a big mistake essay

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The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life

T here are many mistakes I have made in my life . I hope that as I have learned from them, the lessons I’ve shared so far will help you avoid the pain and regret that follows from them.

Today I want to share the biggest mistake I made with you.

The Importance Of Situational Understanding

Before I tell you, let me share with you how I got here. Without understanding this, you may read it and not fully absorb how important it is.

See, that’s the thing about some of the most profound lessons in our lives: it takes more than just being told a lesson, to really understand the lesson.

We have to learn them at just the right time, in just the right context, or it doesn’t actually sink in and make any difference.

Your mentors may tell you this lesson in passing, but without a proper frame of mind to accept it, you won’t realize just how powerful it is and brush it off.

The SECOND Biggest Mistake…

And in fact, that may be the second biggest mistake I have ever made in my life:

Ignoring good advice, believing it didn’t apply to me, because I was not yet ready to receive it – and wasting years of my life until I finally came around and understood how valuable that information was.

How I Realized My Mistake

We all have subconscious assumptions we make every day. We don’t even realize we have them until we are suddenly challenged on something that is “obviously” true to us, or that we take for granted every day.

One of those “obvious” assumptions I used to make was, “it’s ok I can get a second chance.” Now I know logically that’s not true, but emotionally that’s often how I treated chances in my life.

However, the truth is, I learned there are opportunities where we never, ever get a second chance.

What we may get, if we are lucky, is a new opportunity to start over.

Or a new opportunity to try to make amends.

Or something that in our own minds allows us to “make up” for a lost opportunity.

But that friend you hurt, the birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions we miss – there is really no going back.

And that is why….

The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life Is This

I didn’t truly value my time or the opportunities it afforded me: I pretended I would get another chance, and so instead spent time on things that didn’t matter in the long run and that I did not have to do – missing out on the single chance I had.

Now yes – that sounds vague, but let me give you some more details of why it matters, concrete examples and action steps.

Because understanding time famine , and how valuable each day is is what led me to this realization.

Why Fixing This Mistake Cannot Wait

There are a two subconscious issues in particular that drive this mistake. And the problem is, these subconscious issues make you feel like this mistake isn’t urgent – even though in reality, it is an emergency .

Issue 1: Pretending Letting One Thing Go Doesn’t Matter

When my days were passing me by, I never thought to myself “well, I’m letting my life slip away.”

Because in that moment, it feels like “It’s just one day” or “It’s just this one time” and “I can always see my friends tomorrow.”

You feel like there will always be another day, there will always be another chance.

But think about this: depending on the study, up to 95% of people’s actions are habitual. That is, we do the same thing over and over again. Every time, and every day, we take an action that’s not truly valuing our time and making the most of it, that’s another step towards building that habit.

And once you start letting one day or week go by without seeing your friends, or calling your family – it’s easy to let another and then another. And then your new life, your new habit – is one where that experience no longer happens.

Why this matters : If we don’t treat this as an emergency today, we will build habits that reinforce not valuing our time – and it will be even harder to break those habits later.

Issue 2: Not Realizing Our Mortality

While related to the first, this is a little more subtle.

And what changed it for me was when friends and family started passing away.

I remember one, she was full of life and still in college. I was busy with classes as well. We messaged each other, planning to get together but kept putting it off – even though we were literally at the same university.

However almost two years went by without us getting together once when she suddenly passed away.

Now what I want to emphasize is: I didn’t have just one chance to see her. There were hundreds of days, and dozens of times we had kept in touch. But not once did we follow through on those plans because we were too busy.

For months, that experience really shook me. I’ve forgiven myself and allowed myself to move on, but it’s a mistake that I made that cannot be undone. There is no second chance.

Why this matters : If you don’t appreciate your own mortality, you feel no urgency to change. There is “tomorrow” to change – and tomorrow turns into never.

What Can You Do About It?

There are a few action steps you can take right now:

Start calculating “costs” and “benefits” in terms of time . Often we look at something and weigh the monetary, currency costs because those are easy – the price of the item is right there. But try to get in the habit of thinking of time as your most important currency. Is “express shipping” really too expensive at $20 (even if it looks like a total rip-off) if the benefit is 3 more days of using a product that will save you 2 hours a day?
Try to be more aware of falling into habits and default behavior . I talk about this at length in my article about taking control of your life , the short version is this: when you’re doing something, really ask yourself – is this what I should be doing? Or do I just do this because I’ve always done it? Example: Do I always walk in the house, sit down and turn on the TV? Or do I always check my phone for social updates as soon as I wake up, and before I go to sleep?
Start the day by paying yourself first . As the day goes on it gets more hectic, and you may have more external things to respond to. If you can start the day fresh by focusing on yourself and your long term goals, even in just a small way for a few minutes, it will help you build that awareness of your time so you can value it throughout the day.

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What have you learned from your biggest mistakes – Sample answers & more

Everyone makes mistakes . You can read the biographies of billionaires , or of people successful in endeavors that are hard to measure with money (art, spirituality), and you will see that even the best of the best made some big mistakes in their life. And they often paid the price. But they leaned from their mistakes. Failures haven’t broken their spirits . On the contrary, they made them stronger. Perhaps this is what makes the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful one, or at least it seems so… Anyway, interviewing for a job , or even for a place at a college, you will often face questions about the BIG mistakes of your life , and what you have learned from them. Let’s learn how to deal with this one!

Several things matter for your interviewers. First one, that you can actually admit making mistakes, without blaming someone else for them . Second, that however hard or painful your failure was, it didn’t break you down . And third, that while you have an ability to forget the setback and move on , you do not simply forget it. On the contrary, you try to analyze your mistakes, and learn from them , making sure that you’ll do things better next time around. That’s the impression you want to make on the hiring managers, or on anyone else who asks you about your biggest mistakes.

Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to the questions. Bear in mind that in this case, you talk about the lessons you learned, and not about the mistakes. At least not in detail. If you want you can also check sample answers to a question “ What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your career? “. But let’s move to the answers now. I hope at least one of them will resonate with you.

7 sample answers to “What have you learned from your biggest mistakes?” interview question

I have learned from my biggest mistakes that you should not bet everything on one card . Sure, it is great to love your trade and devote everything to one profession. But things change, what is super secure today can be highly insecure in 5 years. And if you do not have any other qualifications, it can easily happen that you change $100K/year job for $30K/year job . But I’ve learned my lesson, and I do not blame fate or God or anyone else for my present financial struggles. I have the job I have now. And I keep working on mu education and skills , to be able to get something better, and to make myself more flexible on the job market.
People change . That’s what I learned from my biggest mistakes. They both relate to relationships. I have divorced two times , which isn’t a great resume for someone in their early forties. But here we go. I also learned from my mistakes that one should not do things they aren’t mature for yet. But I want to assure you that I am not bitter because of my failed marriages. First of all, there’s more to life than marriage. For example you can have a job you like and see a meaningful purpose in . That’s also important, and can bring a lot of happiness and joy to your life.
I am still very young, only 21 , and it is hard to say whether I made some really big mistakes in my life. Sure, I haven’t always decided as I should have. And I said some things I regreted later. But it is also true that when you’re still at school parents decide many things for you… From the smaller mistakes I’ve made, however, I learned that nothing is permanent , and every day is a chance to try from scratch, to start something new. Maybe it is just a naivety of youth, but I feel that one should not dwell too much on their mistakes. We should live in the present, not in the past .
The most important lesson I’ve learned from my biggest mistakes is that they belong to life . The only people who never make big mistakes are people who never really leave their comfort zone to try something extraordinary. I often aimed for perfection, and ventured into the unknown . Had some successes, but also big setbacks. Nevertheless, I see it all as a part of a journey, because I know that mistakes and failures belong to each exciting journey.
My biggest mistakes are management mistakes . I would say that I became a better manager because of them. Of course, I could have done things right the first time around. But then I also believe that regardless of how many books on management you read, and how many experienced people you talk to, certain things you can only learn from your own mistakes . Now I already know that empowering people works only if you have right people in the team, and that individual approach to each person or project you manage is the key . And I sincerely hope to benefit from these lessons in my new job with you.
My biggest mistakes were a lesson in humility for me really. Had a great GPA, always considered myself intelligent, and sort of thought that the world belonged to me. But I made many mistakes as an analyst, and I also lost a good job because of one of them. But maybe from a long time perspective it is the best thing that could have happened to me . Because now I am humble and know that I can never stop learning, and never become complacent about my abilities.
I’ve learned that greed and desire are bad masters . We didn’t have enough savings to go for a big mortgage, and yet we went for it. Because we wanted a good house for our children and also prestige. Other people had big houses, so why wouldn’t we get one too? Of course, problems happened, my wife lost the job, and suddenly we weren’t able to pay the bills . Lost the house, experienced a lot of stress, family problems. It was just horrible, and only because we were greedy and not happy with what we had. I know that I am not going to make a similar mistake ever again. And though it was a painful experience, I am grateful for it . It taught me an important lesson that I will never forget.

* Special Tip : This isn’t the only difficult question you will face while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity , and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package . Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

Regardless of your mistakes and how much they hurt, try to stay positive

Many people spend half of their lives mourning about missed opportunities , or things they could have done better. But what happened happened, we cannot turn back the clock, and miserable people only bring miserable atmosphere to the workplace. Hiring managers are aware of it, and try to hire people who think positively, regardless of their mistakes.

Ensure them tha t you are over it yet. Had your share of pain and disappointment, but eventually you try to get the best out of the situation , which means learning from your mistakes, and looking forward to better future ahead. That’s the attitude they hope for, and you should do your best to show such in an interview.

Do not limit yourself with mistakes you made at work

For someone in their mid thirties it is easy to come up with some big mistakes they made at work. But what if you are just starting your professional career ? In such a case, you have two options. One is saying that you haven’t made any big mistakes yet (check sample answer no. 3 on my list). The second one is actually referring to some mistakes you made in your school life, relationships , etc. At the end of the day, your attitude matters more than anything else to the interviewers . It doesn’t matter for them much whether you talk about mistakes you made at work, or mistakes you made in your personal life…

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:

What makes you stand out from the rest?
Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline.
How do you define success?
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I realize I made a huge mistake in my thesis and am not sure what to do. I'm defending very soon (days away). What should I do?

I realize there is a somewhat similar question posted, but my question is different in that I found a pretty big mistake in my thesis. It's such a big problem, it changes my results. I almost wish I hadn't noticed, and been so careful to go back and check every thing, because I really don't know what to do about it except fix the errors/interpretation errors and discussion (today). I defend very soon (in days). It's possible that my committee won't notice it, but I feel like the guilt might drive me insane. I'm worried that my chair noticed it in the past, but they didn't correct me because they feel I'm incompetent (which I feel in ways I am when it comes to stats). Should I re-write it and let my chair know and ask what to do? I need to defend soon in any case. I wonder if I could just present as though I'd already corrected it and e-mail the revised manuscript beforehand. I'm just not sure how they would perceive someone who overlooked such a obvious mistake. Any advice would be appreciated.

112 Talk to your supervisor as soon as possible! – dsfgsho Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 20:45
136 The most praise I ever got was for pointing out flaws in my thesis during the defense. It shows integrity, which is the most important quality to have in research imo. – Minix Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 20:51
35 Is it a PhD, MSc or BSc thesis? – Dmitry Savostyanov Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 20:53
73 Take a deep breath, put it as far from your mind as possible, and go to bed early. None of this is stuff where being in a panic helps. In the morning, talk to your supervisor as early as you can and ask her to go over your concerns first thing in the morning. It can very well happen that it's you misinterpreting the data right now and that there isn't a mistake at all (it happened to me a good six weeks after I'd defended, with the corresponding paper under referee consideration). If there is a mistake, it's not something that a weekend panic will help solve. – E.P. Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 0:32
41 @Gellen I'm very interested in knowing how things turned out. Please let us know! – solalito Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 5:43

10 Answers 10

The thesis and thesis defense is less about having the results you wanted to have, and more about demonstrating that you know how to do good quality research and can work on that somewhat independently. It's about figuring out what questions to ask and what methods can be used to find the answers, and then applying those methods to come up with answers. What the answers actually are is not as important [for the purposes of passing a thesis] as the process you took to get those answers. Your discovering this issue and taking prompt action to fix it shows attention to important details and integrity in the knowledge-discovery process. Sure, it would've been better if you'd caught that earlier, but you've caught it now, before your defense, and you're rewriting the discussion and conclusions to reflect your best analysis of the data.

In my opinion, your having found this and your efforts now to promptly fix it say more [positively] about what a thesis is supposed to evaluate than most completed theses.

Don't panic. Talk to your supervisor and committee. Tell them what you found. Revise your document to reflect the new understanding. Maybe you'll have to delay the defense a bit, but more likely you'll present at the same time and talk about what you found; the committee might require you to deliver a revised document [some weeks after the presentation] reflecting that before they sign off. That might take you some time to do but it should be OK, and will leave you with work you can feel is more solid.

Kudos to you for finding the issue and having the integrity to stand up for it. This should help you in the long run and the core evaluation at issue here, at the cost of some extra work to revise and maybe some scrambling to re-practice your revised presentation.

Edit: Congratulations on passing!

8 Thanks, you're perspective makes me feel a little better! It'll definitely cost me some sleep in the coming days to prepare, but it's worth it. Hopefully my advisor and committee won't be too annoyed. – Gellen Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 5:06
6 I think you need to be careful not to generalize in your first paragraph. Where the thesis and thesis defense is most common (or required) is for a PhD - in that case if an error invalidates all or the majority of the stated contributions, graduation is unlikely. The fact that the poster is completing an MS thesis should be placed in the question itself of in your response. – user58322 Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 8:19
4 @jrh A MS thesis is research with training wheels, this is a way for you to learn how research is conducted and show that you have mastered the skills. A dissertation at the Ph.D. level is much more about demonstrating your ability to independently drive the field forward. The test there is not do you know how to conduct research, but can you successfully apply those skills to an appropriate problem. – Ukko Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 14:30
4 @jrh Ukko has the right of it. While making some level of sufficient contribution is necessary for a PhD, I have not seen a similar strict requirement applied for a MS. Indeed, in the US, generally the exact same Masters degree is given to those students who take the coursework option, project-based (thesis) option, or do a direct PhD and receive the MS after finishing qualifiers. Novel contributions (and from them published papers) are great and have significant impact on the success of a later PhD application, but are above and beyond the minimum required to graduate with a MS. – user58322 Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 16:47
2 @jrh My program uses the thesis as mostly a learning experience for the most part. They didn't expect for me to have made 0 methodological mistakes, but my committee pointed them out and discussed them with me. That being said, there are people who have failed during the proposal if their project is especially unoriginal and basic. So, in my program anyway, there is an expectation that you'll do something more advanced than you might have at an undergraduate level. – Gellen Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 21:11

Get off of Stack Exchange and contact your advisor, right now. He/she is the most qualified person to help you understand what is going on and what to do about it.

It's possible you might have to delay your defense in order to fix it. That would be unfortunate, but not the end of the world.

On the other hand, if you know about a serious error and defend anyway in the hopes that your committee doesn't notice, that is deeply unethical. We are talking "kick you out of grad school", "revoke your degree years later" unethical. That is not an option. Forget about it.

It seems to me unlikely that your committee knows about the error but is intentionally ignoring it in order to "trap" you. That would be very inappropriate behavior on their part, and I've never heard of it happening. There would be nothing for them to gain by doing so. And even if this were the case, pretending you don't know about the error would only make things worse.

16 Thanks Nate, I've e-mailed them. I know they probably won't check until tomorrow morning (they don't answer emails on the weekends). I definitely won't try to defend and not tell them! I think I'm just panicking and thinking illogically. – Gellen Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 21:40
15 its just a MS thesis ^^ no big deal. – Rüdiger Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 22:33
17 @Rüdiger These people are going to be OP's academic references, for one thing, and given that there is an ethical question here, resolving that incorrectly could affect a career very negatively, could it not? – msouth Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 23:48
7 @Rüdiger Just wondering, could you explain why this being a MS thesis makes a mistake like this "not as bad" as a mistake in a PHD thesis? I hear stuff like "It's just a MS thesis" somewhat often but I don't really understand why they're not as much of a "big deal". For some reason I've heard sky high expectations of MS theses and rock bottom expectations presented with equal validity and not much reasoning as to why. Even between departments at my own school I hear both sides... – jrh Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 13:49
28 Hi guys, yea, I was able to correct my thesis and send it to my chair via an all-nighter. I'm sure they were annoyed, but they reviewed it and suggested some wording changes here and there.I can't imagine that my thesis is anything remotely like a dissertation, but it's still been challenging due to ADHD (I overlook details all of the time!) and my father passed away last semester unexpectedly. I wanted to go straight into a PhD program after this degree, but I'm delaying a year since I think I need to improve myself in some areas. – Gellen Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 23:12

This happened to me. I found an error in a complicated mathematical proof in the appendix to one of my papers. As I flew home to defend it I was fixing the mistake on the plane. In the defence, I told them about the error. They told me to fix it and awarded me the degree. This was a formal political theory paper; I doubt if they even read the appendix, but I'm glad I told them.

Unless this mistake blows away your results, it's best to be honest. (Actually, it's best to be honest in any case. There are lots of bullshitter academics out there; don't be one of them.)

36 Yea, it changed my results, BUT it made them better. It took me all night to edit my thesis, but I sent the revised copy to my chair this morning, and they asked me to reword some things here and there, but that's it. – Gellen Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 23:15
14 No, especially if it blows away your results ! Do you really want an erroneous outcome to remain, and quite possibly screw up someone else who depends on your research to further his? – Carl Witthoft Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 12:05

I'll add a suggestion to the excellent answers provided already:

When we find an error in our proof or even our claims - especially in something as significant in our lives as a these (even if it's an M.Sc. thesis) - we tend to believe that everything is ruined and the research is useless. It's really not. Even if you can't fix it in a day. I would go into details regarding why that is, but that doesn't matter now.

The important thing to remember is: Don't make the reporting of the mistake the focus of your thesis presentation. You should definitely be fair and open: When you get to the part which directly relies on the error, tell the committee that as you were preparing for your defense, you found a mistake in that claim / in the proof of that claim. Don't start going on and on about the mistake and how you made it and how it invalidates everything ; make your presentation like you would if you hadn't found your mistake, and when you get to where the mistake actually happens, that's when you say what the mistake was instead of presenting the erroneous argument. Let the committee decide if they want to focus on it or whether they would rather hear the rest.

Andrew Wiles' famous proof on Elliptical Curves also proves Fermat's last theorem 356 years after Fermat proposed it. The 1993 proof contained an error that took Wiles over a year to fix with the help of his assistant Richard Taylor. Even the greats make mistakes or overlook things. This is why papers are peer reviewed in the first place. Even with the mistake, the original proof was valuable as it showed innovative approaches to the problem.

