How much are we as applicants penalized for mistakes in our LOR?

[phil413]

Hi all,

 

I know this is sort of a "no use worrying about it" sort of topic, but kindly indulge (or ignore) me . For curiosity's sake, I was just wondering if anybody has experience or insight on this matter. How much are we, as applicants, discredited in the admissions process generally for mistakes made in our LORs? For example, if we have done everything in our power to give recommenders relevant information but they submit a letter written for one school to another? Or, of course, the proverbial late letter despite multiple email reminders...

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

[fuzzylogician]

I think the answer is that it really depends - on the reader, and on the mistake. E.g. if they misspelled your name in 5 different places, said something blatantly false about you, or sent the very carefully crafted letter explaining why you are the perfect candidate for school X to school Y, that may seem not great. If they misspelled a random word on page 3 of the letter, no one will likely even notice. If they addressed the letter to the wrong school but it's otherwise a pretty standard letter, I assume some people might notice and not like it, but it's unlikely that it's going to be the kiss of death. (Same goes for the wrong school name in the SOP, btw. Not great, but unlikely to kill your candidacy right there.) Everybody realizes you can't control what your recommenders do, so it'd have to be an outrageous mistake to seriously count against you.

 

As for late letters, as we've discussed in the past, many schools are lenient with late letters and even have an unofficial later deadline for letters than for the part that is submitted by the student. As long as the letter arrives before the applications are read, it's usually not a problem.

[phil413]

Makes sense...thank you fuzzylogician!