Thoughts on the gravity of my SOP error, please?

[Swagato]

There's always that one thing that comes back to bite you in the rear...

In my SOP's closing argument/summation, I refer to a claim made by one of film theory's classical greats (André Bazin). Essentially, I make a parallel between a claim he had made in a particular essay (regarding the development of technology in classical film) and the emergence of new media technologies today. The problem is, I've attributed this claim to the wrong essay. It is not a direct quote; my sentence runs thus:

Just as Bazin claimed in "_____" that water turns into wine, so do I believe that ..."

His essays are typically found in the two volume collection, What is Cinema vols. 1 and 2, and I've ended up naming the essay following the actual one where he makes his claim. Moreover, this claim is repeated often in his writings, but was made first in the essay I should have mentioned but did not.

How screwed am I? Will this one line in a ~1000 word SOP be enough to make them summarily dismiss me? Because frankly, my other stats are at least competitive (high GRE with full Verbal score, high Master's GPA from a top-5 program in the field, sound recommendations from major names, strong writing sample, and an otherwise-strong SOP, and an overall good fit with the programs). Adcoms are comprised of humans, and they know the drama of applications. Should I assume that they will consider this a major/gross/inexcusable error?

Please advise.

NINJA EDIT: I noticed both the early responders suggested I try and replace my SOP. However it is probably a bit too late for that as the questionable line appears in all my applications, which went in around Dec. 1, Dec. 15, and Dec. 30-Jan 1.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Swagato

[Helpplease123]

Will this one line in a ~1000 word SOP be enough to make them summarily dismiss me?

In short - no.

Unless you're 50-50 either way and they need to distinguish between you and someone else identical without the error I can't see this affecting you especially.

Some people have had schools accept revised SOPs after deadlines so you can always try and contact the schools to find out if you're desperate but I think you'll be fine.

[emmm]

I don't know how serious an error this is -- not my field -- but I can think of some basic blunders I wouldn't have wanted in my SOP. If you think your error is that significant, maybe you could call the department secretary and ask if you can have your SOP replaced with a corrected version. I have heard on this site that other applicants have been able to do that in the past.

[Swagato]

Helpplease123: Okay, thank you. I shall keep hoping that my entire application isn't tossed out based on one error.

emmm: It isn't a deadly error as it was not a direct quote attributed to the wrong person, etc. It can...if the adcom is feeling generous...be seen as a simple mistake rather than evidence of lack of knowledge.

[Thumper86]

I wouldn't worry too much about it since Bazin repeats the claim in other works. You're technically not wrong but some profs who know Bazin inside out and upside down may wonder why you chose not to refer to the first work. I can only imagine that a very nit picky person would wonder such a thing so don't sweat it.

[Helpplease123]

Helpplease123: Okay, thank you. I shall keep hoping that my entire application isn't tossed out based on one error.

It won't be...i'm pretty sure everyone on this board has one thing they're kicking themselves about but can't change (mine was not knowing that not waiving the right to see my recommendations can be viewed quite negatively but we don't have it in England so I never knew and now I can't undo it..)

Point is, it's probably not the make or break part of any of our applications but because we're slightly crazy at this point, something tiny seems like a huge deal because we're obsessing about only our applications...admissions on the other hand are looking through hundreds of applications, they most likely don't notice the smaller things

[brancan]

I wouldn't sweat it.

I had to rush an application so my recommender could submit his letter. This was way back in September. I ended up accidentally leaving in one reference to another school in a paragraph I cut and pasted. Yeah, I was that guy who mentioned the wrong school. That was my application nightmare from the start.

Luckily, it was insanely early and I was still able to have the statement replaced. But I almost crapped my pants.

[Resendes8909]

Just for the future, I have always been under the impression that you do not need to send you application materials as soon as your references send in theirs. Department secretaries receive all materials separately and sort them once the deadline has passed. Did you end up replacing your statement? I think that would have been the wisest route.

[Swagato]

Just for the future, I have always been under the impression that you do not need to send you application materials as soon as your references send in theirs. Department secretaries receive all materials separately and sort them once the deadline has passed. Did you end up replacing your statement? I think that would have been the wisest route.

My references did not go in until at least a few days after the deadlines, generally. They went via Interfolio, mostly. That part never was an issue. As for replacing the SOP, I mentioned in the original post that it was well past the application deadline for at least two of the three places. I have replaced some materials at other places, but typically within 2-3 days--half a month to a month following the deadline is probably a bit too late for any replacement requests.

[brancan]

Just for the future, I have always been under the impression that you do not need to send you application materials as soon as your references send in theirs. Department secretaries receive all materials separately and sort them once the deadline has passed. Did you end up replacing your statement? I think that would have been the wisest route.

True, for the most part. But this particular school only sent the e-mail to recommenders once the ENTIRE application was submitted. And my former professor was adamant that he able submit asap (which is funny because, while he wrote some that night, he didn't submit others for weeks afterward).

I held off on most of my other statements for a couple of extra weeks. But once I started with one, I just wanted them all done.