So, my kiddo submitted his application last Thursday, very excited. F&M was the first college he ever visited and so it’s his first real application. About ten seconds after he submitted it he realized that there was a typo in the last sentence of the main essay, he had used the word ‘is’ twice. Oh, well, hopefully the essay is good enough that they’ll forgive it.
This morning I was looking through the common app and I noticed a couple of typos in F&M’s response to us. No mention of his typo, but they can’t possibly have read the essay yet, right? For a second I thought that they were trolling us.
So, wondering how we should proceed. Do I send them a discreet note about their typo and not mention my kid’s typo, or do I have my kid write them pointing it out and asking for forgiveness for his own typo?
Ignore it. Using “it” twice is no showstopper. For all the college knows, it’s a hiccup in their download. (That’s not an excuse for poor writing. Just understand this is very small mistake. No impact.)
Do no send a note. First, it is a bad idea to bring attention to a small typo. Second, certainly a parent should not send a note pointing out a very minor error in their child’s essay – that would show the applicant has not taken full responsibility for the application.
Let it go. Move on to the next application. It will be fine. Minor typos happen all the time.
Unless the typo is in the nature of a factual error (e.g. directing you to an URM page when you are not), I’d leave it be. An extra “is” is not going to make or break the application and the readers may not even notice it. If you feel you need to respond to the F&M note, I’d have your kid do it.
If the F&M typo is causing you to be confused as to what their email is saying then your S could ask for clarification. But it seems as if you want to point out the typo as a way to absolve your S’s own typo. I understand the temptation- kind of like see how easy it is to press send w/ a typo included! But don’t do it. You risk looking petty and petulant, not qualities the school is dying to have among the student body. If your S wants to address his own typo, then have him do so (though it’s so minor, it’s not necessary), but don’t point out theirs.
I haven’t given in to the instinct. It’s still going to bother me, though. It’s sort of like seeing someone in public with the tag hanging out of the back of their shirt or a bit of toilet paper stuck to their shoe - you want to point it out but it’s too intimate a gesture for a stranger.
Just continue demonstrating interest in F&M. Be sure to click on every email they send you, respond to any correspondence they might send to your son from a student, send thank you notes for anything you might have reason to etc. Maybe set up a second visit? Has he interviewed? If not, it would be a good idea.
Do not say a word about the typo(s) (yours or theirs).
No matter what, do not have correspondence from the parent. Make sure all efforts are from your son (even if he sets up an interview).