Am I misleading on my SOP?

[theislandquo]

Hi Everyone, 

I recently applied to graduate programs, and have been feeling a lot of anxiety lately (not sure if impostor syndrome/my ocd! so would be grateful for other people's advice).

When reviewing my personal statement, I can't help but think it was misleading and painted me in a better light/more qualified than I really am. In my statement, I talk about a certain programming language that I had only just begun learning the 1-2 weeks prior to submitting my statement. In my statement i talked about how my current job responsibilities include learning and using this programming language (in conjunction with other methods that I do use frequently) to analyze our experiments. As soon as I submitted, and up until now, I've been working on utilizing this newer language and becoming more proficient at it. Just when I think back, I just feel like it probably wasn't right to say that I have "learned" this language or that I used it, when I was really more of in the process of just learning it. I guess at the time when I submitted the app,  I thought it was okay because I was learning it and working on code that would implement analysis for our projects within the next coming months. But I've come to realize now that saying that you've learned a programming language means you consider yourself pretty advanced, and I truly hadn't used it in that great of a capacity. Now I just feel guilty and can't help but wonder if what I said is the reason why i got in, even though i hadn't really known it super well at the time of writing/submitting my statement. (And I still wouldn't say I'm proficient now, but am learning and have made a lot of progress!)

I'm not sure if i'm just over thinking things and worrying about nothing. I firmly believe I'll be very strong with this language by the time i start a program, and i think my essay mostly spoke of the projects and our results, not so much the technical methods (although I do think the programming languages are important and desirable qualities in an applicant for the programs i applied to).

Did anyone else feel like they're personal statements talked themselves up or could be misleading? Does it sound like i'm being over scrupulous or was i in the wrong here, maybe should have made it clear that i was just beginning to learn it instead? I wished that's what I had done now, because i feel so anxious. I'd truly appreciate any advice ya'll have! Thank you!

Edited April 1, 2019 by theislandquo

[feralgrad]

People embellish the truth on SOPs and job cover letters all the time. While you created a false impression, I wouldn't consider it horribly immoral. You're making a genuine attempt to learn the language, and as long as you're able to deliver on your SOP's promises when you enter the program, you'll be fine.