How often do you re-read your SOP/LOI

[Victory]

I tweaked my statement of purpose for nearly every school I applied to, and I consider some (much) better than others. I've re-read each one probably 200 times. I even keep a hard copy of my MIT application in my bag at work, and I take it out periodically throughout the day to read it.

There are some schools that I applied to (Columbia) where I feel like...what the fu*% was I thinking writing this. Sigh.

How often do you go back and re-read your essays?

[ewurgler]

I reread all the time. But it sucks because I found a few mistakes.

For my northwestern SOP, I forgot a period after THE FIRST SENTENCE. On my word doc, the sentence ended at the end of the line, so I didn't notice. When I uploaded it, it ended in the middle fo the line and was really obvious. DOH!!!

BUt, sometimes I read them and i think, Damn, this is pretty good.

[cardnav]

I reread all the time. But it sucks because I found a few mistakes.

For my northwestern SOP, I forgot a period after THE FIRST SENTENCE. On my word doc, the sentence ended at the end of the line, so I didn't notice. When I uploaded it, it ended in the middle fo the line and was really obvious. DOH!!!

BUt, sometimes I read them and i think, Damn, this is pretty good.

Don't worry, you aren't the only one. On one of my applications, I've found a couple of errors -- especially in the parts where I'm describing why I'd be a good fit for the program.

When I reread mine, I think they are horrible and makes me wonder if the school's that accepted me even read it.

[Victory]

I know! I found a mistake. I capitalized an "It" that should not have been capitalized! Ugh!!

[ridgey]

Glad I'm not the only one! I haven't been doing it quite that often though - on average, it has probably been one SoP/2 weeks. For some schools, I've reread the SoP several times; for others, not at all.

There have thankfully been times where I'm quite pleased with the statement. Whether that'll be enough to overcome what I consider are the weaknesses in my app remains to be seen!

[Tonights]

I can basically recite mine at this point, but I don't like to think about it because I've convinced myself that it's absolutely terrible (despite the opinions of every single literate human being I know, all of whom were forced to proofread it).

So now I'm like LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU whenever I start to think about it.

[bessymarch]

I haven't looked at mine once, actually. I will obsess over it to the point where I'll dream about it otherwise and that's not going to make me feel any better about this process. I have it and all its permutations memorized and occasionally a sentence that I wrote pops into my head and I cringe, wondering what I was thinking. I've also thought of all sorts of things I wish I'd said.

My main fear is that I unknowingly put in the secret phrase, whatever it is, that makes all adcoms immediately reject me.

[flatcoat]

Never!!! Even the thought of it makes me tense up with anxiety. But I'm like that with most stuff I write.

[dherres]

Never!!! Even the thought of it makes me tense up with anxiety. But I'm like that with most stuff I write.

I second that sentiment.

[nandelle]

I re-read them a bunch of times before submitting them, and then never afterward...What's the point? If I found an error, there's nothing I can do about it and it would only stress me out more than I'm already stressed...and I'm about homicidal at this point

[Tonights]

My main fear is that I unknowingly put in the secret phrase, whatever it is, that makes all adcoms immediately reject me.

I was really paranoid that I accidentally typed "PENIS!" or something else equally unsuitable in mine.

[sunshine6]

I lost my hard drive a few weeks ago, and don't have a paper copy. It is as if it never existed, and I prefer it that way. One less thing to fret over. Seriously throw the damn thing away. People in our circumstances have enough stress.

[ebee]

Haha, yea as soon as an application was submitted I didn't look at any of those documents again. I did, however, triple and quadruple check the documents that I uploaded. Good thing I did, too, because for one of my apps I had used the wrong name for my department (doh!) and I noticed when I was reviewing my app before submitting (thank goodness!!)

[fuzzylogician]

Never!!! Even the thought of it makes me tense up with anxiety. But I'm like that with most stuff I write.

Totally. I can't read things I've written before some time has passed, usually at least a few weeks. But even now that more than a month has passed since I submitted my last app, I choose not to obsess over my app. I obsess over the results page instead

[pikatopia]

I looked at only ONE since uploading it online because they also requested a hard copy....and discovered that I left the "s" off Illinois.

ARGH.

I corrected it in the hard copy that I sent and just prayed that they either won't notice it or will forgive me since I corrected it.

And nooo idea why my Word didn't catch it!! aaaahhhhhhh.

[igel]

I reread mine after my lame interview with the University of Texas. Lamented all of the great stuff I articulated in the SoP, but didn't manage to mention when they asked me about my academic interests. Yuck.

[Georgiana]

I read mine about 100x before submitting it, but never after -- I'm afraid there might be some mistake, in which case I just don't wanna know about it. :roll:

[flatcoat]

Totally. I can't read things I've written before some time has passed, usually at least a few weeks. But even now that more than a month has passed since I submitted my last app, I choose not to obsess over my app. I obsess over the results page instead

Yes, that's my drug as well.

[flatcoat]

I was really paranoid that I accidentally typed "PENIS!" or something else equally unsuitable in mine.

Lol! Actually this happened to me once - in a Japanese essay. I mixed up the word "walk" with the word for "penis." I meant to write "I really like taking walks"....

[Tonights]

Lol! Actually this happened to me once - in a Japanese essay. I mixed up the word "walk" with the word for "penis." I meant to write "I really like taking walks"....

I am laughing so hard right now and I can't explain the reason to my coworkers. What would I say? "Japanese essay penis snafu!"

[flatcoat]

My teacher never could look me in the eye after that. It took me awhile to figure out why he seemed so strange handing back the essay (this was in Japan, btw), since the mistake wasn't marked. Showed it to my boyfriend that evening (who was also Japanese), and he looked utterly shocked when he got to that part. I mean, wide eyes, mouth open, comically shocked. That's how I discovered what I'd done. Course, it wasn't an entirely untrue statement....

[Tritonetelephone]

This is a great thread!

I'm among those that refuse to read it, for fear that it could only lead to negative consequences if a mistake is found. Instead, I'm re-reading each only after I've received that school's decision. Although I haven't done it yet for the two I've heard from... maybe when I get an acceptance, I'll start?

[miratrix]

Never! I hated writing it (talking about myself? no fun), and don't find it nearly interesting enough to read over.

[Phoenix Rising]

Of course, I read mine before submitting them, though clearly not well enough consider the typos. I guess I was just so anxious that I missed them. It also might have helped to have someone else breeze through it a couple of times. After they were submitted, I figured 'whats done is done' so I didn't look at them for a couple of months until yesterdayy since the waiting is getting to me at this point. I've read them about ten times beating myself up because surely they must be so horrible, I'll never get in. *sigh*

[psychomachia]

For my #1 program, it's been almost three months since I sent in my application and I've been so anxious about it that I've convinced myself the whole thing is terrible. I finally allowed myself to re-read it the other day and I was surprised to find that it really wasn't as bad as I had convinced myself! I guess all I remembered of it was the long hours of tinkering with all the tiny details that didn't quite work. I spent so much time working on the "bad" that I completely forgot about the "good"!

BUT! On my writing sample I realized one of my footnotes was missing the page number (what the hell?) I emailed the department right after submission and they allowed me to email a new copy. Phew!