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I wrote one sentence as follows. In this sentence, I want to express that although the work is very hard, I finally overcome many barriers and succeed.

Although implementing my idea was very challenging, I finally made it.

But somebody reviewing my sentence used “succeeded” to replace “made it”. Now the new sentence is as follows:

Although implementing my idea was very challenging, I finally succeeded.

I did not know why he changed “made it” to “succeed”. May I ask that is there anything wrong when I used “make it” in my sentence?

And I think the second sentence can express my initial meaning, but the second sentence just sounds like “OK, it is hard. Then I succeeded.”. Its tone is not that much strong. I want to emphasize the hardship of my success. So can “make it” express my initial meaning? If not, is there any other words can be used here?

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In this context the phrase "made it" is slang. While you might hear it in casual conversation, generally when writing it's best to avoid slang usage.

So the change from "made it" to "succeeded" is a good substitution since the latter word is correct usage for what you are trying to say.

Neither "made it" or "succeeded" express the difficulty in reaching that point. That is covered by your use of "very challenging".

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  • I'd describe the expression made it as informal rather than slang. In context, it is perfectly acceptable. It's just a question of the situation in which you want to use it.
    – Ronald Sole
    Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 13:49
  • Yes, I want to use it in my Statement of Purpose for my application for university. So I think it should be a formal situation. So 'make it' may be not suitable to use in my content as you said.
    – allen An
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 1:55

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