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You pressed submit, opened the PDF one last time and saw it: a typo in the second paragraph, or worse, the wrong college's name in a supplement. It happens to a lot of applicants every November, and it is almost never as damaging as it feels at midnight.
Here is what you can change, what you cannot, and what is worth doing about each kind of mistake.
What is locked and what is not
| Situation | Can you change it? |
|---|---|
| Application already submitted to a college | No, not that copy |
| Essay for colleges you have not submitted to yet | Yes |
| New grades, scores or awards | Usually yes, through the college's portal or by email |
| Recommendations | Your recommenders submit them separately |
Once an application has been submitted to a college, that copy is final for that college. There is no unsubmit button, and the college reads what it received.
You can still edit most of your Common App afterwards, including the personal essay. The changes apply only to colleges you submit to from then on. So if you fix your essay on November 2, your November 15 and January colleges get the new version and your November 1 colleges keep the old one.
A typo: usually leave it
One or two small typos in an otherwise careful application rarely change an outcome. Admissions readers read thousands of essays written by seventeen-year-olds. Emailing a college to report a missing comma draws more attention to it than the comma ever would.
Fix it in your Common App now so the next colleges get the clean version, and let it go.
A real error: tell the college briefly
Dear Admissions Office, I submitted my Early Action application on October 30 (Common App ID 12345678). My response to your community question was accidentally replaced by a draft for another college. The correct response is attached. Thank you for your time. Maya Chen, born March 3, 2009.
Some mistakes are worth a short message: the wrong college named in a why-us essay, a supplement pasted into the wrong box, a missing paragraph, a wrong grade or test score. Email the admissions office, or use the applicant portal if it has an upload or message option. Give your full name, date of birth and application ID if you have one, say what went wrong in one sentence and attach or paste the corrected text.
Do not resend your whole application or apologize at length. Many offices will add a corrected document to your file; some will not, and either way a calm, short note reads well.
Sending updates after you apply
- Most colleges email you a link to an applicant portal within a few days to a couple of weeks of submitting. Use it to check that your transcript, recommendations and scores have arrived.
- Significant news, such as a major award, a new leadership role or improved test scores, can usually be sent through the portal or by email. Small things can wait.
- First-semester senior grades go to colleges on the mid-year report, which your counselor sends. You do not need to send them yourself unless a college asks.
- If you are deferred in December, a letter of continued interest is the place for updates.
Before your next submission
If you found one mistake, assume there may be another. Before you submit to the next college, open the PDF preview the Common App shows at the review step and read every section, not just the essay. Check the college name in each supplement, every word count and that formatting survived the paste.
Questions
Your first full review is free: a score out of 100, a note on every sentence, the paragraph costing you most and a 10-point draft check, in 5–10 minutes. We never write a word of your essay.
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