If you could fix the thesis in under a day, it wasn't a major error. In the words of Benjamin Franklin "When in doubt, tell the truth. It will amaze your friends and confound your enemies." Just be glad for word processors. Back when I was in college, I had to type out my papers by hand on a typewriter, and created the graphs using rulers, triangles, and Rapidograph pens.

First, Speak to your advisor immediately. That person is in the best position to guide you. Second, realize that the most valuable stock-in-trade in academic life along with competency is integrity. Research mistakes WILL happen, that's a fact of life and the imperfect world we live in. [Albert Einstein did not get General Relativity right the first time he published it and save for WWI, experimental data would have disproved the incorrect version of GR.]

Needing or waiting for someone else to point your error out (especially since you discovered it already) speaks poorly of both one's competence AND integrity and surely you don't want that outcome.

If it's too late to amend the thesis prior to its defense, it's better that they learn from you of the error than having someone else point it out. That would demonstrate both your competence AND integrity.

A good academic committee will recognise the positive significance of a candidate who proactively checks their work and takes errors seriously . They would see it as a plus for you, not a minus, whatever the effect on your thesis, because the thesis itself is a tool to assess you as a researcher in the field, and this action will indeed reflect well on you. (And you won't have to worry about someone else noticing it in future!)

Write them a formal note explaining what you found, and your initial assessment of its impact - extra time, any changes to the paper, etc - and tell them what you'd like (an extra week or month to rewrite that section, or update it to fix the issue, or to consider if any other part is affected and needs changing as a result).

Be matter-of-fact and cordial - and have a verbal chat with your supervisor in which you show him/her the note you have drafted and check it looks OK to them. That also gives your supervisor a heads up so they don't look foolish or caught by surprise, and a chance to give any other advice.

1 Hi! Thanks for your advice. That's pretty much what I did and it worked out fine. I passed my defense last week!! – Gellen Commented Apr 3, 2017 at 20:49
Oh congratulations!!! – Stilez Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 17:37

In independent study as an undergrad I reviewed draft MS and PHD papers for Math errors. Every paper had some error or errors, some were minor, and some were major. It was never a big deal unless the grad student got defensive. Accepting the criticism and moving on was part of the process. The students who positively engaged with my adviser to understand the flaws and gain a deeper understanding were really appreciated by their adviser and the committee.

Are you (1) a life scientist and (2) worried about the stats?

I worked as a statistical advisor for several high-profile journals in the life sciences. Your hunch that your stats is wrong is probably right. Your hunch that the examiners may not have noticed is probably also... well, I should not say too much.

Be frank about your misgivings. If you are able to make coherent arguments during your defence, that will in itself be a positive thing.

And learn stats properly, for crying out loud.

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A Big Mistake i Made

This personal essay will describe a major mistake made by the author, the circumstances surrounding it, and its consequences. The piece will discuss the lessons learned from this experience, how it led to personal development, and the importance of accountability and growth from errors. PapersOwl showcases more free essays that are examples of Google.

How it works

Introduction

Not all opportunities in life are effective a student life is full of many ups and downs. Personally, I happened to be caught off guard last year when I made the biggest mistake in my life. I received an invitation letter for a job interview at Google.Inc .I presumed that this contract was an added advantage to me since I could raise enough money to finance my school life and improve my living standards. Little did I know that the company was offering a full-time job I left my self-wondering how about school?

My first day with the Human resource manager at the company seemed like I am in heaven, yet I had to stay calm and wait for the oral interview, as I was joined by other applicants.

The toughest part of the oral interview was when I had to explain to the HR whether I would manage to comply with the companies rules and regulation and the school at the same time. I staked a lot in school since it will pave my way for a future career but here had I started applying what I learned in class in the real-life experience?

With all the courage I answered to the Human resource manager that I have to commit myself to both school and the job since I had no other source of income furthermore many students out there were wishing to get such an opportunity I had, some threaten to call off school for job to build their financial background. And I saw like a blessing as I was staring my career at an early age and the best time, what I had was to just work hard in books and try to balance the two, I lacked parental advice since I was far from my close relatives and nobody by then could advise me. Definitely, I started my new Job and joined the team of Google Inc. market researchers. Two weeks before the start of the school semester I was officially oriented to Google Incl. and started my new role.

It sounded funny but helpful to me. I some of the duties I was assigned to do were evaluating competition in the market, monitior clients satisfaction and customer prevalence I consulted clients on specific project requirements and designed questionnaires and interviews. This was very enjoyable to me as I was exposed to many individuals and developed a lot of experience such as interpersonal communication and learned on how to relate with people. The job earned me some dollars and I felt fit to the society. I advanced and started living a better life than some of my schoolmates at least I knew I was heading somewhere a step ahead in life. When the college reporting date was announced I explained to my supervisor that I had to attend school, to their surprise I never looked land behaved like a student. I behaved maturely and In every conversation with the administration, I was to show respect and maturity.

So the chance was a guarantee that I attend some lectures. After expressing my real situation to the mentor in the school, he said that it was a nice step that I decided to start working, but thought I earned some money from a job I could have concentrated much in school. I started feeling where I went wrong but I motivated myself that I trust I will do best in school as I have been doing. The company allowed me to work on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. This sounded good though It meant that I will buy all chances miss the lectures scheduled on those days. Life started to be tough I had to wake up very early in the morning revise my notes and leave for a job .Consequently the I stated failing in many of the examinations in school, my tutors advised me to seek peer counselors who might really advise me on what to do. I hesitated and hoped that if I work a bit harder I will improve academically.

At the same time the managers in the company I worked for noticed that I missed for some days and I did not attend job as per the contract requirements, I explained that I was sitting for my examinations at the school. They seemed not to believe and decided to do a pay cut on my monthly salary” this was so painful to me since this come during the time I was made to pay my school fee. I had to get half of the total salary. I had to seek financial aid from my classmates though most of them were broke ” I managed to get a loan from an old-time friend. It started becoming tricky for me when I promoted to be an executive market researcher in the Google Inc. I was to attend the job premises on daily basis and I had no other option now. This forced me to decide to Skype most of the classes from Monday to Friday. I never knew that I was digging my own grave in academics. I was fired from the Google incl. A few weeks later for me really could not cooperate with fellow employees since I was all stressed. Further, I have announced the most underperforming students in the college and a requested to retake the course right from the start of the first semester since My GPA could not allow me to attend the next academic year. I regret this situation and I cannot advise any other student to fall into the same trap like me .I made a big mistake.

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How to Write a Personal Essay: A Time I Made a Big Mistake – 3 Best Examples

Understanding a Personal Essay

Key Elements of a Personal Essay

Authenticity: Your voice should be genuine.
Narrative Structure: Begin with an engaging introduction, build up the narrative, and conclude with your reflection.
Emotion and Reflection: Show your emotional journey and the lessons learned.
Preparing to Write About a Big Mistake

Reflect on Your Experience

Identify a Meaningful Mistake: Choose an event that had a substantial impact on you.
Analyze Your Emotions: Understand how you felt during the incident and afterward.
Consider the Outcome: Look at how the mistake influenced your life.

Structuring Your Essay

Introduction: Set the scene and introduce the mistake.
Body: Detail the incident, your actions, and the immediate consequences.
Conclusion: Reflect on the lessons learned and how the mistake contributed to your personal growth.
Example 1: The Overlooked Responsibility

Introduction

The incident, immediate consequences, reflection and growth.

Example 2: The Financial Faux Pas
Example 3: The Broken Trust
Tips for Writing About a Big Mistake
Be Honest: Authenticity resonates with readers.
Show Emotion: Allow your feelings to come through in your writing.
Focus on Growth: Highlight what you learned and how you improved.
Keep It Relatable: Ensure that your story has a universal appeal and that readers can empathize.
Use Anecdotes: Incorporate specific details to make your essay more engaging.
Final Thoughts on Writing a Personal Essay About a Big Mistake

How to Write a Personal Essay: A Lesson I Learned From My Mistake - 3 Best Examples

Personal essays allow you to share unique life experiences and insights. Learning from mistakes is a relatable theme that showcases personal growth. Dive into how to write a compelling personal essay with three remarkable examples.

How to Write an Essay on 'A Time I Stood Up for What I Believed In': 3 Best Examples

Stuck on how to write a powerful essay about standing up for your beliefs? Explore our guide with three impactful examples and writing tips that capture your courage and personal values.

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay: 4 Tips, 3 Common Mistakes, and Outlining

You might be required to write a literary analysis essay in high school or college, usually as part of an English literature class. While you might get a sample literary analysis essay from your teacher, you must learn how to outline and structure your essay. We’re sharing our tips on writing a compelling literary analysis essay with the help of our AI writer tool.

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Tiny Buddha’s Breaking Barriers to Self-Care

“Note to self: Beating yourself up for your flaws and mistakes won’t make you perfect, and you don’t have to be. Learn, forgive yourself, and remember: We all struggle; it’s just part of being human.” ~Lori Deschene

When I was in twelfth grade I took a World Issues class and learned about colonization, child soldiers, and how some children, by no fault of their own, had a much more challenging life than I’d had. After that, I wanted to help but wasn’t sure how.

Then, at age twenty-three, I was hired at a non-profit organization where I had the opportunity to work with teenage girls in prison. Finally, I had a real opportunity to help and I wanted to be perfect.

It was my dream job. I was excited. But then I made a big mistake.

I walked into the prison and filled out the visitor’s sign in sheet. I waited until Sharon, the classroom teacher, came to meet me.

She was rushing, as she often was, trying to accommodate me and keep teaching her class.

“A couple of girls tried to knock themselves off last night, including Kate,” she said quickly, “so they’re not in class today. But it’s fine to go ahead with the interview.”

“Attempted suicide ?” I stammered.

“Yeah,” said Sharon, “They’re just trying to get attention. Don’t worry too much about it.”

I cringed. My breath got short and my stomach tightened. I couldn’t imagine that it was only about getting attention, and something felt off about going ahead with the interview.

Before I really had time to process what had happened Sharon opened a door with her key card and held it open. “Kate’s in here with one of the staff, go ahead. She’s fine,” she said. I stepped through. She let go of the door and walked off quickly to get back to her class.

I was interviewing Kate that day for a blog post. My organization wanted to profile her to show the breadth of work that we do. I had a list of questions I’d prepared and a recording device.

I’d been working with her class for a couple of months. I was running a workshop on advocacy, so I went in once a week. I’d brought in guest speakers to inspire the girls, and now they were working on their own advocacy project—telling their stories through a short film.

I liked Kate. She wasn’t afraid to share her opinion and was a bit of a class clown. She was seventeen and had had a difficult life but was tough and resilient. I could tell her sense of humor helped all the girls through the hard days.

She seemed fine. We joked around and then got into my prepared questions. I turned on the voice recorder and started asking her about her childhood and her life.

Half an hour passed quickly and then I packed up my voice recorder and said goodbye. A staff member took me through a series of magnetic lock doors and I left.

When I got back to my office there was a message from the manager of the prison on my voicemail. She’d heard I’d asked Kate how she ended up in prison. Kate hadn’t answered, but since youth in Canada have special privacy rights when they’re involved with the law, the manager was very upset.

She was also upset that that I’d interviewed Kate when she was in a vulnerable state and said that never should have happened.

I felt terrible. My face got hot and breath shallow. I’d wanted so desperately to help and now I felt like I was making things worse.

“What’s wrong with me?” I asked, “Why didn’t I follow my instincts and postpone the interview? Am I really making things better or am I just making things worse?”

These thoughts ran through my head for weeks following the event and I began to seriously question if I could do this job.

And I was scared of messing up again, so I became a perfectionist with everything I did. I would spend weeks editing a single email to make sure there wasn’t something inappropriate in it.

And eventually it got to be too much. It was my dream job but it was too hard. The girls’ stories were too sad. I couldn’t do as good of a job as I wanted to.

I could barely get up in the mornings. I was too tired, too depressed. I was burning out.

I knew I couldn’t look for another job; I’d just be looking for something similar. I’d landed my dream job but couldn’t do it. I needed to press the reset button on my life.

So I moved to a yoga and retreat center in the Canadian mountains and spent two years learning to meditate, learning what was within my control , how I could help, and what was not my responsibility.

And eventually, I learned how to forgive myself for the mistake I made with that young woman. I realized that my intentions were good, that I hadn’t meant to hurt her, and that I’d made a mistake but it wasn’t quite as big as I’d thought.

And after two years of studying yoga, I went back to the same job. Working with youth with similar stories, I learned to do it better. I still made mistakes but was better at forgiving myself. And I could see that the positive impact I was making outweighed these errors.

If you’ve made a big mistake (or even a small mistake!) you can forgive yourself too.

Here’s how:

1. Tell someone you trust.

The best thing I did after making the mistake with Kate was call my boyfriend. He listened to the situation and then said, “Bryn, honestly, if I was in a rough place and had attempted suicide, you’re exactly who I would want to talk to the morning after. I’m sure your kindness helped.”

My boyfriend wasn’t the type to give compliments, so I believed him and it started the process of forgiving myself.

It might be hard to be vulnerable and share your mistake, especially if you’re feeling deeply ashamed and afraid of being judged. But odds are someone who loves you will view your mistake from a different perspective and help you see the positive intention behind the misguided action.

2. Be radically kind.

If you’re anything like me, your instinct after you make a big mistake will be to punish yourself for it. You’ll think, “I have to work harder to make up for it.” You might tell yourself, “I don’t deserve to take a bath or go for a walk in the woods.”

So try your very best to be radically kind to yourself. Take that bath. Go to bed early and get enough sleep. Get outside or take a yoga class.

We’re more prone to make mistakes when we’re tired or stressed. So if you take care of yourself, you’re less likely to make future mistakes.

3. Realize you were doing the best you could with the resources you had.

Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you do better.”

You probably were doing the best you could when you made the mistake. Maybe you were overwhelmed or exhausted which both make errors more likely.

And now that you’ve made the mistake, you can learn from it and ensure you don’t make it again.

4. See that beating yourself up isn’t helping anyone.

Beating yourself up doesn’t take back the mistake and probably is just making you tired and maybe even depressed.

According to shame researcher Dr. Brene Brown , when you tell yourself, “I am a mistake” it sends you into a shame cycle that is correlated with depression, addiction, eating disorders.

The good news is when you tell yourself, “I made a mistake” you can learn from it and this is correlated negatively with depression, addiction, eating disorders.

I learned a lot from my mistake. I blamed myself for hurting Kate when she was already having a terrible day. And, yes, if I could go back I would do things differently. But I eventually realized my mistake wasn’t as big as it originally seemed and my intentions were good, so I could forgive myself.

I also realized it wasn’t just my mistake I felt bad about; it was also that Kate and the other girls had such difficult lives. I needed to learn that I can’t save people, and that’s okay. I can still make a positive impact, no matter how small, even if I’m not perfect.

If you’ve made a big mistake, I get it. It can be very difficult to overcome. But taking one step at a time, you can learn to forgive yourself and ultimately this will free up your energy to do more good in the world.

About Bryn Bamber

Bryn lived for years as a sensitive perfectionist with high anxiety and through Core Energetics she began to take steps to drastically reduce her suffering. She works with artists, healers and entrepreneurs through her podcast and program to help them achieve their sacred goals through healing childhood habits, patterns and trauma. Start today with the free Anxiety Training! And connect on Instagram , Facebook and TikTok !

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The 10 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid On Your College Essay

The recording will load in a moment., about this livestream.

Learn about the top 10 most common college essay mistakes and how to spot and fix them.

Jordan Sanchez, current sophomore at Harvard University, will walk through the most common college essay mistakes she has encountered while editing her own and others’ work. She will also provide essay examples and several exercises you can use to review and adjust your own work before, during, and after writing your college essay.

Throughout the presentation, she will be open to answering questions about the topics she covered most recently and her own essay writing process.

Video Transcript

Okay, Hey, everyone. So I just made a big mistake.

I just realized I was live.

And I wasn't actually live. How embarrassing is that? You know what, it's fine. It's whatever.

So hey, people, it's eight o'clock on the dot, I guess that's life, you know it. But today we're gonna be talking about the top 10 most common college essay mistakes. And I will basically be doing this live over again, because I was live for a little bit, actually, like 20 minutes. Okay, let's get started and do that all over again. So, Hey, everyone, I'm Jordan. I'm a sophomore at Harvard, concentrating in physics, with secondaries in computer science, and education. I'm so excited to be talking to you guys. Today, I have been seriously editing essays, since I would say May or June of this year. So I have read a lot of them. I've left a lot of feedback. And I'm just really excited to share with you guys some common essay mistakes. So you guys don't make them in your essay.

I just can't believe I was streaming for 20 minutes, but I wasn't actually on air. I'm like, still not over that. Yeah. So we're going to get into it. Um, yeah, let's go.

So today, we're going to cover a whole bunch of different mistakes, essays can be or not the essays and mistakes can be sorted into three different categories. So once you make before writing, so planning, essay topics, doing research, while writing, so structure, writing strategies, drafts, and then after writing, so editing, revising, and submitting, and just so you guys know, I will be doing Q and A's actually, throughout this livestream instead of just at the end. So right after the before writing, and right before the wall writing Part, we'll have a q&a. And then we'll have one right after it while writing and we'll have another one after after writing. So you can leave your questions. Oh, hey, people, I'm like, my phone is right. And I see the chat. So Hey, everyone. So excited for you guys to join me. Leave your questions throughout the presentation, and I will answer them at those specific parts. So the first thing before we get anywhere, any further into this presentation, we need to discuss the purpose of the essay and why it actually matters. So the admissions profile is made up of a few things. First is your academics, your GPA, class rank, course bigger, things like that. The next thing is your extracurricular, so activities, household responsibilities, things like that. Then you have exams, so s AP, ACT, APs,IBs, and Subject Tests. And then you have essays, so personal statement supplements. And I just want to reaffirm or validate any kind of worries you have about the exams. I know that College Board has been canceling a lot of their SAT, ACT, APs and things like that. But do not worry, it's not the end of the world. A lot of schools are going tests optional this year, which is really good for you guys. But because the schools are going Test Options, and you're basically losing this entire exam section, your essay will mean a lot more. So just keep that in mind. You want to make sure you're doing the most with your essays that it's going to be really really solid. I'm sorry, I'm laughing. I just can't believe I went live for so long. Okay, anyway, purpose of the common FSA, there are like some key things that the common app essay should do. And it gets a little bit more details about its role in the admissions process. I see some questions. Because they're related. So I'll answer them now. Do you recommend taking this subject test? or Why do you recommend taking the subject test because I was planning just take the sap specially do condition. If you are applying this year, if you are a rising senior, don't worry about Subject Tests at all. Like you don't have to worry about them because they're just irrelevant. Now focus on the SEC AC t. So yeah, but if you are a rising Junior, say the Subject Tests in this, what like june of your junior year, I think is like the general like standard. Next thing, what kind of household responsibilities would be valid enough to put on a profile.

