Found a Mistake in Your College Application After Submitting? Here’s What to Do

You submitted your college application. Then you noticed something wrong: a typo in your essay, an incorrect grade, an activity listed as 40 hours a week instead of four, or the wrong answer to a college-specific question.

Your next step depends on what the error changes, whether the application has been submitted, and how each college handles corrections. The goal is to give colleges accurate information without turning a small proofreading issue into a stream of unnecessary updates.

First, Confirm What You Actually Sent

Before doing anything, open the submitted application PDF and find the error. If the information was submitted separately—through an academic record system, scholarship application, or applicant portal—check that record, too.

Do not rely on your memory or the document you intended to upload. Identify exactly what the college received and which colleges received it.

Write down:

• The section and question containing the mistake.

• What you submitted and what the correct information should be.

• Which colleges received the incorrect version.

• Whether it affects another record, such as your self-reported grades or testing information.

An error in your shared Common App information may appear in several applications. An error in a college-specific response may affect only one. Correct the mistake before submitting any other applications!

How Do You Decide Whether a Mistake Needs a Correction?

Ask yourself: Could this error change how the college evaluates my qualifications, understands my circumstances, contacts me, or processes my application?

That question matters more than how embarrassed you feel about the mistake.

The examples below are advising guidelines, not universal college policies. Follow a college’s instructions if it requires you to report particular errors or changes.

Minor Presentation Errors Usually Do Not Require an Update

An isolated misspelling, a missing comma, or an awkward phrase that leaves your meaning clear generally does not justify contacting admissions. For example, writing “volunter” instead of “volunteer” in an activity description is different from reporting 400 volunteer hours when you completed 40.

Inaccurate Information Deserves Prompt Attention

Errors that misrepresent your academic record, accomplishments, or circumstances should be addressed through the college’s correction process. Examples include:

• Reporting the wrong grade, GPA, course level, or test score.

• Omitting a school you attended when the application requires it.

• Listing incorrect activity hours, dates, leadership roles, or award levels.

• Providing an incorrect email address or other essential identifying information.

• Answering a required eligibility, residency, citizenship, or disciplinary question inaccurately.

For grades and courses, verify the correct information against your transcript and the application’s reporting instructions. Ask your counselor for help if the issue involves your school’s grading system or a school-submitted record.

Application Choices Can Affect How Your File Is Processed

An incorrect major, campus, entry term, application plan, or testing preference may require action even when your academic information is accurate.

Check the college’s instructions promptly. Some changes have deadlines, restrictions, or their own request forms. A test-optional selection, for example, may not be changeable after a specified date.

If you selected the wrong admission plan, contact admissions and involve your counselor, especially if Early Decision is involved. Do not assume that editing a field elsewhere changes the plan attached to your submitted application.

Essay Mistakes Require Judgment, Too

An essay error belongs in this same evaluation process.

A small typo usually does not need an update. A wrong file, an essay cut off in the middle, a significant factual error, or a response written for another college deserves closer attention. If you simply thought of a stronger opening or now dislike a paragraph, that is a revision preference. It is generally not a reason to ask admissions to replace a submitted essay.

If you used the wrong college’s name, check the college’s correction policy and consider a brief inquiry. Be realistic: a college may decline replacement essays, and an accepted update may be added to your file without removing the original.

If You Already Submitted: Follow That College’s Process

Editing Common App does not retroactively correct an application a college already received. Common App directs applicants who need to change submitted information to contact the college’s admissions office for instructions.

1. Check the Applicant Portal and Admissions Website

Look for an application correction form, update form, document-upload option, or instructions for changing specific answers. Use the designated route. A general document-upload box may not be the correct place to change your major, admission plan, or testing preference.

2. If the Instructions Are Unclear, Contact Admissions

Use the contact information on the college’s official admissions website. Include your full name and application ID, if available, and identify the exact correction.

Minor mistakes may not be fatal to you application BUT it does signal, at a minimum, poor proofreading and a lack of attention to detail. We encourage all of our applicants to print the pdf of each of their applications in duplicate and go through it with a parent or trusted adult line by line.