Mistake on SOP

[pastette]

Similar to another poster on here, I wrote a professor's name wrong/misspelled it on statement. It's about the equivalent of writing "Mike" for "Michael," or perhaps "Sean" for "Shawn" (either an alternative spelling or an over familiar shortening.) This professor isn't my POI (at least not the main one I'm applying to work with), but another very interesting scholar in the department who I mention. I also cite him in my writing sample and spell his name correctly.

 

I know it's not a HUGE deal, but this particular school allows you to submit an "updated SOP" which won't replace your old one, but sit along side it. On the application site, it says that this is meant for updates and one's original materials can't be altered. Would it be a smart decision to upload a new SOP with just the name corrected? Or would it maybe frustrate them as a misuse of the ability to upload more materials? Or would it just call attention to something that wasn't a particularly big deal in the first place? Thanks for any help and input you can give anxious me!

[rising_star]

I wouldn't upload a new SOP with only that correction. It seems like they only want an updated SOP if something important has happened (better grades, publication accepted, grant received). Especially since they'll be sitting side-by-side, the adcom may wonder why you wasted their time uploading the same file twice.

[Guest]

In one of my letters, I forgot to put 'the' before a word. It shouldn't be a big deal..especially if it is just one tiny fragment within your letter. I mean we're human lol.