We get it. You pressed submit on your personal statement and now you’re wondering: Did spellcheck miss something? What if I wrote a really bad essay and got rejected early and YIKES now I want to change it? And, if so, what do I do next?
We’ve got good news and bad news for you.
First, the bad news.
Once you’ve submitted your personal statement to a given school, there is no going back. This is why it is absolutely critical that you make sure your essay is exactly what you want it to be before you press submit.
So if you submitted your application, and now you’re wishing you could go back — it’s too late. You can’t.
But there is good news, too. You can do better next time.
While you can’t edit your personal statement after submitting it to a college, you can edit it between submitting applications. So if you pressed submit there is something you can do to avoid that sinking feeling in your stomach next time.
This is our checklist for making sure that the personal statement you submit is truly your best work. Save it, follow it, and avoid that sinking feeling:
Read our blog post, “24 Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a College Admission Essay.” We have a lot of posts about how to write a killer college essay, but this is a great place to start.
Write a fantastic college essay (btw we can help with that).
Use a spelling and grammar check software like Grammarly to check your essay for spelling errors, grammar errors, confusing wording, and repeated words or punction marks.
Ask a parent or teacher to review your essay for spelling, grammar, and formatting issues — because sometimes tech misses something.
Save your final essay as a PDF. While the Common App accepts multiple file formats, PDF is our preferred format.
But What if the Problem Isn’t Spelling?
If the problem isn’t a spelling error and you’re nervous that your essay simply wasn’t good enough, first we need you to take a deep breath. We’re used to hearing from students soon after they’ve pressed submit that their essay was terrible and the world is ending and they’ll never get into college. That’s normal human anxiety talking, and we understand.
If you still believe your essay has serious flaws after you take a sec to relax and reflect, it’s time to bring in help. And not the same help you used last time because, clearly, that hasn’t worked out for you.
Before you submit another application, you have the opportunity to rework, improve, or even totally overhaul your personal statement — but remember, decisions made out of panic or anxiety are rarely sound ones. Don’t start fiddling with your personal statement until you’ve had time to cool off and can address what you have to work with from a place of strategy and reason.
If you’re looking for a smooth college application process, get in touch. We make sure students never get that sinking feeling.