jtbiggs

I have been invited to interview for Penn GSE's Educational Leadership program as part of their "admissions finalization process." I'm only applying for a master's, so I didn't expect to have to interview (I thought that was only for those trying to enter the doctoral programs!) Anyway, has anyone experienced an interview with this program? Any tips?

Well, I think I can put this topic to rest. I emailed my letter writer about the problem and she immediately responded and sounded horrified. She told me that she knew she had forgotten how to spell my name but wanted to just start the letter. She planned to correct it later while she was proofreading it but completely forgot. Anyway, she has already contacted the two schools and will send corrected letters. Thanks so much for all the advice everyone! I now feel so much better

Wow, I was hoping posting this would lessen my stress over this, but it's made it worse. Anyway, there are a few assumptions I need to correct. The LOR writer is no longer a professor but an associate dean of the school of education of a large, competitive private university. I know her mainly through a student honors program she headed and the related service-learning projects I did with her and organized with her help. I did very little academic work with her, but I'm using her recommendation to illustrate my commitment to community engagement--something that is stressed in all of the education programs I'm applying to and a area which I am thinking about exploring in my research. While we worked together, we were on a first name basis--she wanted it that way. When you work in a soup kitchen with someone, it kinda puts you on equal footing. I don't think she misspelled my name b/c she doesn't know me well enough--people often misspell my last name. I would say she knows me very well and that the letter shows this in the way she describes my service projects and my activities in the honors program in detail. Am I guilty if she broke the waiver agreement? She stated that she knew I had waived my right but was sending the letter anyway for my own reference. The principal of the school where I teach has also hinted at the fact that he'll be showing me his LOR although I waived my right to see his as well. I don't know...I think the whole waiver thing is an antiquated etiquette. But I wouldn't have actually told an AdCom that we broke the agreement. I was thinking maybe I could just get her to request to resubmit it on her own? Is that asking too much?

I was pleased to see an email today from one of my LOR writers, saying that she had just submitted my letters online--more than two weeks before my deadline. She even attached a copy of my letter although I waived my right to see it. I read it and found that my last name is seriously misspelled. She made an error people often make with my name. (Without giving away my real last name, the error is similar to if my last name was Jenson but someone wrote Jenkins instead.) Also, I now have a hyphenated last name with my husband's name attached to my maiden name. However, she only put the part with the maiden name (misspelled), which I used when I knew her during my time in undergrad. Does anyone know if it's possible for her to resubmit online LORs? Should I be concerned if she can't? Other than the name the letter is really well-written and very personalized, and she is my most prestigious letter writer. How do grad schools look at this? Am I stressing about nothing?