So I went back and checked the PDF of my Hopkins app today, and realized that an ellipsis (…) in the Common App essay was changed into a period. It was not a matter of lack of editing/proofreading – I wrote the essay far in advance, but for some reason my formatting gets messed up when I copy and paste from Google docs to Common App. I had noticed in the past that some of the paragraphs weren’t spaced right, and made sure to fix those every time I pasted. This was the only instance in which the ellipsis issue occurred.
I went back and checked the Google document, and it was definitely correct in that. Reading through the essay, the error is pretty noticeable to me. Should I email admissions about this?
Btw if you’re wondering why this didn’t impact my other schools, it’s because I used two different Common Apps. The one I used for JHU I had originally used for a few other apps, which I submitted earlier. I copied those directly from Microsoft word. However, I transferred all of my docs to Google docs for easy organization/access. Because I used my alternate Common App essay for the app I submitted immediately before JHU, I had to re-paste Common App #1 – this time copied from Google docs.
No. you should relax and forget it. How OCD do you think admissions counselors are? Don’t worry about it. An explanation would be absurd.
@lostaccount Okay, that’s reassuring to hear. I know I’m probably being paranoid; I just don’t want them to get the impression that I didn’t put enough effort into the app because JHU is one of my top choices.
I can understand your worrying but you shouldn’t. With everything they have to read and as little time as they have, a mistake in a punctuation is not going to command any attention. You have to give them ore credit than to think they would focus on a nonsense issue. 
@theleenbean: Were you using the 3-dot ellipsis, or the 4-dot (which includes the closing of one sentence or phrase)?
My daughter says she found that the 4-dot is reduced to a period when one seeks to change it to a 3-dot, as the Common App system chooses to see the 3-dot as one character. It was only upon close inspection that she caught this, and went back in to make changes.
@Waiting2exhale I used the 3-dot… that could definitely be the case. Luckily I caught it for the essay I submitted today, but that’s really interesting. I expect that it has probably happened to quite a few people if Common App is indeed changing it automatically.
@lostaccount Ah I hope so!
@Waiting2exhale After a quick google search it does seem like this is Common App glitch. http://www.scoreatthetop.com/blog-1/new-glitches-just-discovered-in-common-app-personal-essay Hopefully the adcoms are aware #:-S
The difference between an ellipse and a period is not likely to make a great deal of difference in your essay. If anything it is likely going to be overlooked. In most cases anyway a period and a ellipse are interchangeable even if you think one would sound better
@shawnspencer It was an ellipse in the middle of a sentence, so the mistake is definitely discernable.
@theleenbean Happened to me. I sent an email explaining that I think Common App had reformatted my essay whenI sent in my app, and sent in the correctly formatted essay.