Is it a really bad idea to change tenses in the middle of a college app essay?

The prompt: If you had 5,000 dollars to create a nonprofit or business, what would you do?

My first few sentences are in the conditional, then I changed to present, immersing the reader in the business I created. I wrote the essay as if my business had been created. The last 3 sentences are in the past.

Really bad idea, incredibly confusing, or does it show my passion and make it unique?
could i submit it as is and explain the change in tense in my personal statement?

I really don't want to change the present into the conditional-- I feel like that would change the entire character of the essay.

This is for Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, if it makes a difference at all.

ownpool2010-08-28T12:00:06Z

Favorite Answer

Do not explain the tense change.

Your plan can work if the writing flows well. Ask an English teacher or another person who can write English perfectly for an opinion.

Do not post the essay online. It will be picked up by an ant-plagiarism program and you could be accused of "plagiarizing" your own work.

science2010-08-28T19:04:08Z

Only write in one form of tense. It is bad college writing to change the tense of the essay several times, and some professors get mad at this. for your kind of essay I recommend sticking with present tense all the way.