Why you shouldn't look at your essays AFTER you've submitted

Question

I must have read over my Michigan essays 3 or 4 times and found no spelling mistakes. I had a friend look over the essay too, and nothing!

Well, I decided to reuse a part of a Michigan essay for my Duke essay and guess what??

I found one! :oops:

RF

riverripper · Answer

Dont worry about it...chances are it will be missed by the readers anyways. They go through so many essays in a day that they arent going to stop and think about a word. They will know what it is supposed to be and blow by it without a second thought.

refurb · Answer

I actually laughed when I first saw it! I kinda did a :roll:

. I was feeling pretty good about getting my first app in yesterday and this find kinda took the wind out of my sails. But! I need to keep it all in perspective. It's not a big deal. RF

Raabend · Answer

My supervisor said that she accidentally submitted one of my letters with the wrong school name!!!!!! She wrote the correct school name 3 times, then accidentally wrote a different school name toward the end. Is this certain death for me???? She wont show me the letter. Im freaking out. :shock:

refurb · Answer

Not to sound like an ass, but your post made me feel a lot better.... :wink:

Can your recommender still access the reference letter? Can she change it? But honestly, I wouldn't really worry about it. It's your recommenders mistake, not yours. I don't think it will reflect poorly on you. RF

mbagal1 · Answer

Something similar happened to me last year, my manager submitted an early draft instead of the final version and let me know about it. I called the school and they asked him to email it to them. He then got a confirmation email from the school (Chicago GSB) that the recommendation had been updated. I thought they were pretty prompt and thorough about it. So - contact admissions, it can be sorted out.

msday · Answer

I totally agree about not looking at essays after they've been submitted. As for the wrong school in the recommendation, it's almost inevitable, and adcoms must be used to it. I hope they just chuckle and keep going on your app. At least that's how it would work in my world.

kwam · Answer

Spellings errors and even some grammar errors are ok. I Think that if YOU, perhaps not your recommender, loose the school name then it's very awkward. However, if you keep doing mistakes all over your essay, then things will be strange, especially if English is your mother language.

I wouldn't be that concerned, if I were you.

I wouldn't be that concerned, if I were you.

MattG2185 · Answer

Honestly -- this thread made me feel better. I submitted Kellogg and Wharton about 5 days ago. Friday I was having someone read my essays for Chicago (which have some similar paragraphs for the first essay), and he found a relatively minor grammar error. He also had a suggestion for a way to soften something so it didn't sound as bad...but alas...cannot change what is done.

Matt

Matt

BSchoolorBust · Answer

Refurb,

If it makes you feel any better, I was told by an Adcom member at Columbia that minor spelling and grammatical errors don't matter one bit. Adcoms look for content. They want future business leaders, not creative writers. So don't stress out at all!

refurb · Answer

Thanks! I figured as much.

I've read a lot of interviews of adcoms and almost everyone says "grammar and spelling errors look bad". But I assume that's when they get to the point of being distracting.

RF

sam77sam7 · Answer

When I spoke with a Tuck AdCom she mentioned quite a few times that she reads sentences similar to this all the time: "Hanover is a beautiful town where I can flourish, that is why I am such a great fit for Harvard Business School."

She said she just laughs about it now... but it does reflect poorly.

~Sam

She said she just laughs about it now... but it does reflect poorly.

~Sam

Travel09 · Answer

I haven't submitted my essays yet, but I can see why reading essays after submission will be a problem. Rereading essays I thought were good 2 weeks back, is painfu......Essays left lone, go bad with time

buffdaddy · Answer

ahh yes, the famous Biryani effect :-)

Refurb, now that it's settled, go on tell us the word and how you spelt it. It is Monday afterall. :-D

Yahsek · Answer

I got 5 bucks on "teh" :lol:

refurb · Answer

I guess it was a grammar error, not a spelling error. I used the word "work" when I when I should have used "worked". "In light of the many projects I've work on....."

What amazes me is that I overlooked the error through 3 proofreads, but then caught it immediately when I reread it for my next application. RF

buffdaddy · Answer

Given that's the only error, don't worry about it. It is too minor.

terp26 · Answer

ohh found one. How dumb could I have been. WHY DID I GO BACK AND READDDDDDDD WHYYYYYYYY

Anonymous · Answer

I hope you are right! I just reread through my Kellogg essays because I am sitting home sick and bored out of my mind and low and behold, I found 2 grammar mistakes! I swear, I thought I read through them a million times. Figures.

refurb · Answer

LOL! It feels good not to be the only one.

RF

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