It’s February 15th and I have now realized a terrible error on my application that is basically a guaranteed rejection. What I wrote in place for a short essay is very embarrassing.
2 months before the deadline, I was adding colleges and wanted to finish the general questions at that time and do the essays after so that I could have the small checkmark that appears on the commonapp and I could make the essays much better. Essays included in the application part (not the separate supplemental essay) that were not optional needed a minimum word count so to get that checkmark on the left of the application I wrote stupid things. Before I turned in the application I copied and pasted my essay I wrote in Microsoft Word into the box and apparently forgot to press continue…
This was the question and my response that the Adcoms will be seeing or most likely, already saw.
Please tell us why you selected this specific academic program and what other academic programs interest you. (minimum of 10 words, max of 200 words)
Because of yes add aa da da da da fa fa f
Words entered: 12
Since it’s so late already should I withdraw my application? How am I going to explain to them that I was careless and didn’t even bother to review my application before I turned it in? Sigh…
At this point you’ve already applied and paid the application fee. I would just let it sit. You will probably get rejected but why not wait and let them do it. What do you gain by withdrawing the app now?
I agree with me29034. What’s the point in withdrawing? And why not send an email with a sincere apology and the correct essay? The worse that will happen is they won’t read it and you are no worse off than you are now. The best is that they will and maybe you have a chance.
If the college for which you committed this mistake was one you’re really keen on attending, send the admissions office an email ASAP explaining what happened and include a proper answer to the prompt. If the college is not really a big deal, I wouldn’t care too much. But in either case, I would probably choose to send an email like @ClaremontMom recommended.
But sorry to hear about the dilemma. Just remember that no one is perfect and even I have things on my application that I shake my head at thinking, “How could I have submitted this??” Just know that adcoms are aware applicants make mistakes.
Thank you for the advice, I’ll see what I can do. I really want to attend this college but it’s quite selective and my chances are low. Will be sending in the email now, take care all!
Send an email with a sincere apology - type it here first if need be to make sure you don’t do something careless - and attach the correct essay. Some colleges may not accept it but some may. It’s worth a try.