Oh my god, what a ridiculous problem

[surprisecake]

It seems there is no end to the ridiculousness of my application woes. There isn't even an appropriate forum for me to put this :S

So, all of my SOPs specifically mention a faculty member from that school that I am most excited to work with.

At a particular school, lets say Y, there was this professor X.

So my SOP says "I would be most excited to work with prof X, our research interests align and it was be an invaluable experience to learn from him". And i submitted my application.

4 days later, I decide to send an email to professor X, because my application doesnt really describe my background well, as i'm a non traditional applicant. The university webpage didnt have much about him, so I googled him to search for any articles.

I found one that quotes Prof X, claiming "she works at Y school" I laughed at the stupid reporter who assumed that Prof X was a woman because it was a kind of unisex name.

I found another one. "Prof X said........ She believes........"

SHE?? No way right? I saw his picture on the faculty page.

Then i found a picture of a "prof X", showing him in profile. .... including ... a ponytail.

I thought.. two people named prof X at Y school?? No way.

I go back to the faculty page. Its the same person. but in the face-on pic, her hair is slicked back and i thought ... (dies).... it was a man.

I called her a him in my SOP!!!! Its not even a he/she mistake that could be a typo. Oh my god.

WHAT A RIDICULOUS THING TO HAPPEN TO SOMEONE.

There's no one else at that school that matches my research interests. my toefl scores arent in yet, so they wont have got my application yet. I don't know what to do. I could call and say I want to change ONE WORD on my SOP. I dont know whether to make something up or tell the truth and risk the person on the phone thinking its funny, or that im a psychopath. I really want to work with her!!

Edited December 4, 2010 by surprisecake

[balderdash]

There's no one else at that school that matches my research interests. my toefl scores arent in yet, so they wont have got my application yet. I don't know what to do. I could call and say I want to change ONE WORD on my SOP. I dont know whether to make something up or tell the truth and risk the person on the phone thinking its funny, or that im a psychopath. I really want to work with her!!

Haha I'm sorry, that does suck. But honestly I don't think it will kill your application. I'm pretty sure that if the Prof is a decent person, she'll probably laugh it off and focus on your research interests. Most professors are humble enough that they don't take themselves so seriously as to be actually upset by such an error. If she gets so angry as to deny you admission... well, would you want to work with her for half a decade anyway? I wouldn't.

[surprisecake]

I would be very offended if someone mistook me for a man! She had slicked back hair and a fully buttoned mens' shirt on. But now that I think about it, I realise her name isn't *that* unisex I just let myself think it was because I was so convinced she was a man at first glance.

Worse, she may think I just picked out her name by random without knowing anything about her. I searched for her papers, her students' papers, her interviews.

Just... not her gender.

I don't know whether to email her and thereby ENSURE she sees my application (and thereby guarantee a mortifying situation) or hope that my application is accepted by the admissions committee without her ever seeing it.

Do you think that since i've named her in my SOP she will definitely be forwarded my application to take a look at? I'm thinking in that case, I should try and make an good impression by email at the very least to cushion the "him" bomb.

[Bukharan]

It is a funny mistake. I made a similar one, which I better do not describe here. I am still embarrassed by that e-mail I sent.

But yeah... you overthink. It is probably not that big of a deal. If (!) she notices the mistake, she will probably laugh about it.

You can try call the admissions office and ask them what the procedure about changing one word in your SOP was. If it can be done discreetly and quickly, go for it!

[eklavya]

this is not uncommon for international students to happen because well, lets face it, we aren't familiar with foreign names. when i came to the US few years ago, i was shocked at how misleading names could be. i met several girls with names such as michael, aaron, even robert! it is not very common, but isn't too surprising either.

so, my take on your situation is that the adcomm might be okay with the mistake on two terms: 1) you are from another culture, and therefore the confusion is justifiable & 2) the adcomm knows that we all write a common SoP first, and then plug in the name of the university, professor, program, etc when submitting the SoPs to each school. thus, few errors are bound to happen. they anticipate this.

that said, if the adcomm realizes that there are pictures of faculties on their dept websites, and you should not have made a mistake, it might not go well with them during application evaluation. moreover, once and if the teacher gets your application materials and sees the mistake, she might get offended... as you said, in similar situation, you'd be offended. on the bright side though, both adcomm and your prospective prof might think that because of cross-cultural differences, your mistake actually is funny and not offensive.

i would not call her (or the dept) because it's a silly mistake, and not as big of a deal as you think. i know i have made few errors in my SoP, but nothing much to worry about. just cross your finger, and wait.. it'll all be well

[newms]

i met several girls with names such as michael, aaron, even robert!

[newms]

Some schools allow you to replace your SoP (by email) if you have submitted it already as long as the deadline hasn't passed. Some are strict and don't allow any changes. Perhaps you can find out if they will allow you to replace it, if so it will ease your mind. If not there's nothing else you can do but hope for the best, so don't worry about it.

[surprisecake]

I'm laughing about it now. Too many things have gone wrong with that school... I'm going to leave it to fate.

[surprisecake]

aw. Gradcafe is the nicest forum ever. I've got two votes for "No". On any other forum on the entire interwebs I would have gotten 60 "yes"es and several suggestions about how to do it.

Edited December 4, 2010 by surprisecake

[katerific]

First off, at the risk of sounding like a total jerk, I am cracking up. The story and the way you tell it... hahaha. I AM SO SORRY. I also find it funny because one of my friends had a slightly similar problem in professor-gender recognition.

But in all seriousness, I hope it works out for you. I mean, it doesn't sound like too big of a deal. My guess is that after a double-take, they'd assume it's just a typo. You only said it once, right? I don't think it'll really hurt you.

Or, in another weird scenario, maybe this isn't the first time it's happened. Then you're definitely okay.

[Nessie]

Haha, this did make me chuckle! I wouldn't worry too much though. I think katerific may have a point - if you mistook her for a man, I'm sure others have before! I remember being told by a prof that this kind of thing happens all the time. In fact I went to a conference recently especially to see a key prof in my field whose work I have cited many times, only to discover she was a he! So, I'm guessing the adcoms will have seen this mistake many a time before. I very much doubt this will seriously harm your app in any way. As others have said, if this prof doesn't have a sense of humour, you probably don't want to work with them anyway! Good luck!

[UnlikelyGrad]

My name is somewhat gender-neutral. Based on my experiences, if I were in the prof's position I would probably roll my eyes and think, "Jeez. Another one." But the mistake wouldn't bias me against you.

[hahahut]

This could be a very interesting start when you email her (might even make it easier for her to remember you)! Just start with an apology and explain your non-native speaker background makes it harder to pick up one's sex by name alone. Show you have done your extensive research on her work in the rest of the email. I don't think anyone would take it too seriously. Like mentioned above, it might have happened many times.

[Strangefox]

Please don't kill yourself! You gotta tell this story to your grandchildren!

It is wonderful!!

I am sure it will be fine. Good luck!