So if you are caring for like a sick, sick, older or younger family member and it takes up a significant portion of your time, they go ahead? If you have a pet and you have to like walk the dog? Probably not. Maybe you have that in your family's business. Yeah, so anything that takes a significant portion of your time you want to put on there.

So the essays are the only time admissions officers get to hear from you directly. Do you want to make sure you're making the most of this opportunity? So whether your essays are awesome. required, you should always complete them to your best ability unless it's like an additional information section or disciplinary history section. If you don't have any disciplinary history, don't write anything for that essay. Like, there's no point. But if your family is affected by COVID, or if you seriously struggled with something in your high school career, definitely put in the additional information section. But aside from that your essays like common app and supplements are worth 25 to 30% of your admissions profile under COVID. So as you can see, that is a lot. So in general, the common app essay should give the admissions officer a clear sense of who you are, this is the only chance to showcase your personality and how it fits with the campus culture. Because again, it's the only time they get to hear from you directly. Without this essay, the whole application would be about you with nothing actually from you, which kind of like sucks. So you also want to show how you've grown or remain especially consistent, or any major lessons you've learned and how you implement them throughout your life. Usually, students do this by focusing on a specific moment and how it affected them. And we'll talk a little bit more about essay structures later on. You want to make sure you're being really specific about yourself in your experiences. And always ask yourself the question, Could anyone else write this essay and we'll talk a little bit more about generating unique essay ideas later on. And as always, you want to complete the picture you paint with the rest of your application, because this is a pretty hefty part, and it kind of like seals the deal. So a quick recap, the personal statement essay, which is same thing as common app essay matters, because one, it's your voice, the admissions officers really get to hear from you for the first and only time ever, to individuality, it really helps you stand out because it's your specific story. And no one can take that from you. Three college fit, like that's what essays are usually about just how well you fit into a college campus. And then for holistic admissions, so your essays can make up for weaker part of your application. And this was true of me, like my grades, like my, my classes are really hard with my grades like weren't, like, I didn't have a 99 or anything like that. And I truly think that my strong essays really, like helped me stand out and like really sealed the deal for my application, especially at Harvard.

Um, someone's asking, do you recommend submitting the same essay to multiple schools, and I actually have a slide up about this, it's kind of towards the end. So if you hang tight, I do want to answer that question just really thoroughly. So hang tight till the end. So before writing, here are some SEO mistakes that you can make. And if you have any questions about this before writing section, drop them in the chat as I go through them. So like you won't be kind of like rushed and stuff like that. And I want to make sure I get to your questions. So the first mistake most obvious is writing about the wrong thing. So regardless of what you write about, you want to make sure your topic is unique, engaging and authentic to you.

Um, someone's asking, you just mentioned a personal statement. Does that mean the common application essay tips also work for personal statements? Since you're all applying to undergrad? Yeah, personal statement CommonApp are pretty much the same thing. When you're applying to like grad school or another program, it may be like personal statement is like what do you want to do at the school, but since you're applying to a four year bachelor's program, like personal statement and comment from same thing, Okay, back to the slide. So you don't want to write a four sob story, a lot of students think you have to write a sob story to get in. None of my essays were sob stories, because that's just not the kind of person I am.

And I got it. So it's completely fine. Don't worry about it. There are a whole bunch of essays that worked successful essays that are positive, so don't be afraid to use that to your advantage. The next thing is someone else's story.

A lot of students will talk about struggles their family member had, or some crazy experience their parents went through, which is great if it actually affected you and how you've grown up. And if it's led to some like significant change in your life. You don't want to write someone else's story in your essay, because we don't actually get to learn about you. The whole point of the essay is sort of AOs to learn (AO is short for admissions officer by the way,) like they want to learn who you are. And if you would belong on this campus, not about your mom or your grandma or your dad or anything like that.

Next thing, like some students just choose not to show growth. And I think it's important to show growth, even if your essay is not about a specific like, I experienced this and it changed my life forever. Like it's totally okay if your essay is not that, but you do want to make sure that you are growing as a person in your essay. Because think like a story. This essay is basically a story and you want to have a plot and you want to show character development, stuff like that without the essay just seems really flat. The next and most common mistake is that you choose and it says I can't hear you. Well, you keep going in and out. Okay, let me see if I could like, do something with my audio. I don't really know, to do much. But hopefully, hopefully the recording will capture this because I don't want you guys to not hear me good. Can you guys hear me good? Oh my god, I can't believe I did Nicki Minaj reference. I'm sorry about that. So the next last mistake is writing an essay topic that is way too common. So some essay topics are overdone, literally every single year. So I don't want to it's not impossible to get into a school with a common essay topic.

Yeah, y'all are laughing. Oops. Okay, anyway, it's not impossible to get into a school with a common essay topic. It just makes it a lot harder to stand out. And you want to stand out like that's your goal in the college admissions process. I'm going to talk a little louder. Hopefully my roommates won't hate me. So obviously, like the next natural slide is the most common essay topics. So basically admissions officers, as I said, they may read like up to thousands of essays in a given application season. So writing about a common topic might hurt you and may keep you from standing out. So it said a child anyway. So yeah, period, I'm sorry. So you're the most common essay topics, you have sports and sports related injuries, like, try not to do that everyone who plays a sport writes about sports, please do something else. I promise there is more to you than like a basketball, I promise. The next thing is death of a loved one. I'm like, we love your grandma, grandpa, like gender nonconforming grandparent. But we need to make sure that this essay is about you that we're learning about you and your strengths and who you are. Okay, the next thing is divorce or an absent parent. So, especially with absent parents, I feel like a lot of students with absent parents lose a parent early on in their childhood, like, obviously, which will affect your life, like going forward. But you want to make sure that essay is taking place more recently, and I'll talk a little bit more about like, the timing of the events in your essay later on. And then moving with immigration, I will talk a little bit more about that, like, I'll circle back to it. And then COVID-19, because like, we're all living through a pandemic, no one really wants to read about it. But if you really have a transformational story, if something really happened to you, like during quarantine, that wasn't just like, Oh, I was sad, and I lost all my friends, like definitely talk about it in the additional information section, there is an entire section where you could just write about COVID-19. So if you have a story to tell, tell it there, don't use your common app essay for it. Now, as I said earlier, it's not impossible to read a successful essay about one of these topics, but it does make it harder to stand out. And I personally wouldn't take the risk going back to moving and immigration. So obviously, or maybe not. So obviously, a lot of college applicants are most of them are like citizens or not immigrants like they're born in the United States. So it's not, it's not that this essay topic is like super common among the entire applicant pool. But it is very common for either international or immigrant students, just because usually they rehash the same themes. And it's not bad, like immigration immigrating as a child is a huge thing. But you want to make sure you don't just talk about that you want to talk about something else that makes you more unique. And that feeds into my next slide about generating unique essay ideas. So the best way to create a real unique essay. Oh, thanks for saying you can hear me good. Make sure Kenny has Yeah, I'm not going to make that reference. Again, come your questions, by the way, because I think we're getting somewhat close to the end of this section, you want to make sure you are making an intersection. Basically, what this means is talking about two aspects of your identity, and how they affect each other. Because you don't exist in isolation. It's not like I'm on the cheer team one day, and then I like do something else. The next like, it's the same person doing all of those things. And they are bound to affect each other, especially in a country as like diverse as United States. So you can pick a hobby, maybe your race and culture, community life events, etc. and talk about how they intersect and affect each other and doing this will decrease the likelihood of someone else having the exact same essay topic as you.

So for example, someone saying like "I want to write about sports," it's like okay, sports are common, give me something more. So here's an example: as a girl playing male dominated sports conflicted with the values of my culture.

So a lot of girls playing like basketball. I don't even know basketball football, like other male dominated sports may write an essay about being a girl in a male dominated sport. However, when you add in the aspect of Your culture and how it like conflicts with the values are something that will make it a whole lot more unique because you're talking about the specific things that are unique to you, your life and your experience. For example, my essay was about my experience as a black student at a predominantly like white and Asian High School. And how that affected what I did was my title of Miss New York. And as you can see this, like talks about my race community, and my hobbies all into one thing. So it really like prevents anyone from writing the same essay, even though students may have similar essays, like maybe they like compete in pageants, or maybe they went to a predominantly white or Asian High School, like I talked about how I started a blog, and like, no one, I'm pretty certain not many people started a blog as a result of these experiences, do you want to make sure you're being very, very unique and specific. So to force yourself to come up with these things, like aside from just listing all the things that you do, and like drawing connections, is by forcing yourself to come up with 30 essay ideas. So you're gonna in one sitting, you're going to list 10, you're going to take like a one minute break, you're going to list 10 more, and then 10 more. And by doing this, you force yourself to get past a really like surface level. Things you actually want to get to like, what the meat and potatoes really unique sad is that no one else can write. And once you come up with an essay, like topic that you think you're going to do, ask yourself, if anyone else could write the essay? And if so, try to modify the topic a little bit. So the next this is actually Oh, you're missing the work Nice. Yeah, I was I was I actually, I think I'm going to be missing work. Again, we're still waiting on the results. But yeah, so this is like the biggest, biggest, biggest feedback if you haven't, edit your essay, and we'll probably say it's unfocused. So 650 words is not a lot. So you want to make sure your essay is focused, and that you're able to be specific about everything you cover. unfocus essays try to talk about way too many things. And this really, like messes up the central idea, and no one actually knows that it is. So once you come up with their general essay topic, say you want to talk about sports, because you haven't like come up with something really specific.

You want to make a list of all the possible ways your essay could go. And then you want to choose the one that's most relevant to you, and stick to it. So here's my example, about sports, because sports is common.

So sports can teach you like determination, and like develop your drive to win. But it also could affect your relationship with your parents, maybe you learned a lot of things from sports, maybe you learn how to balance sports and other commitments. And maybe sports helped you overcome stage fright. So as you can see, all of these topics, although they are under the umbrella category of sports, are very, very different and could result in completely different essays. So you want to make sure you do this with your essay topic, really sit down and take the time to go through all of it. And then pick one because that will force you to be super specific. And we learn more about you, which is good. And you want to make sure like just so you know, if you're writing an essay about sports and any of these elements, you don't pick one of these, like do this, do this exercise for yourself and pick your own. Okay, because it's your essay, you want it to be unique and all about you. The next mistake is not planning enough, and I see some questions coming in. And I will answer that at the end of the section. But the next thing is just not planning enough. So to write an effective essay, you will need to plan a few things out beforehand.

Because unplanned essays may seem really rushed, disorganized and unfocused, as we said before, which isn't good. So before you write your first draft, you want to make sure you're asking yourself these questions and answering them with like solid in depth answers. So the first How will the essay start and ends? If you don't know how it's gonna end? Well, if you don't ask him to start, you can't start and if you don't know how it's gonna end, you're just going to be writing aimlessly, which isn't good. The next thing what do I want the admissions officers to know about me? Like, do you want them to know that you're resilient, that you're a doer that you're an achiever that you never give up? Most of those are like synonyms. But that's okay. Like, you want to make sure you know what you're trying to convey about yourself. The next what is the central idea of this essay without a central idea that you're just gonna be writing aimlessly, it's gonna be really unfocused. And then Am I answering the prompt? For CommonApp essays, I say don't write to the prompt, because the last prompt is right, whatever you want. But for supplements, you want to make sure you are answering the prompt. And specifically, if you're writing a why this school or why this major supplement, you want to you want to make sure you're doing a lot of research about the school ahead of time. So what is the culture on campus? What specific programs that? Would I be interested in? What makes a school different from the others? And what kinds of qualities are the admissions officers looking for? How can I reflect those qualities in my essays? So for all of these questions, you're gonna I have answers to them. You may not explicitly include these answers in the essay, you may not include all of them, but they're just going to be more apparent. And they're going to make sure you're on the right track when you are writing. So here is a simple like essay Planning Guide, if you're on your phone or computer, whatever, screenshot this because it's a nice like quick outline. So before you write, you want to make sure you know what the goals of the essay are, what you want to share, and what themes you're going to be focused on. So you won't have like a crazy mess. The first thing you want to do is start out with a story or a moment, this could be a challenge or time when you learn something about yourself, someone else or the world, it doesn't really have to be like a moment where you learn something, but it should be an important or impactful moment. And I'll give you an example of an essay that doesn't have that that's not about them learning, just you can see like what a first story or hook could look like, then you obviously want to have a transition about how the two stories are related.

And then you want to talk about the second story or moments. And in the transition, it could be like context or something, it could just be any information that would help the admissions officer really understand the story to the fullest extent. But then you want to go on to your second story or moment. So the time when you display this knowledge or quality, and applied it to your life, this will really help you like this second moment shows the admissions officers how you actually change, like saying you change this one thing, showing them is completely different, like a completely different thing. And we're going to talk more about showing and telling and things like that later on. And then you want to end with a wrap up. So how does that experience affect who you are today, and who you will be in the future. I'll talk more about how this differs from a traditional conclusion, and a five paragraph essay structure a little bit later. But make sure you are leaving your questions because now I'm going to hop into the chat and see what's going on.

Okay, so someone's asking, Can I or us was asking, Can I talk about two different cultures and how it's been hard because not only are my parents different generation, but they grew up in a different culture. This is not necessarily related to immigration. But I was wondering if this is a good idea is okay, if you say it's not, I'm really looking for honest feedback, I will always give honest feedback.

So, the first thing I'm going to be honest with you, I literally I was writing or not writing, I was reading an essay this morning about a student who has an American parent and a Finnish parent. And if that doesn't give you an idea of how common an essay topic about like two cultures merging is, and I don't know what well, it's not that it's a bad topic, it's just that it's a little common. So instead of if you really, really, really want to talk about your cultures and how like these intersect and affect you and like make you who you are, make sure that you add another thing, like maybe this, I'm completely making this up. But maybe you like your parents are two different cultures. And like they're kind of parenting you in two different ways. And you're at school, and you don't know which Culture Club to join. So you join a student government and you create a like all cultures day or United Nations day where everyone can like just sharing the love and not be so divided. Like that is an instance where I would say it's okay, because there is like the action part, the part that makes it really specific to you. If you don't have something that's super specific like that, then I am not sure I don't think I would encourage you to write about that. The next thing are a gap years cliche, gap years are cliche if you talk about how you went to Africa to volunteer for the children and build schools like one that's modern day colonialism. And two, you don't want to just come off as like, I'm a savior, I'm doing all this good. So you should reward me. Like, you want to make sure if you're talking about a gap year, that it's not just like "I went to these poor, unfortunate people and help them," you know

How many schools Did you apply to? And when did you start working on your college apps? I applied to 17 schools, three targets, like 10 reaches and then I guess four, I mean, three safeties so forth targets. And then I started on my essay in the summer, but I didn't write the draft that I submitted until I didn't finish it until mid October. I started it like about now early September. And then I roll all of my supplements from November 1 November 1 to December 31, I guess. And yeah, like because I applied to so many reaches, most of my schools did require supplements.

There's a lot of writing, but please start sooner rather than later.

Okay, let us see. What about my weight loss journey and how people treated me so differently. I think that could be an interesting essay, but you want to make sure it's not just that Like I wouldn't say do an intersection, or, um, or talk about like, maybe it was like your relationship with your parents as well. Maybe this inspired you to do something or go into a specific field. Like I would say, make sure you add an other thing. So it's not just that one topic. Is it a good idea to write my personal essay about an experience I had in a cult culture, volunteer organization, organized the event, and this organization will be on my activities list? But does it sound too cliche for an essay topic? Hmm. It depends on the experience, like on the actual like, what you actually did?

I think it could, it could be good. If the essay is not just I plan this and look at it do good. Like, what what can I learn about you from this essay? Besides like, the fact that you can, like put on, like an organization or event? You know, like, were there a lot of conflicts? Did you like really struggle to get it together? Like I'm, I would say, That's more of an interesting story than just like, oh, look at this thing I put together isn't it nice. Um, but also, I want you to kind of think, bigger picture. So a lot of students or not a lot of students, a lot of like highly selective and competitive schools have you write a supplement about an extracurricular so if this extracurricular takes up all of your time, just make sure you check the essay prompts of the schools that you're applying to, because that may be a good essay, like I would say, that is a good essay topic for a like, tell me about your extracurricular supplement, which is like, somewhat common. Okay, I feel like writing about how playing board games with my great grandmother first reinforced my strong drive to succeed. It's really common topic, but in supporting memory for me, I think, I think it's not that not that common, like, I've heard it something like that once or twice. But it's not like the most common thing ever. So if you want to write about it, go ahead. But I would say add another thing to it, like, so the first. So you know how I said, there are two moments, the first moment can be like, Okay, I'm doing board games, and I need to succeed. The second moment should be a time when you implement to that, if you can come up with a very specific time, say like, I don't know, wait, actually, I'm like trying to recall an example because another student was talking about how their grandmother taught them something like to stay calm during conflict. And then the second half of their essay was about how they got into a car crash, or a car accident, not like a huge one, but a minor car accident, and how like, their grandma's advice to stay calm, like was implemented there. So it come up with another moment that you would include in that essay. So it's not just about you and your grandma. Okay, moving is cliche, however, can you discuss if you moved alone for a better application and the culture shock, I think writing an essay about moving alone, like so now you're living alone is a very unique experience. Um, but a lot of like, obviously, I don't want to like generalize people, it's kind of like what I'm doing. I'm sorry. But like, I would just say, like, culture shock is just a very like common theme, especially with people who are moving or immigrating and stuff like that. So just be really careful. I'm talking about my goal, and always helping others and tie it back to my major. Make sure you include how you got that goal. And it's not just like, I want to help people talk about a time when you actually help people, you know, and not and more than just like I volunteered at a soup kitchen, you know, because you want to show like, this is actually something I'm really interested in. Okay, not writing related. A college advisor at my school says that colleges are wanting applications due by October 15. Would you agree? No, I would not agree. Obviously, like it's good to submit sooner rather than later. And they're probably talking about either early action, which is like November 1.

