My regular essay is completely fine, but I sent the wrong optional “Additional Info” essay that (!!!) explicitly states my first choice is Harvard (!!!) to Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth. I’m about to call the offices tomorrow and send in the correct one, but will this significantly affect my chances?
To be clear this is not the regular Common App essay but the optional supplement that asks about any circumstances/info they should know about. I wrote a specific essay for Harvard my top choice and a general one for the rest of my colleges but forgot to change it because I applied to Harvard early and hadn’t touched my Common App since then.
Like I said, this isn’t the very important regular essay, but the optional additional information one. My regular essay is very good. Or at least I’ve been told by numerous people.
Is that very important?
This “Additional Information” one: http://imgur. com/RKxtGF6
Mixing up school names (telling Columbia that Harvard is your first choice, for example) is one of the worst mistakes one can make before sending an application. I do not know how much this mistake will affect you, given that it was optional, but the consequences aren’t too good. I would recommend you send your correct essays in as soon as possible.
Hnnng I feel like such crap now, I literally wrote that I’ve dreamed of attending Harvard my entire life…
Also, can I send more essay stuff to them? I have some more things that I wrote that I might want them to see - is it okay to send more stuff to their offices?
This is why one usually recommends not writing additional essays in the additional info section because it gets sent out to all the colleges. Most colleges leave enough room to do so in the supplements
Yeah, this is 100% on me. It had just been such a long time since I submitted the Harvard app (September 15) that I completely forgot about that innocuous “Additional Info” section at the end… :(( FeelsBadMan
@spkang2020 If you believe that your additional essay shows a side of you not reflected in your application that may help you stand out positively, it wouldn’t hurt to send it. However, don’t send in letters begging them to accept you or anything of the like; admissions officers are busy during this time, and essays that contain nothing but desperation and unhappiness will certainly not help your chances.
@chubii well yeah you can change it, that was my original goal, have the specific essay for Harvard and change it to the general essay BEFORE I applied.
Once you submit, however, the PDF has already gone through and nothing can bring it back
