regardless of it being wrong. My mom and I highly suspected this to be the case as their mom is a writer and constantly says “we” whenever college discussions came around. eg: “We had to write this 800 word essay for Johnny’s application to XYZ.” My mom and I sent a copy of my personal essay to her as a test to see what she would do when we asked her to “look over” it. Turns out, our hypothesis was correct as she sent us back this copy with hardly any of my original words. Is it possible that all the people who received their essays and applications do not know that this was not their true voice? Yes. Is it also possible this is the case with several students in the same boat? No. Could whoever reading OP’s essay believe this is a red flag? Who knows.
@lookingforward I know that there are several red flags in college applications from simple errors. College Application Red Flags | IvyWise Personally, if I were reviewing over an application, I would spot several things that could potentially be red flags, as I go through everything with a fine-tooth comb. One of my friends sent me a personal statement to look over, and if you saw that email thread, it looked like a literal monstrosity. People would honestly hate me if I became an English teacher—lucky future high school students because Spanish is my passion.
@Stupidaspirithous, I am not an admissions person, so I can not tell you what exactly they are looking for or if they think there would be red flags revolving around that. If you think that it is something that really bugs you, it really wouldn’t hurt to send an email to your AO asking an opinion regarding formatting.
The two spaces after a period is something that came from typewriters, and is often an indication of an older writer. Boomers and some Gen-Xers were taught to do so, but fewer Millennials, and, as far as I know, no Gen-Zs learned to type this way. That is why it can be a red flag.
So it isn’t errors, but different writing styles. Using semicolons can be a red flag, or being especially careful with avoiding ending a sentence with a proposition and such. Errors are normal and do not signify anything but a moment of inattentiveness.
I like semi-colons. They break out two related parts of a thought. But I also like dashes and use them often in casual writing.
Bottom line is most essays are not as superior as many kids seem to think. And while any one of us can suppose what is a red flag, that’s only your perspective. Reviewing apps is less speculative than some seem to think. Adcoms don’t tend to fill in the blanks. What a kid submits is what he/she submits. Sure, they can throw up their arms, in despair. But there’s no time to get side-tracked by things like indentation. You do not want your reviewers asking, What is she thinking? Or worse.
And no, I do not base my position on what some pro counselor says is up or down. They’re generally trying, imo, to attract attention, build a business. Many haven’t been around the hidden parts of admissions in a long while, if ever.
Be cautious with this perfectionism. Now and in the future. It may be fun in idle time, but counterproductive when it comes across as too heavy, too distracting, a self-imposed stress.
@MYOS1634, 100% agree. Bothering an AO for reassurance over a formatting error seems needy and would call negative attention to what I’m sure is a strong application. I wouldn’t give it another thought. Best wishes to you!