But I I have not. So I didn't submit any of my regular decision applications before December. So I think it's completely fine. I would say don't wait for the last day. If you can submit like a week in advance. Like that's pretty solid. Should I always mention my major in my essay, as well as this one applying to no and no, I didn't talk about my major in any of my essays. And you should only mention this specific school. If it's like, why do you want to do this major? Why do you want to go to this school? Or if you're setting it up, so that you're writing a nonfiction type thing, and it's a perfect fourth wall break, which is like very hard to execute, but I'll talk more about fourthwall breaks later. If I have original and interesting answers to prompts you think that'd be better than writing my own essay? What do you mean by that? I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean like, you're if you mean you have like good answers to like prompts one through six, which are actual questions, go ahead and write that like as long as it's like unique and whatever. Like, that's fine. You don't have to do this. Haven't prom. Like really the prompt to choose for common app really doesn't matter. Add an idea of writing my four years of high school as seasons, is it smart to talk about three years back or only talk about recent events? I think we've talked about three years back, as long as the majority of the essay talks about who you are now, because remember, they are accepting you now, not who you were, like, five, six years ago. But But what about being a black cheerleader in a predominately white sport? Um, I, I have, okay, again, to give you like an idea of how common it is, I've had about like three black students in my DMS saying they wanted to write about being black in a predominately white sports like golf, figure skating. So it's not the most unique thing ever. But if you can, like add something else to it, so it's not just like, and this is like a pitfall that I almost like, tripped and fell into when I was writing an essay about like, being a black student. Like you don't want the essay to just be, I am black, and I am alone. Like, obviously, that really sucks. But you like we need more, we need more. What did you do? Did you bring more like black and Hispanic cheer girl like, girls to the cheer team or something like that, like, give us an action that you specifically did? Okay, let's see, how do you these are the last two I will answer for now. And then I'll like talk about more later. How do you suggest I approach writing about a mindset or belief I developed from my childhood that I still use today, because it's not a story or specific pivotal moment. And so two things, the first thing you want to do is like start with a moment in your childhood when, like you learned or your mom or dad or non like your parents, like, taught it to you or doesn't have to be taught but just like implemented it. So for example, like my dad never wanted me to lie. I can't remember when he taught me that lying was bad. But I do remember a time when I was a kid crying because I lied and I thought I was gonna get arrested. Like that could be a specific moment. And then the second moment would be a time when you implemented it and use it for something like either it could be big or small, but you want to make sure you tie it into time when you've used it because I'm sure if it's guided your whole life, you can like find a time to use it. Okay, I was in a wheelchair with a rare spine problem and after two surgeries I stuck was bad. And not only am I walking Wow. But I'm a bandleader. Wow. Good for you. We've been leader at school marching band, we had the Grand National Champions. Is that a good topic? Yeah, period. I think it's great. I think it's very unique. Oh my god. What about right is writing about what I'm passionate about a good essay topic if you talk about how you came to that passion and what you're doing with it now, but an essay about how facing colorism for pants would maybe help other people who face the same problem. So you go into a field where you underrepresented to comment. Um, it's, it's not too common. The theme is a little common, but just make sure you add like specific, like moments and stuff. Oh my gosh, I'm this gonna be a long line. I'm so sorry. What are tips you have to get to a deeper self realization that you can convey your essay or story topic. I feel like my metaphors aren't deep enough. Don't use a metaphor. If you feel like you can't come up with a good one. Don't use it. I don't use metaphors. I do a lot of black students write about or their struggle with their hair. Yes, I've had like four students talking about that. I want I went to an extremely competitive and toxic high school I tried really hard to stay true to myself and because obviously bad no wouldn't be bad. Just make sure you include specific moments that highlight the difference between you and the general culture of your school. Next slide. So mistakes while drafting I'm wearing a one direction shirt. Okay, the same style drafting. So number four out of 10 is writing a bad hook. So the hook is the first paragraph of your essay and its job is to engage the reader and introduce yourself and the topic of your essay. A good hook is memorable and gets the attention of the admissions officer and get some really excited read your essay like remember I'm the admissions officers are just people they want to enjoy themselves they like they're reading all these essays, you should just be the like burst of sunshine and they must be so happy to read your essay.

So next thing just some examples of engaging and disengaging hooks so engaging hooks be dialogue imagery, other descriptive language bold statement, interesting and relevant information. And then disengaging hooks, unrelated quotes if you're going to start close, like I don't know, a dream is a wish your heart makes or never give up. Don't do that unjustified complaints because no one wants to wants to complain or whiner, and then just some word of advice. Don't worry about the first few lines when drafting it If you feel stuck, you could write the rest of the essay and then just come back to edit the hook later. But I would say make sure you edit the hook or come up with some ideas for the hook before you like send your essay to anything else, or anyone else.

Um, and by the way, there will be a live stream on September 4, which is this Friday at 7pm ET. About how to write the Harvard University supplement. So if you guys want to join me up in Cambridge, definitely check that out. I would love to see some of your familiar faces. I mean, I don't see your faces now. But I would love to see some of you guys up in Harvard land. I think that'd be really cute.

Okay, so next mistake, if you give me your essay to edit, I will, you will probably mess this up. And that's okay. Um, it's telling and not showing. So this may manifest as reading exactly how you talk what you should not do. When you tell a story to a friend, you probably skip over a lot of the details and just report bigger events. In this essay, you have the 650 words to slow down. Always use descriptive language not always use descriptive language when talking about the specific moments, you want to share details about the setting your feelings, thought processes and experiences. And this will just make for a more engaging and unique essay.

Okay, someone said please post on Tick Tock. As a reminder, I am not posting this live, or slides. I don't think maybe I'll post the slides. I'm not sure. But this recording will be available on collegevine.com. But thank you for the reminder. Thank you guys. Okay, um, how someone and just for like telling not showing just general advice and why you should show and not tell is that, like how someone reacts to the situation is much more telling about their character than them saying, I have this trait.

Like, I am much more likely to believe that you are a leader, if you like, give me an example of you displaying leadership, if you resolve some conflict or something like that, if you motivated people, then just you saying I'm a leader, you know.

And just like a quick exercise, write your essay as if you're writing a novel and you're the main character, like during quarantine. And though there is this Tick Tock trend, we're all trying to figure out who's the main character, and I'm here to tell them that you are the main character, at least in this essay. So going, the first one I wrote by myself and the second one was actually one of the students whose essays I edited and his second draft was just so much better. Gabriel, if you're watching this, I'm so proud of you. Okay, so here is a not great example, I have loved cooking ever since I was little, I grew up watching my mother cook the food of my culture, and I want to do the same. I'm a perfectionist. So sometimes, oops, is that someone's oops, sometimes, I spent five hours trying to make the perfect flatbread. Ooh, it says you glitched out for me. Hopefully I'm not I'm not glitched out on my phone. I'm watching this live on my phone, by the way, but I think, I don't know.

So from this hook, like, obviously, you see that the topic is about like cooking. So you introduce the topic and yourself, you're a perfectionist. It's like, okay, but it's really distant, like the reader feels disconnected from the events of the essay. And it's doing a lot of telling and not showing. There are other ways to communicate your passion for cooking without explicitly saying it. And a great example of this is the essay or like clip on the right and this is like literally his words I did not like do any of this. He's so smart and talented.

315 grams of flour, two spoons of yeast, a little bit of sugar and salt. And my secret ingredient, whole milk, Greek yogurt, the combination forms of rough Shaggy, flat bread dough, which will be rolled into eight inch rounds and sat on the stove with the dress of extra virgin olive oil. So as you can see, with the essay is about cooking, and we see that the student is like very precise, because they're giving us some measurements. And they must be passionate about cooking if they have like a secret ingredient.

So as you can see this, like this hook is closely engaged, the reader is right bear with the narrator they're doing a lot of showing and not telling, like we know they're cooking without them saying it. And it's very unique, like very few students will actually include a recipe in their essay, you know.

So that's pretty good. Next thing incorrect essay length. And by the way, I think we're getting close to the end of this section, so start leaving your questions about the writing process.

So the limit for the common app essay is 650 words. And most successful essays are above 600 words, my essays were usually at the at the word limit of 650. So try as hard as you can to get to the word limit. 400 words is definitely too short. How do I contact you to review one of my essays if you do that? My email is happy Jordan s At gmail.com, or Jordan [email protected], they are at the end of this presentation on the slide, by the way. So 400 words is definitely too short, I would say anything that is less than 600 words is too short, you want to make sure using all the words you can. And if it's too short thing like, is your topic too specific and that you've ran out of things to say, Are you telling instead of showing or using enough descriptive language? Are you including specific moments or glossing over details, like you want to make sure that you're not doing any of these things you know, you want to, there's a nice balance between specific and then to to specific. You want to be specific enough that no one else can write the essay. But you also don't want to be too specific or that you can only write 300 words word. And then any essay that is over 650 words is too long. Like literally the common application will not let you paste or type more than 650 words. Don't include the title when you are sending your essay by the way. So just check Are any of your sentences or paragraphs redundant? Are they like repetitive? Are there any moments when you can simplify your wording? Is your essay focused? Or are you trying to cover too many topics? Is this essay about you someone else? Or both? Do a paragraph by paragraph breakdown and ask like where are you using the most words? And like does that align with your goals of the essay? Remember, this all goes back to planning ahead. So questions while drafting so hooks and writing strategies, I will check this. I say or not my essay my emails happy to Jordan [email protected]. So for several minutes, is it okay to be more telling than showing due to the word limit?

Yes. Especially if the supplement is like 300 words, I think 300 words you can do like a little showing moment. And then like telling, but when it comes to supplements, like why this major or like why the school if they're really really short, like 200 words, 175 words, go ahead and tell like you don't want to waste words and stuff like that. But leave your questions. Keep leaving your questions. Like for my for my extracurricular supplement that was 175 words. I don't think I did any showing besides like little personality lines, like besides lighting behind my favorite superhero, like things like that. But I didn't do any showing Actually, I'm going to take a sip of water all you guys type.

But yeah, any questions, I will pop them or any questions pop up, I will ask or answer them. And the next thing, but let's push on through towards the last section. So mistakes made while editing and submitting. So number seven is in cohesive writing. And this is something that is kind of like in writing 101. This These aren't like as common as mistakes. Oh, I see some questions. How do you show being shy? introverted is a positive by giving by providing specific moments when your introversion or shyness has helped you. So for example, like I don't know if it's actually true for you, I'm just making this up off the top of my head, like introverts may like they're not going to speak as much. So they may be a lot more careful about what they say and how they say things. This may be really advantageous in a debate, maybe you're not going to be the most like vocal person in the debate. But you're definitely going to have something that's like most worthwhile sharing. Or maybe you are really good at having these emotional heart to heart, like hearts hearts with your friends, because you thrive in a like, closer like one on one setting rather than the group setting. So if you can provide a specific example, I think that would really help in personal essays, when writing the hooks, is it necessary to provide context? No, not initially, you want to make sure you're providing enough context for the reader to understand what's going on. But you don't have to, like burden us with all these details, you know. So, for example, I was reading an essay about a student, a teacher was pronouncing a student's name, like all they said was like they gave the line of dialogue. They said, My teacher said, My classmates looked at me with just those simple phrases, we understand that they're in a classroom and that the teacher is about to mispronounce their name. And that's like all the information we need, you know, so you don't have to give us like, every little detail just enough for us to understand the story. So in cohesive writing, cohesive essays are easier and more enjoyable to read, because it could be as when you're reading, like, you may notice this when you're reading a book or another essay, if an essay is kind of jumping around, and you don't really see how things are connected. Instead of focusing on the actual content, you're going to be thinking, How in the world does this actually connect? How is this relevant? Why do I care about this? And that obviously takes attention away from what actually matters, which is your content. So in cohesive writing mainly shows up in two ways. The first one is no transitions. So transitions show the reader how different ideas or paragraphs are related. And without them, your reader will wonder why switch subjects, rather than focusing on the content of essay. Transitions can be as short as like one or two sentences, or as long as a whole paragraph. So it really just depends on how well or obvious the connection is between these two ideas. The second thing is inconsistency. your essay should be the same point of view and tense throughout first person past tense is like the safest most common choice. There's nothing wrong with that. Your writing style should also be consistent. So don't use extremely complicated vocabulary in one paragraph, and then very simple language in the next, just write in your natural style and voice and you will never go wrong. Do you have any tips for the why of supplements? Yes, research, research research, email professors. If you're like that, courageous.

Well, that was a bad hiccup, email admissions officers asking them like, what is what what traits are you looking for in a student. But something I always did was like, and I do this for preparing for my interviews as well, like, say, for Harvard, because obviously, that's when this was clear to me. Like I would look for their student organizations. And I would find the ones I really, really liked. And then I would look at who like was advising that. So for example, I'm a figure skater, I used to be a figure skater and I wants to figure skating club. And it turns out that both of the coaches was a figure skating team, or club team, whatever. were former team USA ice skaters, which is like a very, very high honor. And I could talk

about that in my interview. And that shows like, I'm really interested, like all this, all the great people at Harvard, but don't just focus on individuals, because individuals can come and go. So talk about classes, talk about specific programs that you'd be interested in. So just do a lot of research. And don't include anything that you can find on the brochure. So obviously, students may have the question, How do I know if my writing is in cohesive? So here's a quick exercise, not really quick, but here's the exercise you can do. Once you finish your first or second draft, go paragraph by paragraph and answer these questions in the margins. This is something that I actually do with the essays that I edit. So how does this relate to the previous paragraph? Do I illustrate the connection here? Or later in the essay? If it's later in the essay, that's okay. But just make sure your readers and going too long without knowing like, What's going up? What is the main idea of this paragraph? Does it align with the central theme of his essay? What point of view? Is this written? And what tense? What form? Is this paragraph are in it? Is it narrative or creative? is a distant or close and engaging? Is it informative or persuasive? Like just make sure it's somewhat consistent throughout? does this relate to the next paragraph? And are the ideas or themes in this paragraph mentioned somewhere else? That's probably the most important one. Just so you know, answers should be the same or very, very similar in each paragraph. Do you prefer simplicity or bigger vocabulary that I would not normally use in my everyday life? use simple words, don't use words that you would not use in your everyday life, because chances are, you will use them incorrectly. And ayoze can tell like if you're just forcing words in there, like they're not looking for. And I think this is this the next slide?

No, but I will talk about this a little bit more later. They're not looking for the most beautiful prose or most complicated language ever. They're just looking for a good story, you know? Are you willing to edit the common app essay for seniors? Yes, I do edit common app essays, email me at Happy Jordan [email protected]. Or Jordan sent Jordan dot [email protected]. My emails aren't the end of this presentation, which we're getting close to. So writing in the incorrect form. And I kind of mentioned this earlier with five paragraph essays and conclusions. So the common app essay is most similar to a narrative or memoir, which is a short personal story. And many students have little to no experience writing essays on this form. And that's completely okay. You're not alone. It's really just your teachers not giving you creative writing assignments, that's fine. But you should keep in mind that this is not a five paragraph essay, you will not have an introduction, nor will you have a conclusion in the traditional sense, sense. Your introduction will be the hook, whether that's like dialogue, descriptive language, imagery, whatever. And the conclusion will just be a nice short wrap up like literally a few sentences that may talk about where you're going in the future.

And remember, this is not a thought piece either, especially when it comes to the prompt that's like, oh, talk about like, an idea that you disagree with or a lesson you learn. Like, you shouldn't just be writing a speculative piece like you want to include specific moments of your life. This will ground the essay so it's not just feeling like up in the air and lofty and I'll also help the reader get to know you better.

So to help you get past this and make sure right In the correct form, before you write your first draft watch videos on YouTube, like literally Google like reading my common app essay.

To get an idea of how successful essays are written, I personally have a few of these essays on my YouTube channel. I think if you look like happy Jordan, or the Phoenix or Harvard, like, it'll come up.

But I read my essays, a whole bunch of students have read their essays, binge watch these, don't copy their essays don't copyright language, it's just for you to get an idea of how that essay should go. So then the next thing this kind of aligns with us this question about language, not sounding like yourself is a big, big issue. So the admissions officer is not expecting, nor do they want to read the most beautiful prose and most intelligent language, they want to read an essay by you and about you. So always write your essay. Like that should even be a question. So write the essay yourself and don't include words you don't use regularly, you may miss use a word, if you use the source, I have done that, too. You don't need big fancy words to impress the admissions officers, your character and your story will impress them for you. And along the same route of your essay should center a brown around who you are today. Like it's okay to write about something that happened in elementary middle school. But the bulk of the essay should should have happened between 10th and 12th grade ideally, like if you're talking about an event that happened in middle or elementary school, that can be your hook. That could be a really short moment, maybe you could talk about my parents have always done this growing up. But you don't want to make that the whole essay. Because the admissions team wants to accept who you are. Now, today, you're going on campus next fall, they don't want to know who you were like eight years ago, unless it's like relevant to who you are today. And then the last one, I actually have a little bonus, so don't hop off too fast. But what the 10th mistake I have is reusing the wrong essays.

So throughout the application process, you will write like several essays, you'll have personal statement supplements, and some but not all of these can be used. When I was applying, I applied to 17 schools by the way, like I wrote 10,000 words worth of supplements, which is a lot, but some of those are use. So admissions officers can tell when you're using an essay you shouldn't do like you should ever use. It shows carelessness lack of interest in the school and admissions officers want to accept students who are likely to attend, they want to accept students who want to go. So before writing any other supplements, copy and paste all the prompts you have to write in a single Google Doc. And then take inventory of how many essays you'll actually have to write and how many you can reuse. Well, Jordan, which essays Can I reuse? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because here's a slide explaining which ones you can reuse. If I were you, I would screenshot this slide because it's just so nice, like quick resource. So your common app or personal statement, yes, always reuse this, unless this is unless your essay talks about why you're interested in your major. And the college you're applying to has a supplement asking about your academic interest, because you don't want to repeat yourself throughout the application.

So in this case, I would say use a modified version of your original CommonApp essay as a supplement, and then write a new, completely unrelated combat essay. For me, I just chose not to write about my major in any of my essays, unless they explicitly asked me, because it's just not cute. How will admissions officers know an essay is reused. So this kind of goes to like, why this school? So if so, like, let's think about the Ivy's like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton specifically, all of those are liberal arts colleges in like college towns, and they have like specific campus cultures that are like kind of somewhat similar. They don't have Greek life. Like those are all very basic similarities. If you're writing an essay that's like it, say this is some kids essay. I want to go to Harvard because they have amazing professors. I love the housing system. I think it really fosters community amongst the students. The grass is always green, the campus is beautiful, and it's not too far from home. There isn't Greek life, they have all these other opportunities. They have great undergraduate research programs, like an admissions officer will know that you're reusing that essay, because that's true of Harvard and Yale and Princeton and Dartmouth and like all these other places, and essay that you cannot reuse an essay that they know is unique is like, I want to go to Brown University because Jim gates teaches there, Jim gates teaches a course or does research on supersymmetry, I'm really interested in physics.

