I just reviewed an email that my kiddo sent out that had a small typo (he wrote match, instead of math), but it got me wondering if admissions officers, coaches, etc. judge harshly or simply overlook typos in student communications: emails, essays, apps? Even at “top” colleges??
I can’t comment on college adcoms because I’m not one. BUT I was the person at my school who read cover letters and resumes for the job interview process. If there were typos, I put the application to the side…because most folks took the time to proofread…as they should.
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Since you asked for funny, and I find this funny, I will mention that I once wrote in a cover letter that I was “detail-orientated.” Oh, the irony. But no one seemed to notice and I got called for an interview anyway (although did not end up getting that job).
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I’m like you! It kills me to see a typo!!! I’m just wondering if college admissions folks are more understanding. 
Typos in a quick email between friends or in a social media comment, no problem. Typos in anything that is being sent out to the public, a client, or someone that you want to impress (AO, future employer) are a much bigger problem.
Our new principal keeps sending out weekly updates to parents with grammatical errors. It’s embarrassing.
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I agree with you. However, his email was somewhere in the middle. It was to a prospective coach that he’s trying impress, probably more athletically, but still a coach at a school with top academics.
I think coaches overlook things all the time - a lot worse than spelling and grammar - if it’s for the right athlete.
So an innocent typo or two, in this sense, likely not a big deal.
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It’s time to revive the clam fart thread
Tl;Dr version is he got into Yale.
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I don’t think this typo will be a big deal.
I read college apps and I overlook most typos (even tho I notice them.) The only ‘typo’ that would be an issue (for me) is naming a different school in the essays.
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I referred to an arboretum as an “arbortorium” for several months in conversation, text, and during at least one interview… to that school: it’s ok, I would have rejected me too 
Some colleges care more than others but still wouldn’t worry about a typo in an email to the coach.
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One of the best I’ve seen was in a Help Wanted ad in the local paper a few decades ago. A day care was looking for teachers, and I suspect they meant to say that it was a “nurturing” environment, though instead it read “neutering”. I’d think twice before sending a kid there.
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I can’t imagine ANY admissions officer trashing a student’s app because they typed match instead of math. Or vice versa. One typo or one misplaced comma isn’t a disaster. Even a few aren’t a disaster, but it does depend on the selectivity of the college or the program in question.
As a tutor who helps students with essays, I actually think that NO errors of any sort in a personal statement are a bit suspicious. I have rarely met a teen who has 100% perfect punctuation and grammar skills.
The worst errors are those that change meaning, or that fail to give meaning. And many errors combined will cause problems. A single instance or two of a spelling mistake, wrong verb tense usage, or a misplaced comma isn’t the worst thing a kid can do.
I will preface my thoughts with a disclaimer that I am speaking in generalities and that I’m referring, in general, to more selective colleges. Some of the things I mention won’t be a problem for some colleges. If I was an AO, which I’m not, these things might cause me to reject a student:
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More than one run on sentence. It seems that simply by instinct, a student should be able to tell where one idea begins and another ends. If that sentences takes you too long to read and is lacking punctuation, you might want to ask another adult to review it. Lack of awareness that the sentence is far too long tells me something about general lack of awareness. As in the writer couldn’t be bothered to review his own work and felt the multiple run on sentences were fine.
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Lack of commas that provide meaning. I like to use this classic example: The chef was inspired by cooking her family and her dog. If you write more than one sentence like that, I might put your app in the reject pile because you’re showing a blatant disregard or ignorance of, arguably, the most important punctuation mark. It should be obvious that commas are needed because they provide meaning. It tells me you paid no attention whatsoever in your English classes, and that you probably never make an effort to use commas in any other writing. Yes, they are that important, which is why there are so many questions featuring commas on both the SAT and ACT.
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Using a lot of big words and clearly having no idea of their meaning or usage is a no no. One wrong word usage is fine, especially if the student is at least in the right ballpark of the word usage. Perhaps the student wrote ‘The NY Times’ adage is, “all the news that’s fit to print.” I knew that one day I wanted to be a journalist there.’ I think motto or slogan would be much better choices, but I’d forgive the word choice. However if the student had used not quite right words throughout, or simply wrong words, that would make me question everything about the student. The worst examples might be something like “The teacher was egregious/egalitarian/egotistical when she made the class take the quiz again.” Definitely trying too hard to use a big word.
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Consistent misspellings, poor grammar, lack of punctuation and so forth means the student didn’t know, didn’t care, or didn’t seek advice before hitting submit. Maybe a student didn’t have enough educational background, but an essay littered with such errors would give me serious concerns that the student isn’t ready for the rigor of a four year university.
There are probably some other reasons that I’d reject an app due to essay errors unrelated to the actual content, but in terms of errors not related to content, these four stand out.
Now, let’s see if anyone has an issue with my post. 
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Re funny typos stories, my own kid had a bit of a disaster. Her essay was almost perfect but she didn’t realize that when she uploaded it to CA, it formatted strangely, putting weird punctuation in random places. For example, exclamation marks in the middle of words and similar. The kicker was she didn’t notice it for six weeks. Yes, six weeks, at which point she had already submitted a few apps.
She only discovered the mistake when she was completing a new app and I think I had read here that there were some possible formatting issues. She checked and had a minor heart attack. She immediately contacted the schools she had submitted to, attaching her correct essay and asking them to please use that version.
It was fine, of course. One school actually sent back a very funny note and she ended up getting into all but two colleges she applied to.
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That was a great thread. But it wasn’t really a “typo” was it? - thought it was a silly inserted line they forgot to remove. But yes, PRICELESS.
I’m Mr. Type O…
ETA: I wrote a book about ten years ago. I proofread that thing cover-to-cover three or four times, yet a couple of typos made it through to production – a couple of spacing issues and a colon that should have been a semicolon. Ugh.
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PSA for those writing essays in the common app - it doesn’t accept foreign alphabets or any diacritics other than the most common (e.g. tilde, acute, grave). So always do a preview; it you can’t read it, neither will the AO’s
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I think you are absolutely fine.
More problematic are mistakes such as on the Harvard essay accidentally cutting and pasting “I have always aspired to attend Yale and enjoy the world’s best Pizza in New Haven”. These things do occasionally happen.
In your case you have proven it wasn’t AI generated😀
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Or “My learning will be complete by studying economics with world-renowned Professors Smith and Jones.” Well, Smith is now at Chicago and Jones died last year
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My issue is when students don’t recognize the errors and have never been corrected.
I saw a HS yearbook at our county fair. It was my former HS and it received an “honorable mention” award. The theme, photos, layout were fantastic!
The written descriptions were embarrassing.
On almost every page,
“The following students are ‘APART’ of the club.”
‘BELEIVE’. (Believe)
“SUPRIZE. (Surprise)
The editors were students. There were a ton of run-on sentences.
One or two typos, no big deal. Consistent errors are just embarrassing.
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