See the issue: September 2009

You can send a letter to a coach any time, but just be sure to proofread it before it’s signed, sealed and delivered.

“Sending a letter is supposed to be a representation of how serious you are,” says Princeton Review senior editor Laura Braswell. Mistakes show a lack of genuine interest.

While your computer’s spell check can aid in the process, Braswell warns, “it can easily create as many mistakes as it can correct.” For instance, autocorrecting a word you didn’t intend to use [e.g., I’ll versus ill]. And, spell check doesn’t always spot interchanged correctly spelled words. To help intercept mistakes, check out this list from the Essential High School Dictionary [Random House / Princeton Review Books, $12.95].

Accept/Except Affect/Effect Are/Our Course/Coarse Forth/Fourth Hear/Here Knew/New Know/No Loose/Lose/Loss One/Won Past/Passed

Right/Rite/Write Seam/Seem Team/Teem Than/Then Through/Threw/Thorough To/Too/Two Your/You’re Wait/Weight Way/Weigh Weather/Whether

 

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