Brown also has a specific program called stars that supports underrepresented minorities going into STEM. So both of those one of those is true Brown, the other one isn't, but that was just like random example. Um, you see, I'm mentioning some civic professors, it'd be even better if I mentioned a specific course like, say, K through 12. Equity and excellence like that's, of course here at Harvard. Like if I'm mentioning a specific course, a professor and a program, like that's something that you cannot reuse, and the admissions officer knows that. So why the school like always be careful with that, why this major, you can use some parts of it, but you should also include information about the specific program each college offers to support students in that major, elaborate on an extracurricular Yeah, you can always read that one, unique aspects about your background and contributions to campus. You can use some some parts of it, but not all. Just make sure being specific about the programs you participate in on campus. Make sure you start to comment your questions, by the way, because we're getting towards the end, and then extremely open ended prompts, you can reuse the essay, but change the college's name if you mention it. Like my you, Chicago and Harvard essay were the same, so I had to like change you Chicago to Harvard. And then bonus, always proofread your work like the essays are super important. Super important part of your application, as we said is 25 to 30%. And they are the last thing you can control so you should treat them as such, you should proofread and have your English teacher proofread your essay for punctuation and grammar mistakes, spelling incorrect or incomplete sentences, run on sentences, switching tenses, etc.

Incorporating dialogue into your essay, you should always start a new paragraph every time there's a new speaker. Um, I've noticed I've been editing a lot of essays I know. So that's something not a lot of students know. And just not proofreading your work shows a lack of effort and care. So you want to start and finish your essays early to avoid feeling rushed. So Oscar was asking how do I submit supplemental essays and you can do this. Also amaze you pronounce my name. I actually have a friend at Barnard Her name is awsa. So that's how I pronounce it. But yeah, also is really cool. I love her. But you submit it through the common application, if they are a school on the common app. Or if you're applying through their specific portal, like the UCS have their own portal. They like they'll have a like box. It's like, pick a prompt or like, here's our prompt, and then they'll have a text box. Let us see what questions Is it important to have demonstrated interest in the essay? When it comes to a Why us? Yes, but I wouldn't say demonstrate it interest. Like I went to all of your info sessions.

And I'm going to switch to the next slide. So you can see my emails, like demonstrated interest isn't just like, oh, like I went to your info sessions, you can see demonstrated interest to all the research a student has done. What are the most unique college essays you have read about? Hmm. So the most unique ones. I think one of them was an essay, I was reading and reading essay as editing this summer. And as I student named dates or data, if you're watching this, I love your essay, it was about how their relationship with their grandmother strengthened over lottery tickets, which I thought was like really cute. Another one that I read and really liked was, oh my gosh, is actually my favorite one of all time. So a student actually talked about how they had a crush on someone. And how because they had this crush on this boy, they joined all the activities he was in like they joined the sports team like soccer. I think it was a joint student government because he was in student government. And he ran for student president. So she ran for student president too. And then eventually he dropped out because he was like, Oh, she's gonna be a really great student President, I support her. And I thought that was such an interesting essay. Because usually I would say don't talk about romance because you're a teenager who wants to read about teenage romance. But I just thought that was a very interesting and unique essay.

Another one that I really liked is how someone playing Legos with their little brother led to them wanting to be an engineer, which I thought was really cute. Um, I haven't read the Costco or pizza essay. Oh my gosh, one of my other favorites. And this the last year I haven't mentioned is, um, someone was applying. So for my high school's applying to you Chicago edu and they got in. And their essay was written in the style of Dr. Seuss. And they talked about how language is classes. And I just thought that was like, mind blowing. Like, obviously, it's not like the traditional like, here's my comment essay.

And this is a challenge I've overcome, but I thought it was a really unique essay. Okay, let's see what other questions we got. How important are stats like receiving receiving awards elected leadership, so stats like grades, that's like a third or less like 27.5 I think under COVID. But course rigor like means more than like GPA now. And then awards, I would say aren't that important because like, not every school has an NHS and not every school awards. Not every school distributes awards before senior year like I do, I had an award for my PSAT score, or si p one of those two and I was an NHS, but I didn't have any other words because my school gave awards at graduation, is it and then for leadership, I think it's important to have a leadership position that kind of goes in extracurriculars. extracurriculars is also like 25 to 27.5% of your profile. I think being involved like seriously involved is more important than leadership per se, but if you're seriously involved you probably have a leadership position.

Is it dumb to include one of the reasons you want to attend is because your dad did we have a legacy student? Um, maybe you could mention that as a quick thing.

Okay. actually talking about my friend asked them who goes to Barnard. So my essay Barnard's like, why do you want to come here? Why should we accept you?

And I basically went over this topic of like, awesome, I said, I was like a Barnard woman. And I didn't really know what that was. Now, I understand that Barnard women are strong, empowered, curious, like all these things.

If you wanted to spin it like that, I think jack was your name. Um, a friend named jack was also like a sea suit. But if you want to submit your essay like that, I think that's completely okay. But you can't just say, Oh, my dad was so I want to go because fantasy family legacy. Like, you want to make sure you're saying other things, revealing more information about yourself? Can I incorporate a short quote in Spanish and then explain what it means in English? Yes, you can. I thank you so much for taking the time to do this for us. Um, the problem with submitting a poem layout or unconventional essay be unique or wrong. So for that, I would say just be careful. It really depends on the character of the school and just campus culture. So if you're applying to you, Chicago or Stanford,

I would say submit a poem, like submit a poem. I think that would be great. I think that's a genius. If you're submitting because like those, Stanford is like, ooh, we're cool and quirky. And so as you Chicago so they want like, weird, quirky people, and they want students to take a risk. And that's a complete, like, great example of that. If you're applying to say like Cornell, like just regular Princeton regular, like not to say that you're going to get rejected, I don't think you will be. But I just think you just have to be careful. You know, I'm not a question. Just want to say your hair is, thank you. It's Krishna is writing that how I helped a church in Mexico or how I'm an overachiever, a good essay topic, as long as it's not like, "Oh, I went to Mexico to help the poor children. I am so good. Please, like give me a gold star" because that's never that's never good. You know? Which high school did you go to? In which state so I went to the Bronx High School of Science in New York City. It's a specialized High School. very engaging and informative. Thank you. Thank you. How do you know if there's a college search tool for IB or Dino's are cautious to for IB students, I saw that acceptances considered differently for IB students, I actually do not know. But, um, if you go on big future.collegeboard.org I think it is.

You can like filter through like different things. And there may be like a filter for IB. And then like, if not just like look at the school's list of schools you're interested in and then do research for those specific ones. Like just to see but yeah, I'm sorry I didn't have a specific answer that but thank you guys so much for listening. It's nine o'clock my bedtime is 930 so I'm about to hop off. The recording for this will be uploaded within 24 hours of this ending. But yeah, thank you guys so much for joining me. I will see you guys follow me on whatever on Tick tock, I guess if you're here, like that's how you know me from but yeah, so nice talking to you guys.

And I will see you guys eventually later.

Undergrad College: Harvard '23

Major: Computer Science and Physics

Work Experience: I am a current student at Harvard University where I am pursuing my degree in physics and computer science.

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5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Athina hansen.

Writing Tips

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Content Writer at Gradehacker

Updated January, 2023

How frustrating is it to hand in an essay you thought was good only to receive a low grade and a heap of corrections? That’s because you need to learn how to avoid essay common mistakes most students make!

Here at Gradehacker, we have years of experience helping students like you with custom-made essays for college students. We have come across many students who feel defeated as they keep receiving the same feedback on different essays. This can leave you feeling like you’re unable to fix the weaknesses in your writing to increase your grades and have a successful essay.

Many of those corrections you might find spread throughout your essay are common mistakes in essay writing ! Though you may feel alone in repeating the same mistakes, this is not the case.

Excellent essay writing is a skill you need to complete college successfully . In this article, we share the five most common essay mistakes we have observed in essays and how to avoid them.

This way, you can solve these essay mistakes and get that A+ essay you desire!

5 Common Essay Mistakes

Mistake #1: thesis statement problems.

A thesis statement is a sentence located at the end of your introduction paragraph that lays out the argument you will be making in your essay and the points that you will include to back this up.

Writing a Vague Thesis Statement

What makes a thesis statement vague and prevents you from making a meaningful essay is leaving out the points that will support why your argument is valid .

Let’s take a look at an example of a vague thesis statemen t:

Children should eat vegetables.

Does this thesis statement make the reader confident that children should eat their vegetables?

This thesis statement isn’t convincing because it presents an argument without any justification . It does not include why children should eat their vegetables.

How do I Make a Strong Thesis Statement?

When crafting a thesis statement, you have to remember to include the why aspect .

When you have an argument, ask yourself, “why is this so?” The answer to this question will be the points that will support your argument and must be included in the thesis statement.

Taking this into account, let’s tweak the previous thesis statement:

“Children should eat vegetables because they provide the necessary nutrients for growth, protect against diseases, and are an excellent fiber source.”

Compare the previous thesis statement to this one. This one sounds a lot more convincing, doesn’t it? This thesis statement was improved by simply including points that back up the claim.

We asked ourselves, why should children eat vegetables? And added on to the thesis statement by putting our answer after a ‘because.’

Thesis statements don’t always address a “why is this so?”. Sometimes, they address a “how did (any event) happen?”

That means that if asking yourself, “Why?” does not fit your thesis statement, ask yourself, “How?” When answering either a why or how, always include your answer as the supporting points.

Ensure you do not just include an empty statement, but you also make a complete sentence to justify your statement.

Choosing a Non-Justifiable Thesis Statement

Another mistake is choosing a thesis statement that you are not able to justify extensively . If you find that you chose a thesis statement but are struggling to find points that will support it, you are making this mistake!

You can end up with a non-justifiable thesis statement for two reasons:

There aren't many facts out there to support the point you make in your thesis statement
You chose a thesis statement before researching thoroughly and only based on your personal opinion

If you have a non-justifiable thesis statement, it will affect your entire essay! Your body paragraphs, which elaborate on the supporting points, will suffer as you end up justifying more with opinions instead of facts and information.

How do I Ensure my Thesis Statement Can be Justified?

Simply put, stick to the facts! And avoid:

Choosing a thesis statement before researching a topic
Picking an argument that has little evidence out there

Do not be afraid to change your thesis statement! Because you will end up losing more time and points on your grade if you stay put with a thesis statement that isn’t easy to justify.

Here’s a visual template you can follow to know if your thesis statement is appropriate for your paper o not.

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Appropiate Thesis Statement

Don’t Forget About the Thesis Statement Throughout the Entire Essay

So, we pointed out that having a good thesis statement is a must-have , but is that it? No!

A big mistake is including a thesis statement but not connecting back to it throughout your essay.

This common mistake occurs when we lose sight of it in the writing process. We may follow our essay plan and include the points we planned but forget to relate these back to the essay’s stance.

This error involves leaving the thesis statement in the introduction and forgetting about it in the rest of your essay.

How do Address The Thesis Statement Throughout The Entire Essay?

To avoid this, you must understand that each body paragraph(s) explores a separate point supporting your thesis statement.

Have your thesis statement in sight while writing , so you can always be reminded of your essay’s general argument. When you include evidence or facts within a body paragraph, always explain how this backs up your general thesis statement points.

Think of your thesis statement as a string to which each body paragraph is connected and ties back to.

If you want to learn how to come up with an outstanding thesis statement in a few minutes, check out our video!

Mistake #2: Including Hard-to-Read Sentences

Have you ever had someone else read your essay and ask, what are you trying to say?

Hard-to-read sentences are common errors found in essays. Many include fancy words and long sentences, thinking it will make them sound “academic.”

These sentences, you think, sound academic but will just be confusing to the reader if they are not concise and have superfluous words.

While academic writing does involve formal words and academic language, simple sentences that show clarity is one of the most important things!

How do I Make my Sentences Readable?

Nowadays you can use many online readers and grammar editors that will help you make your sentences easier to read and more accurate.

Usually, online editors look like this:

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Online Editors

Getting someone else to read your essay is a great way to avoid having hard-to-read sentences. Having another pair of eyes look over your essay will allow them to catch which sentences are difficult to understand.

You can also highlight lengthy sentences in your essay , review them, and ask yourself:

Is this sentence difficult to read?
Will this sentence be clearer if I shorten it?
Will this sentence be more exact if I change the words?

Hemingway Editor is also a great online tool that points out confusing sentences that are hard to read and lengthy. You can learn more about it in our in-depth review .

Mistake #3 Disorganized Essay Structure

Sometimes, even though the ideas you brainstormed for your essay and the evidence you found are excellent, your essay’s structure is not great .

Having a clear and organized structure is what makes or breaks an essay. It facilitates getting your point across.

However, many students don’t pay much attention to the structure and end up with an essay with no apparent organization.

When you don’t have a good essay structure, your paragraphs will seem like they come from a different essay topic that does not relate to one another or flow effortlessly.

How do I Better Structure my Essay?

The only way to avoid this is to structure your essay before writing! This involves planning out each part of your essay, your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion .

You can make a bullet point list of what you will write in each section and remember each section is supposed to work together to illustrate a point. This point that each body paragraph needs to work together to present is the argument in your thesis statement.

When planning out what to write in each section, don’t forget to list out:

The thesis statement in the introduction
The evidence you will use in your body paragraphs to prove each point
How each point relates to and backs up your thesis statement
The significance of your argument in the conclusion

This is an example of a good essay structure you can follow so your writing can flow flawlessly.

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Good Essay Structure

Make sure to limit each body paragraph to one idea so the structure isn’t confusing. Also, don’t forget to include transition words between paragraphs so that your essay flows nicely.

Always tie everything back to the thesis statement; this will make sure your paragraphs connect to one another.

Mistake #4: Rewording the Introduction for the Conclusion

There is a widespread misconception that all you need to do in a conclusion is reword the introduction. Yes, you cannot forget to revisit the points you make throughout the essay, but a conclusion is not the same as an introduction !

This is why students make the common mistake of not including the bigger picture of their academic essay.

Another mistake is beginning your conclusion with a generic term that marks finality, such as “in conclusion.”

How do I Make my Conclusion Better?

You should check whether your conclusion does these things:

Revisit the points you made and how this supports the thesis statement
Reflect on the argument you made and the "bigger picture"
Mention any further implications of your argument

Try not to begin your conclusion with a generic phrase like ‘in conclusion,’ as these sound amateur. Also, a conclusion should be able to be identified without these introductory phrases .

If you want more tips on how to improve your essay conclusion , take a look at our quick video!

Mistake #5 Not Editing Your Essay Thoroughly

The biggest mistake you can make is not editing your essay thoroughly before handing it in .

By not rereading your essay, your silly mistakes will distract from what you are trying to say . Any mistakes, such as typos or punctuation mistakes, will make your essay harder to read for your professor and disrupt the point you are trying to make.

Skipping this final step in the essay-writing process will rid you of the chance of perfecting your essay and fixing any mistakes . This simple step has a significant impact on getting you from a C or B to an A!

How do I Revise my Essay Better?

Proofread your essay and pay attention to any:

Grammatical mistakes
Spelling mistakes
Punctuation mistakes
Not relating back to the overall message (thesis statement)
Disorganized structure/flow

Asking someone other than yourself to read your essay is very helpful in the revision process. As they are in the reader’s position, they can see which areas are necessary to correct and give you suggestions.

Grammarly is an online tool you can use in the revision process to pick up any grammar and punctuation mistakes you did not catch. If you want more information about it, you can read our honest review to see its benefits, features, and costs!

Learning From Common Essay Mistakes

The best way to avoid making essay mistakes is to identify them in your work and learn from them. Keep these five common errors in essay writing in mind in the essay writing process . You will definitely see an improvement in your essay writing quality.

It is essential to complete each step of essay writing ( research, writing, editing ) precisely. Skipping one of these steps or completing one of these steps half-heartedly will impact your essay’s grade.

We know from personal experience and through our clients, that college essays are not a piece of cake! They involve skill not only in terms of content, but in terms of citing properly and finishing them in a timely manner.

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Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake (Examples)

Published: February 13, 2023

Interview Questions and Answers

Actionable advice from real experts:

Biron Clark

Former Recruiter

Contributor

Dr. Kyle Elliott

Career Coach

Sanja Bojanic

Editor-in-Chief

Biron Clark , Former Recruiter

Kyle Elliott , Career Coach

Sanja Bojanic , Editor

Employers love to ask interview questions about mistakes. They want to see if you’re honest and upfront. Most importantly, they want to see if you learned from the experience.

This is why they ask interview questions like:

“Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work?”
“Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?”
“What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?”
“Describe a time you made a mistake”

In this article, I will explain how to give the best answer possible to interview questions about mistakes you’ve made and how to paint your mistakes in a positive light.

But first, I’ll explain why they ask this question and share 12 examples of mistakes made at work to help you brainstorm your own ideas/answers.

Do not share something that makes you look bad or reflects poorly on your character as an employee.
When discussing the mistake, acknowledge it and take ownership without shifting the blame to others.
Avoid long-winded stories and keep your answer brief and to the point using the S.T.A.R. method.

Why Do Employers Ask This Question?

Contrary to what you might think, hiring managers aren’t trying to disqualify you when they ask interview questions about mistakes you made and failures you’ve been through. Instead, they are trying to make sure you’re honest and upfront with them, which is very important in any interview question.

They are also trying to make sure you’ve come to terms with the mistake and learned valuable lessons from it. This is a particularly tricky question because most questions ask you to talk about moments of excellence. However, this one is the direct opposite. It requires you to reflect on your shortcomings and demonstrate personal growth.

If you seem angry, resentful, or blame others without taking responsibility, you won’t get hired. As with all the common behavioral interview questions , they want to see if you can tell a clear, concise story and describe a situation effectively.

Hiring managers look for candidates who can communicate clearly and stay on track. When answering questions like, ‘Tell me about a past mistake you made at work,’ ensure your response is brief and to the point.

12 Good Examples of Mistakes Made at Work

To help you think of the right example to share in your interviews, here are some examples of mistakes you may have made at work:

Misunderstanding a customer/client.
Misunderstanding instructions from a boss or coworker, which led to a mistake.
Mishandling or losing cash at work.
Missing a deadline.
Not delivering the work a client/customer expected.
Being unprepared for a team meeting.
Losing a new customer/client as a sales representative .
Losing an important piece of information, whether physical or digital.
Not saving your progress on a project and having to do the same work again.
Not addressing a problem promptly and therefore allowing it to become a bigger issue than necessary.
Not anticipating a potential problem before it occurred.
Committing any error that slowed the day-to-day operations of your company.

These are good examples of work mistakes if you can show that you’ve learned from them and taken steps to prevent them from happening again.

How to Answer “Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake”

Questions about past mistakes fall under the category of behavioral questions . Behavioral interview questions start with phrases like, “tell me about a time you…”

These questions operate on the premise that the best way to predict future behavior is to examine past behavior. Therefore, if you can cite an example of a past mistake and what you’ve learned from it, recruiters will see you as a person who is capable of learning a lesson from a mistake.

The method we recommend for answering any behavioral questions is the S.T.A.R. (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) method.

