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For High School degree earned, I wrote GED. I realize now that I have a High School Diploma and a GED is something that people who dropout of regular HS get. I thought it just stood for "General Education Diploma," and I thought that everyone who graduated from high school got one.

Is this enough to get me waitlisted/rejected at T6 schools? Should I just write a letter to correct the error?

email them, and quit worrying

There are two ways to look at it:
1) who cares about HS since you had to have one or the other to get into most colleges and you apparently have the undergraduate degree (or you would not be applying to law school)...as such, why call attention to the mundane that they really are not apt to be looking at on the application. Side note...arguably, someone who got the GED and then got the rest of the educational life on track could potentially be a BETTER candidate, but the debate on that subject strays from that which you seek.

2) although trivial in the grand scheme, it is suggestive of someone who wants to be a lawyer that makes a submission without having verified all of the items on the application.

I'm guessing that calling attention to the error carries more risk than waiting to see if they ask about it...

Borhas wrote:email them, and quit worrying

Credited.

GED + Bachelor's probably looks better, and you might feel silly calling attention to an error, but it's not worth having a lie on your app.

I think that for these elite, risk adverse institutions it is a HUGE deal. It signals some underlying narrative such as a sealed discipline record or suspension/expulsion issues, or a break in enrollment. And since I didn't write an addendum to explain any of this, it looks even more shady.

I will have it changed, but I ask because I was waitlisted, and I am wondering if people agree that this is enough to waitlist an otherwise worthy applicant.

GlobeTrotter wrote:I think that for these elite, risk adverse institutions it is a HUGE deal. It signals some underlying narrative such as a sealed discipline record or suspension/expulsion issues, or a break in enrollment. And since I didn't write an addendum to explain any of this, it looks even more shady.

I will have it changed, but I ask because I was waitlisted, and I am wondering if people agree that this is enough to waitlist an otherwise worthy applicant.

In my completely uneducated opinion, this is not a dealbreaker. But Asha may disagree.

hth

I really don't see how this can be a deal breaker. A GED is a high school equivalent, and it really shouldn't be a big deal to any school when considering admissions. Especially after you demonstrate that you made it through college and did very well there.

I agree that you should clear up your mistake, but I think your implicitly elitist attitude when it comes to the GED is unfair. People get GEDs for reasons that can extend beyond dropping out of HS due to unfavorable reasons. And plenty of people who have trouble childhoods and drop out go on to lead successful lives after acquiring a GED.

I understand that you didn't write an addendum and maybe if you actually did acquire a GED you would have, but I don't see why this should be a red flag to adcomms. My understanding is that most schools collect this information for survey purposes and not as an actual factor in admissions.