bookofkels_ Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Been in contact with at least one professor at all the schools I'm applying to for a while now, and noticed in one of the most recent emails some really basic spelling errors and grammatical typos. Obviously I proofread my emails to them a million times, and they've not been doing the same. This is the first time I've noticed it, so they were probably just in a rush that day. Please tell me I'm reading too much into this, and that it does not mean my POI does not care about me/they are a sloppy careless person. They are human after all, just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?
snyegurachka Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 People email from smart phones a lot these days—the Chair of my department sends me emails full of typos all the time, and I am pretty sure it is just his being in a rush/predictive text. He got a phd in English from Oxford and postdoc at Stanford—i.e. he is no dummy. I wouldn't worry about it too much. grad_wannabe, bookofkels_, Taeyers and 1 other 4
Taeyers Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I also immediately thought of smartphone typos. I send emails from my phone all the time and have to proofread them multiple times because I often find mistakes that I would never make on a computer.
grad_wannabe Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 One of my profs actually has his signature set to "sent from a mobile device, please excuse typos" because they're so common.
fuzzylogician Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 Yeah, professors spend less (no) time proofreading than you do. Typos happen. Just like you don't want your typos to be overanalyzed, I would do the same with others' typos. It happens that you start writing something, then decide to change the sentence, but something from the previous version survives where it shouldn't. Or that something was autocorrected the wrong way, or that you simply (gasp!) had a typo you didn't notice that *wasn't* autocorrected. It's just a typo, I would not worry.
Ajtz'ihb Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I'm personally a fan of "Sent from my smartphone, so please excuse any hippos" and "Sent from my phone, so beware of typhoons." Nothing at all to worry about. Meglet and museum_geek 2
jujubea Posted January 14, 2015 Posted January 14, 2015 I wouldn't worry. I've received similar. They're just busy people - and they already know you're interested in the program and maybe don't think you'd drop them because of some typos.
bookofkels_ Posted January 15, 2015 Author Posted January 15, 2015 Thanks everyone for assuaging my fears! I guess application anxiety is making me paranoid about every little thing!
AKCarlton Posted January 15, 2015 Posted January 15, 2015 I wouldn't worry for the same reasons listed here. I also would add that people read things multiple times and still manage to overlook grammar and spelling errors.
Daisy123 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 no no, i agree with everyone else. Almost anyone I have communicated with has sent emails with many typos.
JacksonBaby Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Have had numerous profs communicate with typos - in undergraduate and through the graduate application process. My personal favorite signature one prof had was "send from my iphone to the NSA. From the NSA to you"
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