Start by briefly describing the situation or challenge you faced, followed by the task you needed to complete. Then, detail the actions you took and the solutions you implemented. Finally, share the outcome and what you learned from the experience.

Three Key Pieces to Include in Your Answer

The way you answer this question also says a lot about your level of personal responsibility. No one wants a coworker who constantly passes the buck and blames their blunders on others.

Taking Responsibility for the Mistake

Acknowledge the mistake and take responsibility. Avoid blaming others or making excuses. Employers won’t judge you for the mistake but for your attitude toward it.

Prompt Handling

Next, demonstrate how you handled the situation calmly and found the best solution. Mistakes happen; what matters is your response.

Lesson(s) Learned

Finally, show what you learned. Your ability to take lessons from mistakes says a lot about you as a candidate.

To succeed in answering a question about a past failure, choose a story that highlights a compelling lesson. Employers value candidates who own their mistakes and learn from them. Briefly outline the mistake, then focus on the lesson learned and how you’ve applied it to other projects. Ideally, show how this lesson helped you avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Choose the Right Example

In choosing the right example to answer this question, there are two key considerations to keep in mind:

Select a mistake related to the job you are applying for.

This is better because your handling of such a mistake and the lessons learned are likely to be relevant at the new job. For instance, for a project manager position, you could discuss a time when a minor oversight led to a scheduling mix-up. Detail how you fixed it and brought things back on track.

Avoid trivial or overly severe examples.

You should avoid trivial examples because they are unlikely to convince your interviewer about your ability to handle adversity. On the flip side, overly severe examples might suggest a lack of reliability or poor decision-making skills. It’s best to choose a scenario that is substantial enough to showcase your resilience and problem-solving abilities, yet not so drastic that it casts doubts on your overall performance.

EXPERT ADVICE

Dr. Kyle Elliott , MPA, CHES Tech & Interview Career Coach caffeinatedkyle.com

Choose an Example that Highlights Desirable Qualities

“ Showing vulnerability can feel difficult, particularly if you’re not used to it. Interviewing adds an additional layer of nuance to the equation since you’re being evaluated by a potential employer.

When choosing a mistake to share during an interview, think about the qualities you want to communicate, such as openness to feedback and a growth mindset, and then work backward to choose an example that highlights those qualities.

At the same time, you want to avoid sharing a mistake that’s too raw, as you want to be ready to explain how you’ve learned and grown from the experience. “

Sample Answers to “Tell Me About a Time You Made a Mistake at Work”

Here are sample responses to ‘Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work,’ tailored to different career levels.

Entry-Level Role Example

“ In my previous role as a customer service representative , I was responsible for managing our team’s weekly reports. These reports were crucial for tracking our performance metrics and planning our weekly strategies.

One week, my task was to compile and send out the weekly report to the team by Friday morning. This report needed to include data on customer interactions, resolution times, and customer satisfaction scores.

Due to a tight schedule, I rushed through the final checks and accidentally sent out an incomplete report, missing some crucial data points. As soon as I realized the mistake, I informed my supervisor and took full responsibility for the oversight.

I immediately gathered the missing data and compiled a complete report. I then sent out an updated email to the team with the correct information, along with a clear explanation and apology for the oversight. Since then, I’ve learned the importance of thorough review and attention to detail , especially when handling critical tasks under time pressure.

Since then, I’ve implemented a checklist to ensure all necessary data points are included before finalizing any report. “

Mid-Level Role Example

“ In my previous role as a project manager, I was leading a team developing a new marketing campaign for a major client launch. We were working on a tight deadline and under some pressure to deliver a high-impact campaign.

During the brainstorming phase, I focused heavily on creative and innovative ideas, prioritizing “wow” factors over practicality. While the initial concepts were impressive, they required extensive development time and resources we hadn’t fully accounted for.

As the project progressed, it became clear that the initial plan wouldn’t be achievable within the timeframe. I recognized my mistake — I prioritized flashy ideas over feasibility.

I scheduled a team meeting to discuss the challenges and openly communicated the potential delays. We then collaborated to develop a revised plan with a more realistic timeline. We streamlined some aspects of the campaign while maintaining its core message and impact. We also kept the client informed throughout the process, managing their expectations.

While the final campaign wasn’t exactly what we envisioned initially, it was still well-received by the client and achieved its marketing goals. We learned a valuable lesson about the importance of striking a balance between creativity and practicality in project planning. “

Senior Professional Example

“ As the head of innovations at a major tech company, I was in charge of spearheading the development of a new feature designed to enhance our data processing capabilities. The goal was to integrate this feature into our existing systems by the end of the quarter.

My primary responsibility was overseeing the design, development, and integration of this new feature. The timeline was tight, but we needed to meet this deadline to demonstrate progress to our stakeholders and maintain our competitive edge.

In my eagerness to meet the scheduled launch date, I decided to move forward with the rollout before completing the final phase of user acceptance testing. This phase was crucial, but I underestimated its importance due to the positive results in the earlier testing stages.

Post-launch, we quickly realized that the feature did not integrate well with some existing systems, causing minor disruptions. I addressed this by pausing the feature, conducting the necessary tests, and implementing the fixes within a week.

This experience taught me the value of thorough testing over meeting self-imposed deadlines, leading to a revision in our rollout procedures to prevent similar issues in the future. “

Answer to “Have You Ever Made a Mistake? How Did You Handle It?”

The question may come in another form such as “Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?”

Here is a sample answer:

“ Yes, I’ve made mistakes. I try to limit my mistakes by being careful and double-checking my work, though, and by planning ahead.

When I do make a mistake, I own up to it, calculate how to best fix the error, and if I need to communicate with my manager or other team members, I’m open to doing that as well to discuss mistakes. I think making mistakes happens eventually if you work long enough, but I try to minimize their occurrence and be upfront and accountable if an actual mistake does happen. “

Note that when answering this particular job interview question, you don’t need to share a specific mistake. However, you can discuss a specific mistake if a good example comes to mind.

Sample Answer to “What’s the Biggest Mistake You’ve Made?”

“ I try to be careful in my work and limit the mistakes I make. However, one previous mistake I made in my last role was to not set clear expectations with one of our important customers.

The customer called and asked for a timeframe for the completion of their project.

I was eager to impress them and gave an optimistic timeframe, but we failed to deliver.

My manager told me later that this customer left and went to a competitor after being disappointed in the missed deadline, so I consider this a serious mistake, and it’s something I regret.

I used the experience to improve my abilities, though. I have a better understanding of time management and project timelines, but more importantly, I know how to set expectations for a project to give myself a few extra days so that we can deliver early or on time even if we hit a few roadblocks. “

Dos and Don’ts

Focus on the Lesson Rather Than the Mistake

While the focus of the question is the mistake, your answer should focus more on the lesson. This is because interviewers are more interested in understanding how you handle setbacks and what you learn from them.

In interviews, I’ve seen candidates ramble on while trying to explain their biggest mistake. This can dilute the impact of your story and lose the interviewer’s interest. Keep your answer focused and to the point. Start with a brief overview of the mistake, then quickly move on to the key actions you took to address it and the lessons you learned.

Practice Your Answer

Before the interview, take the time to practice your answer out loud. This helps you refine your response, making it more natural and confident. Practicing also allows you to ensure you cover all key points within a concise timeframe.

Don’t Humblebrag

A humblebrag is a statement that is designed to sound modest but that actually highlights something that you are proud of. Answering a question about failure with a thinly-veiled self-congratulatory story won’t fly. You need to choose a real example of failure and explain the lesson you learned from it.

Don’t Blame Others

Take responsibility for your actions. Blaming others can make you seem unprofessional and unwilling to accept your own mistakes. Focus on what you could have done differently and what you learned from the experience.

Don’t Go Overboard

From a recruiter’s perspective, I believe honesty is crucial. Nonetheless, you should avoid sharing your most humiliating mistakes in a job interview. Steer clear of examples that reveal character flaws or could be a major issue for an employer.

Use a benign past failure to illustrate your growth without giving the employer a reason not to hire you. A company is not going to hire a person who might create a fiasco or present a legal problem for them down the road.

About the Author

Biron Clark is a former executive recruiter who has worked individually with hundreds of job seekers, reviewed thousands of resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and recruited for top venture-backed startups and Fortune 500 companies. He has been advising job seekers since 2012 to think differently in their job search and land high-paying, competitive positions. Follow on Twitter and LinkedIn .

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Sir I am fresher, so I don’t have any professional failure, or personal failure. So please send me the best short essay of failure in school or college life.

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You Made a Big Mistake at Work. What Should You Do?

Dina Denham Smith

How to regain trust, minimize damage, and mend the situation.

Here’s the thing about mistakes: Everyone makes them. But making a mistake at work doesn’t have to be career limiting. As awful as it might feel in the moment, we can take steps to regain trust, minimize damage, and mend the situation.

Be proactive . Once you are aware of the mistake you have made, try to get in front of the situation before it spirals. Being proactive about addressing whatever took place demonstrates your awareness of the problem and relieves others from the potential discomfort of bringing it to your attention.
Offer an apology . And make it genuine, acknowledging your error and the harm you caused to the other person, team, or the business. Don’t be defensive or make your apology about yourself.
Have compassion . When we have a setback at work, it can be embarrassing, and we can become excessively self-critical. Berating ourselves for something in the past, though, is not helpful.

Everyone makes mistakes at work. Whether it’s losing your cool in a meeting or forgetting that report you were supposed to send at 3 pm, there are times when we inevitably mess up or fail. These bumps in the road are a normal part of work, but if you manage them poorly, they can reduce your level of trustworthiness and damage your reputation.

Dina Denham Smith is an executive coach to senior leaders at world-leading brands such as Adobe, Netflix, PwC, Dropbox, Stripe, and numerous high-growth companies. A former business executive herself, she is the founder and CEO of Cognitas , and helps leaders and their teams reach new heights of success. Connect with her on LinkedIn .

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Essay on Learning From Mistakes

Students are often asked to write an essay on Learning From Mistakes in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Learning From Mistakes

Understanding mistakes.

Mistakes are like teachers. When we do something wrong, it is a chance to learn. Imagine you are riding a bike and fall off. That fall teaches you to balance better next time. It’s the same with other mistakes. They show us what not to do, so we can do things right in the future.

Feeling Okay About Mistakes

It’s normal to feel bad when we mess up. But feeling too bad can stop us from trying again. Think of mistakes as steps to getting better. Each mistake is a lesson that helps us grow and improve.

Sharing Our Mistakes

Talking about our mistakes with friends or family can help. They might have made the same mistake and can give advice. Or they can just listen and make us feel better. Sharing helps us understand that everyone makes mistakes, and that’s okay.

Learning and Moving On

After a mistake, think about what went wrong and how to fix it. Then, let it go and move on. Holding onto it won’t help. Remember what you learned, use it next time, and you’ll see that you can do better. Learning from mistakes means growing smarter every day.

250 Words Essay on Learning From Mistakes

The importance of making mistakes.

Making mistakes is a big part of learning and growing. When we try new things, we often get things wrong before we get them right. Each time we make a mistake, it’s like our brain is taking notes on what not to do next time.

Lessons from Errors

Think of a time you tried to solve a hard math problem and got the wrong answer. You probably went back, looked at your steps, and found where you went wrong. By fixing your mistake, you learned how to solve the problem better. This is how mistakes teach us.

Building Confidence

It might sound strange, but messing up can actually make you more confident. When you learn that it’s okay to make mistakes, you start to worry less about being perfect. You become braver and more willing to try new things, which is really important for learning.

Mistakes and Creativity

Sometimes, when things don’t go as planned, you come up with a new idea you wouldn’t have thought of before. Many great inventions were born from mistakes because the inventor found a new solution when the first plan didn’t work.

In the end, mistakes are not just okay; they are necessary. They make us smarter, braver, and more creative. So next time you mess up, remember that it’s all part of the journey to getting better at whatever you are learning.

500 Words Essay on Learning From Mistakes

What does learning from mistakes mean, mistakes are normal.

First, it’s important to know that everyone makes mistakes. Yes, everyone! It’s a part of being human. Think of mistakes as teachers. They show us what not to do, so we can get it right the next time. When you trip over a rock, you learn to watch where you’re walking. That’s a simple example of learning from a mistake.

Feeling Okay About Making Mistakes

It’s normal to feel a bit sad or upset when you make a mistake. But don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, think of it as a chance to learn. If you didn’t do well on a test, don’t just be sad. Look at the questions you got wrong and learn the right answers. This way, you’ll do better next time. It’s like getting a second chance to prove you can do it!

The Steps to Learning From Mistakes

After that, it’s time to make a plan. Decide what you will do differently next time to avoid the same mistake. Maybe you’ll study more or ask for help when you don’t understand something. Then, put your plan into action. Try again, using what you’ve learned to do better.

Sharing What You’ve Learned

When you learn something from a mistake, you can also help others. If you see a friend about to do something you’ve done wrong before, you can tell them what you learned. This way, they might not make the same mistake. By sharing, you’re not just helping yourself, but others too.

Mistakes Can Lead to Success

In conclusion, making mistakes is not the end of the world. It’s actually a big part of how you grow and get better at things. Remember, the next time you make a mistake, don’t just feel bad about it. Use it as a chance to learn and improve. That’s the real secret to getting better at anything you do. So, go ahead and make mistakes, then learn from them and keep moving forward!

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Biggest Mistake in Life – Essay Sample

When we are young, we rarely realize what do we actually need from life. Though people do make plans and have desires, they seldomly understand which path do they have to take in order to achieve tangible results in any sphere.

For instance, when I was an adolescent I thought that high school is not necessary and decided not to get a diploma. I faced all the hardships of trying to find a job that would satisfy my needs (like paying the loan for my car, buying nice clothing, going out on weekends) and ego that was constantly pressuring my mind, but soon I came to the conclusion that without the diploma I will fail to achieve anything in my future life, in other words, I am going to be weak in the contemporary world of fierce competition.

Consequently, I went back to school to receive my diploma, and now I have a well-paid job and am pretty stable financially. My only concern as of today, is to make sure that my children will never follow my unintelligent steps and understand the value of high school education earlier then I did.

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Write better: The 10 most common writing mistakes you should avoid

A hero image with an icon representing AI writing

A former editor of mine once described wordy article introductions as "throat-clearing," as in, this person doesn't know yet what they're trying to say, so they're hemming and hawing before getting to the point.

You could chalk it up to writers liking to explain things or the need to dramatically set up the scene, but when it comes to everyday non-fiction writing—especially on the web—it's usually better to get to the hook as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking.

(Already I've spent too much time on this intro.)

If you want to polish your prose—whether you're writing a blog post, an email, or a report for your team—the next time you get to typing, consult this checklist of common writing mistakes. It'll help you communicate more clearly and put the focus on what you're saying rather than on stray commas or needless words.

Thanks to the editors, writers, and readers who chimed in with their advice for this post, which no doubt has several errors in it. Let's just consider them Easter eggs.

Table of contents

The most common m ajor writing mistakes

When approaching a piece of writing, most editors first check for the big picture to do "macro edits." Here, we're dealing with the content of the story—how it flows, if it all makes sense, if the tone is appropriate, and if there are any questions we didn't answer that readers might have. I like to call this "defensive editing," much like defensive driving.

After that, we can get into "micro editing" for the nitty gritty of editing for mechanics and language issues (see the next section if you, too, nerd out on words).

1. The intro is unnecessarily long

Get to the point. The example above isn't as bad as my initial attempt at the lede (the first couple of paragraphs that introduce an article), but, at 152 words, it's long by most web content standards.

1. When you sit down to write, there is only one important person in your life. This is someone you will never meet, called a reader.

2. You are not writing to impress the scientist you have just interviewed, nor the professor who got you through your degree, nor the editor who foolishly turned you down, or the rather dishy person you just met at a party and told you were a writer. Or even your mother. You are writing to impress someone hanging from a strap in the tube between Parson’s Green and Putney, who will stop reading in a fifth of a second, given a chance.

[Re: Writing the lede first or last:] I usually write it first, then delete it, then write it last, then delete it, then delete everything, then drink some tea and contemplate my life choices, then I write something else entirely, and then I write it first again. So... first, then rewrite later. — Joe Yaker (@joeyaker) .css-12hxxzz-Link{all:unset;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;outline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-fill-color:currentColor;outline:1px solid transparent;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']{color:var(--zds-text-link, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']:hover{outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #2b2358);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']:focus{color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']:hover{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-5, #a8a5a0);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']:focus{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);outline-color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']{color:var(--zds-text-link, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']:hover{color:var(--zds-text-link, #2b2358);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']:focus{color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']:hover{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-5, #a8a5a0);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']:focus{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);outline-color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='inherit']{font-weight:inherit;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='normal']{font-weight:400;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='bold']{font-weight:700;} March 12, 2018

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing the lede: Does the lede make sense—explain briefly what's to come? Is it supported by the rest of the document? Does it quickly hook the reader to continue reading? Bonus if you write for the web: Does the lede have the keywords you're targeting for SEO?

2. Explanations are handwavy or lacking backup

That same editor who introduced me to "throat-clearing" ledes also taught me the word "handwavy," similar to how magicians wave their hands to draw attention away from the actions behind the magic trick. It's not that we're trying to fool the reader when we're handwavy; it's that we haven't provided the reader all the facts or steps they need to understand what we're trying to explain.

So, for example, if I'm writing an article for the general public about transferring files between computers over the internet, I should explain what SFTP is when first mentioning it, since most people might not know that SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol and that it's a way to transfer and manage files between computers over a secure connection. In the same vein, here at Zapier, we try not to assume the reader knows what Zapier is when they first come to our blog or what "Zaps" (our word for automated workflows) are.

Similarly, you need details to prove your point. If I state that exercise helps prevent colds, I'd best link those statements to research proving that point or to experts, such as doctors, who would back up that claim.

It's about being clear to your readers and also making sure your content doesn't have any "holes," so you can establish trust. As Radford writes: "If in doubt, assume the reader knows nothing. However, never make the mistake of assuming that the reader is stupid. The classic error in journalism is to overestimate what the reader knows and underestimate the reader's intelligence."

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Are terms most people don't commonly use explained or linked to definitions? Are claims all linked to relevant research or backed by authoritative sources? If you were the target audience for this content, would it make sense to you?

3. The content was written in passive voice

Passive voice is used too often by writers. Writers use passive voice too often. Active voice, as in the previous sentence, is more direct and stronger because the subject (writers) is doing something (using passive voice), rather than the subject taking a backseat.

By far, the most common thing I wind up editing out or changing is passive voice. It's fairly simple to identify once you understand it, but it can be deceptively difficult to many writers to pick out of their own work, even if they go back and review their writing when they're finished. If the subject isn't clear, undefined, or you're using verb tenses that struggle to describe the action taken by a person or party not named in the sentence, you're probably using passive voice. In the same vein, I find many writers rely too heavily on present participles (-ing words, for example) when the simple present version will work better, and engage a reader more directly. For example, "Bill was setting the table" is fine, but "Bill set the table" is more direct, active, and engaging, which is critical to make sure your reader sticks with you, your story, or your article all the way through—and derives value from what they just read for their own use!

