-
The 2026-2027 MD School Specific Threads are now live in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 cycle threads can be found here. -
Scholarship Access: Becoming a Student Doctor course
Free access to comprehensive medical school prep. Eligible students include AAMC FAP recipients and HS graduates from underserved areas. Apply today.
Non-Egregious Grammar Errors
Started by rainbowsunshine
You can stop worrying.
So it’s not a big deal/dealbreaker?
D
deleted1167849
@rainbowsunshine I empathize with you. I have similar errors as well. I know what it's like though, since it's out of our control now. But, what is not out of our control is submitting spotless and excellent secondaries! Let's do that!
D
deleted1167849
@Goro with the assist!
We're all human bro
If every application with a grammar error were excluded, the nation's production of physicians would decrease to about 5 per year.
Dont worry, the committee would rather chuckle, then deny acceptance. Or is that rather chuckle than deny acceptance?
If you have ever read the actual writing of physicians, you will observe that grammar is not the strong suit.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Wait, some people can actually read physicians' writings?
...typings.
Thanks for the clarification!
Noted, but many application screeners aren’t MDs. I’m also assuming with a medical school application many would have a discerning eye for these mistakes!
The occasional error may now be a plus!
Chatbots and personal assistants... don't sweat it.
Debbie Downer weighing in here: I agree with the posters above that a small grammatical error or typo is not a cause for worry. However, multiple errors or typos suggests that the author lacks attention to detail--and that can be damaging. Moreover, some errors, like recycling an essay but failing to change the school's name, are not so small and can be fatal. Womp. Womp.
Agreed... those would definitely give me more angst because it suggests that I did not research the school's programs very well. However, I am still worried. For example, I added an extra "on" before a word where it does not make grammatical sense in a "Why Us" essay. Luckily everything else is spotless, I'm just hoping that my one small error within the swatch of information in my file will not be too distracting...
If that's the extent of your grammatical issues, I see no cause for concern.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
FWIW, we do not train admissions screeners or faculty members to have sensitivity akin to the fable of the "Princess and the Pea" (or for your musical/school drama folks "Once Upon a Mattress").
The Broadway show that launched Carol Burnett to stardom in 1959
D
deleted1167849
@Rachapkis @gyngyn I apparently used two spaces after a period 3x in my whole primary (all in sep activities). On the HTML version, it only shows one space after the period, but I guess the pdf version placed two in these spaces. Perhaps the formatting was off when I copied and pasted but I made sure to use TextEdit so I don’t know what happened. Would this hurt me?
I hope you are kidding!
Two spaces used to be standard, now either is acceptable.
D
deleted1167849
@gyngyn yea, it just bothers me when I see the two spaces. I know it’s only three times that this happened in the whole thing, but I didn’t want to adcoms to think I was careless.
Let it go.
I have (almost) learned to hear people say "those ones" without cringing!
Don't get me started with "Cali" and the ever popular "visa versa."
Last edited:
Sorry, I laugh because this is such a generational-defining thing. Old gen vs. New Gen grammarians. 🙂
That and the Carol Burnett mention.
(Team pound, not team hashtag.)
I always thought it was was visa mastercard
Little Caesars "visa visa."
