After going through my submitted essays, I found a pretty glaring mistake that I did not fix prior to submitting the Common App and the Supplement to Cornell for ED. The mistake is:
“Thus, I chose to major in xyz because it will give me the best opportunity to learn how to make positive and effective differences for people in the community who have addictions.”
This is the last sentence of the introductory paragraph. I chose “xyz” as a placeholder because I was unsure of how to correctly type out the major that I applied to. The issue is “Global and Public Health Sciences” is spelled three different ways on Cornell’s website; “Global and Public Health Sciences”, “Global & Public Health Sciences”, and “Global And Public Health Sciences”. So I thought I would try to choose the most appropriate one and replace xyz with it. Ultimately, I did not and currently feel like an idiot. I don’t understand how I did not catch this before submitting. Later in the essay, in the conclusion, I actually state the major:
“I believe that the multi-disciplinary curriculum offered in the Global and Public Health Sciences major is the most appropriate choice for me given my strong interest in the extremely vital issue of addiction.”
I don’t know what prompted me to insert it here and not there, but this is what happened. I realize that now I can either do nothing about it, or maybe email/call an admissions office member explaining the issue and maybe they will allow me to submit a corrected essay. From what I’ve read, people say that it’s not a HUGE issue and I shouldn’t waste their time with it (it might only make it look worse). But this is still something over which I have become quite upset as this is ultimately where I would like to attend, hence the ED.
Sometimes drawing attention to a mistake may be worse than just leaving it. I do not see any explanation that would make you look better. If I were you, I would leave it alone.
It is a small error.
But for any future applications, check the preview carefully before submitting!
Good luck.
Thanks for the feedback so far. I’ll probably just hold out and hope for the best. Albeit, their website does display the name of the major in three separate ways.
Have you asked your college guidance counselor for advice on this?
Here’s my thoughts:
Think how you’re going to feel if you say nothing and don’t get accepted? Will you wonder “If only I had caught that mistake…” or will you be fine with it?
If you write to your admissions person, and let them know you caught the mistake, and feel embarrassed (or whatever you feel) for not proof reading one last time. Then they know you caught the mistake. If you say nothing, you leave it to the essay reader to guess why you wrote “xyz” instead of the name of the college.
I ended up writing an email to the designated Cornell Admissions Counselor for my state. Pretty long email, with screenshots of their website showing the name via different ways, but at the same time stressing that this is completely my fault. Added the corrected essay and asked if they could place it in my file or at least add it. Figured it was worth a shot since the deadline hasn’t passed and I figured they haven’t started reviewing applications (maybe they review them as they come in, who knows). Feel a bit better, somewhat anxious about reply.
That’s great! I think you showed initiative, and now they know you caught the mistake. Plus, it’s before the deadline so hopefully they will just replace your corrected essay with the one you initially sent. You’ve done all you can do, so take a moment to breath and congratulate yourself! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed you get accepted! Let us know how it all turns out.
We will place this email and the attachment in your file.
Mistakes like this happen every year - please try not to be so hard on yourself. "
The attachment was the corrected essay. Feel much much better now. Thank you for the suggestion Mimi2018. If you are also applying to Cornell (or anywhere else for that matter), I wish you the best of luck this cycle.
And mistakes happen in downloading, too. I’m not sure I would have assumed some stupocracy from “xyz.”
But I’m wondering what the stumble is among “Global and Public Health Sciences”, “Global & Public Health Sciences”, and “Global And Public Health Sciences”. I only see an ampersand, “and,” and the error in capitalizing. You must have been tired. Best wishes.