Passive voice isn't always the worst thing in the world, but when it makes a sentence incredibly wordy, you're doing a disservice to your readers. If you catch yourself saying "One of the reasons for this is," or something similar, you should probably rethink what the subject of that sentence is.

That said, sometimes using passive voice does make more sense than the active voice. When the action is more important than who's doing the action, passive voice is totally acceptable. For example: "My computer was stolen yesterday" is more fitting than "Someone stole my computer yesterday," since it puts more emphasis on the event versus an unknown perpetrator.

Here are some examples of when the passive voice is the right option. Rewriting these sentences in active voice would make them decidedly awkward.

Passive: Sergeant Smith was wounded in Vietnam.

Active: Someone wounded Sergeant Smith in Vietnam.

Passive: Joey was hurt during the soccer game.

Active: The soccer game hurt Joey.

Passive: I've been bamboozled!

Active: Someone bamboozled me!

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Is the sentence natural and clear? Will active or passive voice make the sentence more direct and engaging? Try to rewrite with as few "to be" verbs as possible and default to active verbs and tangible nouns.

4. Too many words

If you're familiar with the Zapier blog, you've probably noticed that our articles are sometimes more like novellas than blog posts. While we're fans of long-form content, we try not to be wordy .

It's similar to the long lede issue: Wordiness within the body of the piece is beating around the bush. From Strunk and White's seminal guide The Elements of Style :

Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Your writing will be more concise and persuasive when you lose the overused adverbs and adjectives that ultimately detract from the meaning you wish to impart. Does the first of the following two sentences honestly convey any more meaning than the second?

T wo-factor authentication is very important technology. OR Two-factor authentication is important technology.

To take it a step further: Any time you’ve modified a noun or verb with "very," you can probably choose a more precise word, which leads to more powerful writing:

Two-factor authentication is critical technology.

It's fun to edit – Editing is fun

It takes time to write – Writing takes time

There are many people who write – Many people write

There's nothing better than blogging – Nothing's better than blogging

Here are some things to consider: – Some things to consider are:

And it's not just about repeating words—repeating ideas across multiple sentences is another easy trap to fall into. Be concise.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Does this word or sentence add anything to the meaning or the flow of the piece? Can you read the sentence without running out of breath?

5. The conclusion doesn't conclude or doesn't exist

If the lede is meant to hook readers and convince them to keep reading, the conclusion is meant to neatly tie up the piece, so readers come away satisfied. Often, though, I see drafts where the piece abruptly stops, as if the writer expended all their energy on the meat of the post and had no room left for the conclusion (the dessert, in this analogy).

Conclusions can be tricky: How do you tie up everything in a way that makes a lasting impression? Triplett Lentz's advice:

When you don’t know how to conclude a piece of writing, try answering the "so what?" question. Why should anyone care about this? How does your idea apply to the reader as a human being? Can you situate your thesis in a broader context? If your post is about .css-12hxxzz-Link{all:unset;box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;cursor:pointer;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;outline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-fill-color:currentColor;outline:1px solid transparent;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']{color:var(--zds-text-link, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']:hover{outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #2b2358);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='ocean']:focus{color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']:hover{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-5, #a8a5a0);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='white']:focus{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);outline-color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']{color:var(--zds-text-link, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']:hover{color:var(--zds-text-link, #2b2358);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='primary']:focus{color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);outline-color:var(--zds-text-link-hover, #3d4592);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']:hover{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-5, #a8a5a0);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-color='secondary']:focus{color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);outline-color:var(--zds-gray-warm-1, #fffdf9);}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='inherit']{font-weight:inherit;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='normal']{font-weight:400;}.css-12hxxzz-Link[data-weight='bold']{font-weight:700;} how to work a 40-hour week , for example, use the conclusion to address why that's a goal worth pursuing, or discuss the widespread problems that our culture of overwork creates.

The conclusion is an opportunity to ask readers to engage with you further, direct them to relevant content, or give them more to ponder.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: What's the takeaway for the reader, and is that expressed in the conclusion? Bonus points if you don't use "Conclusion" for your header for this section.

Micro writing mistakes we all make

Now that we have the major writing issues out of the way, let's talk about micro issues—the punctuation, word choices, and other things that copy editors usually catch, if you're lucky to have a good one. They're little things like using "their" when you mean "there" or "would of" instead of "would've" (a contraction of would have).

Nitpicky as the Grammar Police might be, grammatical and mechanical errors that are easy to overlook can make your readers do a double-take and perhaps doubt your authority.

It would take years to cover every grammatical mistake or point of contention, so for now, we'll just go over the most common mistakes and point you toward more resources for diving deeper.

6. Heed the homophones

Here's a list of more common culprits:

Accept/Except:

Accept means to acknowledge or agree to receive; e.g., "I accept your proposal."

Except means apart from or excluding; e.g., "Everyone was present except Jane."

Complement/Compliment:

A complement is something that completes or matches something else; e.g., "That nail polish complements your eyes."

A compliment is a flattering remark; e.g., "Thanks for the nice compliment on my article."

Principal/Principle:

Principal can be a noun or adjective. As a noun, it refers to the person in charge of a school, college, or organization; e.g., "Roger was called into the principal's office." As an adjective, it means main, or most important; e.g. "The principal reason for this meeting is to gather content ideas for Q2."

Principle refers to a fundamental truth or belief; e.g., "Roger's educational principles are sound."

Stationary/Stationery:

Stationary means not moving; e.g., "The car remained stationary."

Stationery refers to paper, pens, and other writing materials; e.g., "Simon looked for a blue ink pen in the stationery section."

7. Apostrophe catastrophes

We can blame many cases of homophone confusion on apostrophes, that pesky punctuation mark that turns "your" into "you're." The former, without the apostrophe, means you own something. The latter, with the apostrophe, means you are doing something or are something. Similarly with "its" versus "it's." "Its" means that thing owns something, while "it's" means "it is."

Pro tip: Any time you use an apostrophe in a contraction, where you're combining the verb with the noun (such as "it's" for "it is" or "here's" for "here is"), expand the contraction in your mind so you get the subject-verb agreement right. "Here's the best apps," for example, does not work when you expand the "here's" contraction—"here is the best apps." It should be "here are the best apps." Just don't use contractions in this case.

Here are a couple more common apostrophe mistakes:

Who's/Whose:

Who's is a contraction of "who is"; e.g., "Who's calling Alan at this hour?"

Whose is a possessive pronoun that means "belonging to [someone]"; e.g., "Alan, whose phone hadn't stopped ringing all morning, barely ate anything for breakfast."

Let's/Lets

Let's is a contraction of "let us"; e.g., "Let's consider another example of a writing mistake."

Lets means allows; e.g., "The key lets you open the door."

8. Comma and semicolon confusion

It had nothing to do with anything. The sun was too small, and too cold, and too far away, to keep the world alive. The white ring was not enough. It was feeble and worthless. It was as useless as a memory; it was as off-kilter and hollow and wretched as a memory. When you try your hardest to recall someone’s face, or the look of a place, you see in your mind’s eye some vague and terrible sight such as this. It is dark; it is insubstantial; it is all wrong.

(Hey, if you can write like Annie Dillard, do whatever you want with punctuation.)

That said, if you do use a semicolon, make sure the parts that come before and after the semicolon are both complete thoughts (with both a subject and a verb). "I love semicolons; but hate commas" is incorrect because the "but hate commas" part can't stand on its own, while "I love semicolons; but I hate commas" works—even if you're better off using a comma here. Which brings us to the next point:

Commas are the worst.

They're the trickiest punctuation mark to master and a cause of contention when it comes to style. Should you use the Oxford comma (a.k.a., serial comma) or not? The Oxford comma, if you recall, is the comma that's added before the last item in a list. So, for example: "X, Y, and Z" follows the Oxford comma rule, as opposed to "X, Y and Z" (missing that last comma). Those who are not in favor of the Oxford comma cite aesthetics and one fewer character needed. Those on the side of the Oxford comma cite clarity.

From our blog style guide, here are other guidelines for using commas correctly:

Incorrect: "I'll order the cheeseburger, but don't want the pickles."

Correct: "I'll order the cheeseburger but don't want the pickles" OR "I'll order the cheeseburger, but I don't want the pickles."

"Don't want the pickles" wouldn't be used, in most cases, as a standalone sentence, so we don't need the comma. "I don't want the pickles" is complete with subject and verb, so we add the comma. (Alternatively, you could shorten the sentence to "I'll order the cheeseburger without pickles.")

Incorrect: "Or, you could download this other to-do app."

Correct: "Or you could download this other to-do app" OR "Or, if you want more features, you could download this other to-do app."

Pro tip: Every time you want to add a comma or a semicolon, consider whether the words after the punctuation mark form a complete thought that could stand on its own.

9. Repetitive words repeat

But other times repeating the same words or phrases is a sign that you're struggling to communicate or fully explain your topic without beating around the bush. Readers (that is, people) like variety, and, in some cases, the thesaurus is your friend.

Pro tip: Grammarly's advice: Read your piece out loud, then cut down or replace frequently used words. When writing, ask yourself if you've already made this statement before in your piece.

10. Misused words

Writing is all about choosing the right words in the right sequence to convey your thought or idea. Simple, right? The problem is there are so many words at your disposal and picking the "best" word is impossible. But some words are better than others when you want to get your point across and also be precise and accurate.

One of my pet peeves is when people use "less" when they should be using "fewer." As in, "I have less readers than I did when this post was published"—it should be "fewer." Use "fewer" when you can count whatever you're referring to (in this case, readers) and "less" when you can't, such as less readership or audience. Similarly, you'd say "less water" (not countable) but "fewer raindrops" (countable).

Home in on means zero in on (get closer to a target).

Hone is what you do when you sharpen a knife (or a skill).

Pro tip: The next time you misuse a word and correct it (or your editor corrects it), come up with a mnemonic to remember the right word.

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Stop Making These 13 Essay Writing Mistakes

Essay writing is HARD, right? So many rules, such a long, drawn-out process. Over the last four years I’ve worked one-on-one with hundreds of students to help them improve their essay writing skills. And now I want to share with you the most common essay writing mistakes I see so you can identify areas for your own improvement.

Improve your essay writing = achieve higher grades + make the process easier

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13 essay writing mistakes

1. expecting to be good at essay writing straight away.

A person isn't born a good writer. It takes years of practice to learn how to spell, how to put your ideas across, how to write clearly…etc. But it’s a pretty common essay writing mistake to believe we should excel at it straight away, and that if we don’t then we must just not be very good at it.

Holding this belief is gonna hurt your confidence and progress because if you don’t think you’re very good at essay writing, you’re more likely to procrastinate, leave it to the last minute and not put in enough effort to get a good grade.

In the same way you need to bake a number of cakes to become good at baking cakes, you need to actually write a few essays to become good at writing.

Essay writing is a craft so take on that apprentice mindset and focus on learning. Practice your skills with each essay, ask your tutor for feedback and advice, and develop your writing skills by reading one of my blog posts or buying my book.

2. Starting your essay too late

Q: How do you know a student’s got an essay due soon? A: Their bathroom is spotless and their kitchen cupboards are organised alphabetically.

Writing an essay involves a lot of uncertainty as the creation of something brand new is pretty taxing on our brains. This is why our mind tries to hunt out a more concrete task with a quicker reward e.g. cleaning or tidying.

Leaving an essay to the last minute is a really big essay writing mistake because you’re just not leaving yourself enough time to do well. A great essay takes shape over a number of phases and the crafting of strong, flowing arguments takes time. You also need to leave time for multiple rounds of editing to ensure your ideas are strong AND, most importantly, that your essay answers the question you’ve been set.

One way you can combat this essay writing mistake is to break down the process into stages so the task doesn’t feel so colossal, and so you can build momentum as you go.

3. Not answering the set question

The aim of an essay is NOT just to write down everything you know about the topic. It’s to argue a case in response to the question you’ve been set. Too often I review students’ essays and notice that, while they’ve written an interesting piece, they’ve not actually answered the question they were set – meaning low marks.

Starting writing without having a 100% clear understanding of the question is a common, damaging essay writing mistake to make. So make sure you understand the keywords in your essay – the directives (doing words) such as describe, evaluate, critically analyse, illustrate…etc.

4. Starting writing without any planning

Students are often split into two camps – those who plan before they start writing and those who just dive straight in.

Unfortunately, the eager-beaver second group are making a big essay writing mistake by not planning. Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

When you don’t plan you’re way more likely to go off on a tangent and start answering a different question, include irrelevant ideas, and make weaker arguments because you haven’t planned your evidence – all of which will lead you to scoring low marks.

Factor in time for planning for your next essay so you can select only the relevant material to include, and outline a sensible order to follow that’ll take the reader (your tutor) on a journey to your answer.

5. Failing to back up your ideas with course material

The aim of an essay is NOT to answer a question with material off the top of your head. Your essay is a chance to demonstrate your understanding of the material your course has taught you AND your ability to apply it to answer a question or problem.

A common essay writing mistake I see with my clients is that they don’t refer back to the course materials enough. They include whole paragraphs without referring to what they’ve learning and/or including references for their sources.

Each point you make needs to be backed up with evidence.

6. Writing your points in any ol’ order

Another common essay writing mistake is to include your points and arguments with no particular order. This makes for a much harder reader experience and can make it more difficult for your tutor to understand your train of thought.

And if they can’t understand your arguments…you’re unlikely to score high marks.

Instead, think of your essay as a journey. You want your ideas to build upon each other and flow from paragraph to paragraph, leading sensible to your conclusion.

7. Accidental or deliberate plagiarism

Plagiarism is a massive essay writing mistake to make. It’s a bloody big deal for universities and if you’re caught you are likely to fail assignments or entire modules, or be kicked out – depending on the severity.

It is plagiarism to pass off someone else’s work as your own. This can range from accidentally including someone else’s ideas without referencing it, to lifting sentences or paragraphs from the internet or someone else’s work to use in your own essay, all the way to copying an entire essay.

I’ve had students contact me before and ask for my advice on essay writing mills – those sites that ‘claim’ to write an original essay for you.

These are crappy for a number of reasons:

– You’re cheating yourself out of a chance to learn these skills yourself AND develop your understanding of your course material

– The essay you receive will probably be shoddy and will most likely be a copy of someone else’s essay. If your university uses a plagiarism checker (most do) – you’re screwed

– If your university finds out, you’re also screwed.

So if you’ve plagiarised accidentally before – develop your skills in referencing/citing and writing in your own words.

And if you are a deliberate plagiariser – it's time to stop. You CAN do this by yourself, I promise.

8. Writing with bias

One of the most important pieces of advice I received from a tutor was, “I don’t care what you think personally. I care about the argument you can put forward and the evidence you can back it up with.”

I offer an essay proofreading service and one of the most catastrophic essay writing mistakes I see is when a student brings bias into their writing. They express personal opinion, they present their own ideas or common sense as evidence for their argument, they refute the claims of a credible theorist but give no evidence for their criticism. It’s highly unlikely a student will achieve a high grade if they write with bias.

As the author, your job is to present an unbiased case. You must look objectively at the evidence available and piece together a logical, reasoned argument without taking your own personal beliefs into account. If you do want to express your own ideas, give the reader a reason to take you seriously by including convincing counter-evidence.

9. Not engaging in critical thinking and evaluation

Critical thinking is one of those words that sows fear into a lot of students, but it’s a pretty common essay writing mistake to not engage in it. Critical thinking is the process of evaluating information to make judgements on its value. It’s about questioning ideas and evidence, seeking out all perspectives and uncovering any potential bias in your source.

For example, an Instagram influencer who recommends a dietary supplement may explain that the “shake will help melt away your fat.”

But the influencer is being PAID to promote this product and is being told what to say by the company who are likely to twist or make up entirely the benefits of their product. Does it mean their claims aren’t true? No. But it means we should dig much, MUCH deeper to determine the evidence and judge its value for ourselves.

As you progress through your studies you WILL be required to think critically and analyse the evidence you’re reading and using so it’s vital you develop these skills.

10. Fluffy writing

I could probably condense this pretty hefty blog post into a few hundred words that just delivers the meat. I choose however to include more explanation and details to aid your understanding of these points.

Academic writing, however, needs to be concise so there’s no need to beat around the bush. While you won’t lose marks directly for fluffy writing, it can make it harder for your tutor to understand your ideas and takes up precious word count that could be used for additional points – an essay writing mistake we don’t want to make.

So during your editing process, look at each sentence in turn and see where you can shave off unnecessary words and reorder it to lose some fluff. Your ideas will be stronger and you’ll have saved some word count.

11. Not correcting poor grammar, spelling and punctuation

While most word processors have a spellchecker, it’s a common essay writing mistake to rely on them too much. Again, you may not lose many (or any) marks for poor grammar, it does make it A LOT harder for your tutor to understand what the hell you’re saying. They are unlikely to grasp the full oomph of your awesome points if they have to keep stopping to decipher your sentences.

Therefore, educate yourself on grammar, spelling and punctuation rules so you can proofread your essays thoroughly.

12. Not reaching the word count

Word counts are set for a reason so it’s a pretty big essay writing mistake to submit a piece that’s well below the word limit.

Now sometimes life happens and you have to submit an unfinished essay. But, this shouldn’t be an aim or general practice for any student who wants to achieve good grades.

Not meeting the word count means you haven’t included enough content for your tutor to grade you on and allocate marks for.

Spend more time in the brainstorming phase before you start writing. Scan through all your materials and notes to come up with possible ideas, concepts, examples that you can include and ensure you’re developing your arguments fully with critical analysis.

13. Hiding from feedback

It’s common for students to take a look at their mark and then ignore the rest of the feedback – especially if they’re not happy with their grade. But it’s a big essay writing mistake to ignore your feedback as this is a super valuable tool to help you improve your writing and increase your marks next time.

Rather than see feedback and constructive criticism as a slight on you as a person, try to view it as an opportunity to improve your writing craft and express your ideas more clearly next time so you can achieve a better grade.

How to Study Like a First Class Student

If you’re curious about how to study like a First Class student and whether aiming for top grades is the right approach for you, this episode is your guide. I explore the benefits of adopting a First Class mindset and study habits, explaining why every student can benefit from aiming high, regardless of their current

This One Perspective Shift Will Make Your Studying Easier

In this week’s episode, I reveal a powerful perspective shift that can make your studying easier and transform your academic journey. Whether you’re juggling work, family, or both, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the pressure of achieving good grades. You might even find yourself confused by inconsistent results—feeling confident about an essay only to

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College essay

How to Revise Your College Admissions Essay | Examples

Published on September 24, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Revision and editing are essential to make your college essay the best it can be.

