Common CASPA Mistakes


  1. Not proofreading CASPA

I always dreaded looking at my 32 page application & when I went back to review it for interviews, I often found grammatical mistakes. Second year, I got a rejection from a school I was waitlisted at the previous year & I went back to see what the reason could be by visiting CASPA, guess what? I made the mistake of denying having bachelor’s, denied having prerequisites completed & it was a hot mess. I contacted the school, but obviously nothing could’ve been done. They even used my example of what not to do during their webinar LOL


  1. Not having the personal statement flow

or talking about things other than yourself for majority of the essay.


  1. Personal statement & secondary application talking about the same thing!

Even though you may be tempted, whenever you get a chance to talk to the school about anything, you should be selling yourself as the perfect applicant (don’t let imposter syndrome get to you), letting them know who you are in different ways as possible.


  1. Applying to the wrong schools

This in itself deserves many other posts. Choose the right school for you, do your research and talk to people! Research the school's mission statement! Are you a good fit for them? Are they a good fit for you? Does your application speak to what they are looking for (volunteer work/underserved work etc.)


  1. Applying late

You shouldn’t be applying to rolling schools any later than July. Schools with non rolling admission are an exception. You should also consider one month (max) of your CASPA being approved. For example: you should submit by July 1st for a school with an August 1 deadline because in the first few months of CASPA, there’s a rush of applicants & it takes longer than usual for the application to be verified. You can add as many schools as you want after your application has been verified & those will be “completed status” within a day or two max.


  1. Applying to too many schools

Hear me out on this one! I’m all about applying to as many schools as you can AFFORD but, apply to the ones that you have a great shot at. I often kept adding schools every month or two when I hadn’t heard back yet. To avoid this, make a list from the very beginning & trust the process! Have a solid game plan on when you're going to apply to what schools based on if they're rolling or non-rolling. If you haven't heard back by January, maybe then you can add one or two that have March deadline and are non-rolling.


Feel free to reach out if you have questions & good luck! :)