Should I be worried?

College Essays
1

In one of my UC essays, I included the following passage, without the asterisks: “Excuses are like a*******,” he would rasp, “everyone has one, and they stink.”

I submitted without thinking whether the profanity would hurt my chances because I thought since it was quoted, a saying, and not intended to be offensive, I would be in the clear. Three days later, that one word has been gnawing on my mind. Obviously, profanity of any sorts isn’t ideal, but should I be this worried, or am I overreacting? And if so, should I revise it and e-mail the admissions office?

2

I think it’s fine! In my English class, our teacher showed us examples of student essays that she had collected over the years. One of them had profanity in a quoted context like yours and she specifically pointed out that this was okay, but other profanity is not

3

Thanks for the reply! That’s definitely relieving to hear.