When you’ve finished your draft, first focus on big-picture issues like the overall narrative and clarity of your essay. Then, check your style and tone . You can do this for free with a paraphrasing tool . Finally, when you’re happy with your essay, polish up the details of grammar and punctuation with the essay checker , and don’t forget to check that it’s within the word count limit .

Remember to take a break after you finish writing and after each stage of revision. You should go through several rounds of revisions and ask for feedback on your drafts from a teacher, friend or family member, or professional essay coach. If you don’t have much time , focus on clarity and grammar by using a grammar checker .

You can also check out our college essay examples to get an idea of how to turn a weak essay into a strong one.

Big picture: check for overall message, flow, and clarity, voice: check for style and tone, details: check for grammar and punctuation, feedback: get a second opinion, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

In your first reading, don’t touch grammatical errors; just read through the entire essay to check the overall message, flow, and content quality.

Check your overall message

After reading your essay, answer the following questions:

What message do I take away from my essay?
Did I answer the prompt?
Does it end with an insight, or does it just tell a story?
Do I use stories and examples to demonstrate my values? Do these values match the university’s values?
Is it focused on me, or is it too focused on another person or idea?

If you answer any of these questions negatively, rewrite your essay to fix these problems.

Problem	Solution
You tell a story without insight	Add a lesson learned and actions taken as a result of this lesson.
You claim to have qualities without proof	Add detailed stories that demonstrate these qualities.
You write mostly about another person or idea	Elaborate on how this person or idea affected your perspective, actions, and future goals.

Check transitions and flow

Underline every paragraph’s topic and transition sentence to visualize whether a clear structure and natural flow are maintained throughout your essay. If necessary, rewrite or rearrange these topic and transition sentences to create a logical outline. Then, reread the entire essay to check it flows naturally.

Also check that your application essay’s introduction catches the reader’s attention and that you end the essay with an effective payoff that builds on what comes before.

Check for content quality

Highlight any parts that are unclear, boring, or unnecessary. Afterward, go back and clarify the unclear sections, embellish the boring parts with vivid language to help your essay stand out , and delete any unnecessary sentences or words.

Make sure everything in the essay is showing off what colleges are looking for : your personality, interests, and positive traits.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

To ensure you use the correct tone for your essay, check whether there’s vulnerability, authenticity, a positive and polite tone, and a balance between casual and formal. Ask yourself the following questions:

Does the essay sound like me? Do my word choices seem natural?
Is it vulnerable? Do I write about myself in a way that demonstrates genuine self-reflection?
Is the tone conversational but respectful?
Is it polite and respectful about sensitive topics?

Problem	Solution
Your essay doesn’t sound like you
Your essay doesn’t show vulnerability
Your tone is too casual
Your tone is too formal

Read it aloud to catch errors

Hearing your essay read aloud can help you to catch problems with style and voice that you might miss when reading it silently. For example, you may overuse certain words, have unparallel sentence structures , or use vocabulary that sounds unnatural.

You should read your essay aloud several times throughout the revision process. This can also help you find grammar and punctuation errors. You can try the following:

Read it aloud yourself.
Have someone read it aloud for you.
Put it into a text-to-speech program.
Record yourself and play it back.

After checking for big-picture and stylistic issues, read your essay again for grammar and punctuation errors.

Run spell check

First, run spell check in your word processor to find any obvious spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes.

Punctuation, capitalization, and verb errors

Spell check might miss some minor errors in punctuation and capitalization . With verbs , check for correct subject-verb agreement and verb tense .

Sentence structure

Check for common sentence structure mistakes such as sentence fragments and run-ons. Throughout your essay, ensure you vary your sentence lengths and structures for an interesting flow.

Check for parallel structure in more complex sentences. Maintain clarity by fixing any dangling or misplaced modifiers .

Consistency

Be consistent with your use of contractions, acronyms, and verb tenses.

Whenever you reuse an essay for another university, make sure you replace any names from or references to the previous university.

You should get feedback on your essay before you submit your application. Stick to around two to three readers to avoid too much conflicting advice.

Ask for feedback from people who know you well, such as teachers or family members. It’s also important to get feedback on the content, tone, and flow of your essay from someone who is familiar with the college admissions process and has strong language skills.

You might want to consider getting professional help from an essay coach or editor. Editors should only give advice and suggestions; they should never rewrite your essay for you.

Have your readers or editors answer these feedback questions:

Is the introduction catchy and memorable?
Do I include specific stories that demonstrate my values?
Are there smooth transitions between paragraphs?
What message did you take away from my essay?
What parts were unclear, boring, or unnecessary?
Does the essay sound like me?
Is it vulnerable? Does it demonstrate genuine self-reflection?
Does it have the appropriate tone?
Is my humor (if any) funny?

Everyone needs feedback—asking for help doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. A fresh pair of eyes might notice things you have missed.

Get help from a teacher, guidance counselor, or mentor

You can ask for feedback from a teacher who is familiar with your writing, preferably your English teacher , who can help you with narrative, flow, and grammar:

Familiar with your writing
Has good knowledge of narrative essays, grammar, and style techniques
May be overwhelmed with other students asking for help
May not be familiar with the college essay writing style

You can also ask your school’s guidance counselor , who should have specialist knowledge of what admissions officers look for in a college admissions essay:

Has good knowledge of the college application process
Most likely overwhelmed with other students asking for help
May not be familiar with your writing or personal background

Ask your teacher or guidance counselor for help at least one to two months before the submission deadline, as many other students will also want their help. Give them at least three weeks to review your essay.

You can also ask another adult, such as a mentor or coach who supervises your extracurricular activities:

Knows your background well
Might not be a strong writer

Ask family or friends to check for authenticity

Family and friends can be a good resource for checking that your essay sounds like you. However, for more comprehensive feedback, seek help from family with a strong writing or English educational background. You can also ask older siblings or cousins who have successfully completed the college admissions process.

Familiar with your background, personality, and key life moments
Can help you identify whether your essay has authenticity and vulnerability
May be unqualified to edit your essay
May give subjective advice to avoid hurting your feelings
May be difficult for you to receive unfavorable feedback from someone close to you

Hire an essay coach or editor

After receiving feedback from your close network, you can also get help from an essay editor who can give you objective expert feedback.

Has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays
Can give objective, high-quality feedback on your content, tone, and grammar
Unfamiliar with your background and personality

Explore our essay editing service

Incorporate feedback after a break

After receiving feedback, take a break for a few hours or get a good night’s sleep. Then, come back refreshed to incorporate feedback.

Depending on your writing, you may undergo multiple rounds of revision. Save each draft of your essay in a separate document, in case you want to borrow phrases or ideas from a previous draft.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

Writing process
Transition words
Passive voice
Paraphrasing

Communication

How to end an email
Ms, mrs, miss
How to start an email
I hope this email finds you well
Hope you are doing well

Parts of speech

Personal pronouns
Conjunctions

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding message, flow, tone, style , and clarity. Then, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your language, tone, and content . Ask for their help at least one to two months before the submission deadline, as many other students will also want their help.

Friends and family are a good resource to check for authenticity. It’s best to seek help from family members with a strong writing or English educational background, or from older siblings and cousins who have been through the college admissions process.

If possible, get help from an essay coach or editor ; they’ll have specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and be able to give objective expert feedback.

Depending on your writing, you may go through several rounds of revision . Make sure to put aside your essay for a little while after each editing stage to return with a fresh perspective.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Courault, K. (2023, December 08). How to Revise Your College Admissions Essay | Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/college-essay/revise-your-essay/

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Kirsten Courault

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Top 20 Errors in Undergraduate Writing

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The Top Twenty: A Quick Guide to Troubleshooting Your Writing

Readers judge your writing by your control of certain conventions, which may change depending on your audience, purpose, and writing situation. For example, your instructor may or may not mark errors in your paper if he’s more concerned with its argument or structure than he is with sentence-level correctness; he could also decide an error is not serious. Some instructors may even see the errors listed below as stylistic options. However, a large-scale study by Andrea Lunsford and Karen Lunsford (2008) found that these errors are the most likely to attract readers’ negative attention. Before handing in your papers, proofread them carefully for these errors, which are illustrated below in the sentences in italics.

THE TOP TWENTY

1. wrong word.

Wrong word errors take a number of forms. They may convey a slightly different meaning than you intend ( compose instead of comprise ) or a completely wrong meaning ( prevaricate instead of procrastinate ). They may also be as simple as a wrong preposition or other type of wrong word in an idiom.

Use your thesaurus and spell checker with care. If you select a word from a thesaurus without knowing its precise meaning or allow a spell checker to correct spelling automatically, you may make wrong-word errors. If prepositions and idioms are tricky for you, look up the standard usage.

Here are a couple of wrong word examples:

Did you catch my illusion to the Bible?

Illusion means “an erroneous perception of reality.” In the context of this sentence, allusion was needed because it means "reference.”

Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is a magnificent sixteenth-century allergy.

A spell checker replaced allegory with allergy.

2. Missing Comma after an Introductory Element

Use a comma after every introductory element—whether word, phrase or clause—to clarify where it ends and the rest of the sentence begins. When the introductory element is very short, you can skip the comma, but including it is never wrong.

Without a comma after the introductory element, it’s hard to see the location of the subject (“they”) in this sentence:

Determined to make their flight on time they rose at dawn.

3. Incomplete or Missing Documentation

Documentation practices vary from discipline to discipline. But in academic and research writing, it’s a good idea to always cite your sources: omitting documentation can result in charges of plagiarism.

The examples below follow MLA style. In this example, the page number of the print source for this quotation must be included.

The Social Media Bible defines social media as the “activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.”

And here, the source mentioned should be identified because it makes a specific, arguable claim:

According to one source, it costs almost twice an employee’s salary to recruit and train a replacement.

Cite each source you refer to in the text, following the guidelines of the documentation style you are using.

4. Vague Pronoun Reference

A pronoun (e.g., he, this, it) should refer clearly to the noun it replaces (called the antecedent). If more than one word could be the antecedent, or if no specific antecedent is present, edit to make the meaning clear.

In this sentence, it possibly refers to more than one word:

If you put this handout in your binder, it may remind you of important tutoring strategies .

In some pronoun usage, the reference is implied but not stated. Here, for example, you might wonder what which refers to:

The authoritarian school changed its cell phone policy, which many students resisted.

To improve this sentence, the writer needs to make explicit what students resisted.

5. Spelling

Even though technology now reviews much of our spelling for us, one of the top 20 most common errors is a spelling error. That’s because spell checkers cannot identify many misspellings, and are most likely to miss homonyms (e.g., presence/presents), compound words incorrectly spelled as separate words, and proper nouns, particularly names. After you run the spell checker, proofread carefully for errors such as these:

Vladmir Putin is the controversial leader of Russia.

Every where she walked, she was reminded of him.

6. Mechanical Error with a Quotation

When we quote other writers, we bring their voices into our arguments. Quotation marks crucially show where their words end and our own begin.

Quotation marks come in pairs; don’t forget to open and close your quotations. In most documentation styles (e.g., MLA Style), block quotations do not need quotations marks. Consult your professor’s preferred style manual to learn how to present block quotations.

Follow conventions when using quotation marks with other punctuation. Here, the comma should be placed inside the quotation marks:

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction", Virginia Woolf argues.

7. Unnecessary Comma

We often have a choice about whether or not to use a comma. But if we add them to our sentences when and where they are not needed, then we may obscure rather than clarify our meaning.

Do not use commas to set off restrictive elements that are necessary to the meaning of the words they modify. Here, for example, no comma is needed to set off the restrictive phrase of working parents , which is necessary to indicate which parents the sentence is talking about.

Many children, of working parents, walk home from school by themselves.

Do not use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) when the conjunction does not join parts of a compound sentence. In this example, no comma is needed before the word and because it joins two phrases that modify the same verb, applies.

This social scourge can be seen in urban centers, and in rural outposts.

Do not use a comma before the first or after the last item in a series.

The students asked their TAs to review, the assignment rubric, a sample paper and their comments, before the end of the quarter.

Do not use a comma between a subject and verb.

Happily, the waiters, sat down during a break.

Do not use a comma between a verb and its object or complement.

On her way home from work, she bought, a book at the bookstore.

Do not use a comma between a preposition and its object.

On her way home from work, she bought a book at, the bookstore.

8. Unnecessary or Missing Capitalization

Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives, the first words of sentences, and important words in titles, along with certain words indicating directions and family relationships. Do not capitalize most other words. When in doubt, check a dictionary.

Financial Aid is a pressing concern for many University Students.

9. Missing Word

If you read your work outloud before submittingit, you are more likely to notice omitted words. Be particularly careful not to omit words from quotations.

Soccer fans the globe rejoiced when the striker scored the second goal.

10. Faulty Sentence Structure

If a sentence starts out with one kind of structure and then changes to another kind, it will confuse readers.

The information that families have access to is what financial aid is available and thinking about the classes available, and how to register.

Maintain the grammatical pattern within a sentence. Each sentence must have a subject and a verb, and the subjects and predicates must make sense together. In the example above, thinking about the classes available does not help the reader understand the information families have access to. Parallel structures can help your reader see the relationships among your ideas. Here’s the sentence revised:

Families have access to information about financial aid, class availability, and registration.

11. Missing Comma with a Nonrestrictive Element

A nonrestrictive phrase or clause provides additional information that is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence. Use commas to set off a nonrestrictive element.

David who loved to read history was the first to head to the British Library.

The clause who loved to read history does not affect the basic meaning of the sentence. The clause could be taken out and the reader would still understand that David was the first to head to the British Library.

12. Unnecessary Shift in Verb Tense

Verbs that shift from one tense to another with no clear reason can confuse readers.

Martin searched for a great horned owl. He takes photographs of all the birds he sights.

13. Missing Comma in a Compound Sentence

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. When the clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), use a comma before the conjunction to indicate a pause between the two thoughts.

Miranda drove her brother and her mother waited at home.

Without the comma, a reader may think at first that Miranda drove both her brother and her mother.

14. Unnecessary or Missing Apostrophe (including its/it's)

To make a noun possessive, add either an apostrophe and an s (Ed's phone) or an apostrophe alone (the girls’ bathroom). Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive pronouns ours, yours, and hers. Use its to mean belong to it; use it's only when you mean it is or it has.

Repeated viral infections compromise doctors immune systems.

The chef lifted the skillet off it’s hook. Its a fourteen-inch, copper skillet.

15. Fused (run-on) Sentence

A fused sentence (also called a run-on) joins clauses that could each stand alone as a sentence with no punctuation or words to link them. Fused sentences must be either divided into separate sentences or joined by adding words or punctuation.

The house was flooded with light, the moon rose above the horizon.

He wondered what the decision meant he thought about it all night.

16. Comma Splice

A comma splice occurs when only a comma separates clauses that could each stand alone as a sentence. To correct a comma splice, you can insert a semicolon or period, connect the clauses with a word such as and/or/because, or restructure the sentence.

The students rushed the field, they tore down the goalposts.

17. Lack of pronoun/antecedent agreement

Pronouns typically must agree with their antecedents in gender (male or female, if appropriate) and in number (singular or plural). Many indefinite pronouns, such as everyone and each, are always singular. However, they can be used to agree with a singular antecedent in order to use inclusive or gender-neutral language. When antecedents are joined by or or nor, the pronoun must agree with the closer antecedent. A collection noun such as team can be either singular or plural, depending on whether the members are seen as a group or individuals.

Every guest left their shoes at the door.

18. Poorly Integrated Quotation

Quotations should be logically and smoothly integrated with the writing around them, the grammar of the quotation complementing the grammar of the neighboring prose. They usually need to be introduced (with a signal phrase) rather than dropped abruptly into the writing.

An award-winning 2009 study of friendship "understanding social networks allows us to understand how indeed, in the case of humans, the whole comes to be greater than the sum of its parts" (Christakis and Fowler 26).

"Social networks are intricate things of beauty" (Christakis and Fowler xiii). Maintaining close friendships is good for your health.

19. Missing or Unnecessary Hyphen

A compound adjective requires a hyphen when it modifies a noun that follows it.

This article describes eighteenth century theater.

A two-word verb should not be hyphenated.

The dealers want to buy-back the computers and refurbish them.

20. Sentence Fragment

A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is presented as if it were a complete sentence. The following illustrate the ways sentence fragments can be created:

Without a subject

The American colonists resisted British taxation. And started the American Revolution.

No complete verb

The pink geranium blooming in its pot.

Beginning with a subordinating word

We visited the park. Where we threw the Frisbee.

These 20 most common errors can be avoided in your writing if you reserve time to proofread your final draft before submission.

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Karen J. Lunsford. “Mistakes are a Fact of Life: A National Comparative Study.” CCC 59 (2008) 781-806.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Can you spot mistake that led to Navy warship commander losing his job?

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This undated photo, provided by Stars and Stripes, shows Cameron Yaste, commanding officer of the destroyer USS John McCain, firing a rifle with a backwards scope. (Stars and Stripes/Stars and Stripes via AP)

A naval warship commander has been relieved of duty after he was seen in a photo holding a gun the wrong way round.

Cameron Yaste, commanding officer of the destroyer USS John McCain, was removed from his position ‘due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command the guided-missile destroyer’.

An image shows Yaste in a firing stance gripping the rifle, the scope is turned backwards.

This led to considerable ridicule towards the US Navy on social media , with the Marine Corps sharing a photo of a soldier firing a weapon captioned: ‘Clear Sight Picture.’

The image of Yaste was eventually deleted and the Navy thanking those who pointed out the error.

They wrote: ‘Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post.

‘Picture has been removed until EMI (extra military instruction) is completed.’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

13812369 Commander of Navy warship relieved of duty months after bizarre rifle photo drew ridicule

Yaste has been replaced by Capt. Allison Christy, deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 21, which is part of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

The ship is deployed in the Gulf of Oman to protect the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

The carriers were sent to the Middle East in the event Israel need help repelling an attack by Iran or other countries.

The Roosevelt is the flagship of a strike group that has recently included three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, $2 billion vessels that are designed to shield carriers from attacks by air, sea and land.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life

The Importance Of Situational Understanding

The SECOND Biggest Mistake…

How I Realized My Mistake

The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life Is This

Why Fixing This Mistake Cannot Wait

Issue 1: Pretending Letting One Thing Go Doesn’t Matter

Issue 2: Not Realizing Our Mortality

What Can You Do About It?

What have you learned from your biggest mistakes – Sample answers & more

7 sample answers to “What have you learned from your biggest mistakes?” interview question

Regardless of your mistakes and how much they hurt, try to stay positive

Do not limit yourself with mistakes you made at work

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