I was just re-reading my applications and I noticed one grammar mistake in my conclusion. I accidentally wrote “to seeked advice” instead of “to seek advice.” Will this error cost my application? Thanks.
No, it will not. Not only are schools not “dinging” you for grammar (unless your whole essay is poorly written or has a ton of mistakes), they may not even notice it.
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Agree with @RoonilWazlib99 , no it will not doom your application. Do you think you are the only kid with a mistake in the essay? (No, no you are not). AO’s realize you are human, and guess what, no human is perfect.
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Word of advice for future writing. If you don’t already do this when in your editing stages do so:
- run spell and grammar check (most people well aware of this of course)
- if you are comfortable to have someone else read it, do so, but at this stage emphasize you want them looking for spelling/grammar, not necessarily the actual content
- read your work out loud very slowly, pausing with each word a bit, like an old school robot. Reading too fast may make your mind anticipate what you meant to write and thus skipping over errors. Make an effort to read each word for what it actually says. You will sound silly because you shouldn’t be reading at a speed you would normally read. Do this a couple of times throughout the process.
- USE READ ALOUD (on your computer)!! Do not look at the writing as it reads to you. Concentrate on actually listening to what is being read and if anything sounds off, stop it and look at what you wrote. If you did this I would guarantee you would have caught the typo because our ears pick up on mistakes more readily than our eyes that you’ve exhausted looking at your work for hours already. It’s normal to overlook something we anticipate or expect to be there. Ever take one of those fun eye trick tests where letters are missing from words or replaced with numbers yet you can still read what is there? Our ears don’t let that happen. They can be a wonderful editing too.