Yikes! Typo

[gem]

Hi all,

Submitted my SOP to HGSE only to realize that I had accidentally omitted the word 'of.' I and my readers all seem to not notice this...What should I do? I am applying for a doctoral program so competition is stiff. Should I just ignore this or ask if I can re-submit ?

Thanks!

[cheesethunder]

Hi all,

Submitted my SOP to HGSE only to realize that I had accidentally omitted the word 'of.' I and my readers all seem to not notice this...What should I do? I am applying for a doctoral program so competition is stiff. Should I just ignore this or ask if I can re-submit ?

Thanks!

I inverted my GRE scores on one of my applications i emailed teh secretary about the mistake on my app but no repsonse so im going to call her tomorrow, worth a shot.

[dzk]

Not only will people probably not notice, but they won't care even if they do. It's not like you sent the wrong SoP to the wrong school or something.

I leave out prepositions all the time. You have nothing worry about.

[gem]

Thanks, guys. I have to admit that I am so upset about this! BUT I also think it may be worse to actually submit another copy--does that flag you as a flake?

Thanks, all!

[NeuroNerd86]

I wrote "I'm" instead of "I am" once in one of my SOPs and now I am agonizing that they might consider it rude. Am I totally crazy since it is just one instance? 0_o

[Liesje]

I wrote "I'm" instead of "I am" once in one of my SOPs and now I am agonizing that they might consider it rude. Am I totally crazy since it is just one instance? 0_o

yes.

edit: do u really want to go to a school that holds that against you?

i know, yes, yes you do, but really fuck them if they care

Edited December 16, 2009 by Liesje

[alexis]

I wrote "I'm" instead of "I am" once in one of my SOPs and now I am agonizing that they might consider it rude. Am I totally crazy since it is just one instance? 0_o

Heh I used some contractions in my personal statement...on purpose. Maybe I'm the crazy one, but I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[modernity]

It's unlikely they will notice. I would just let it go. Even if they do, they're likely to overlook it. If I remember correctly, someone on here said that they mentioned the wrong school in one of their SOPs and still got in.

[JustChill]

i couldn't agree with liesje more.

[cheesethunder]

lmao wrong school thats pretty bad!!

iduno typos look bad though esp. since its just a 2pg paper. i know for scholarships i heard they disregard applicants if there is a typo in their statement because they ahve so many applications they are looking for anything

and even one of my profs said the biggest thing is to proofread since part of the sop is to asses youre writing skills.......

[rising_star]

I had typos in my SOPs and I can confidently say it didn't affect whether or not I got in. You wanna know why? There are typos in peer-reviewed journal articles and books for goodness sake.

[socialpsych]

Haha. I actually did forget to change the name of the school in one of my statements (it wasn't the SOP, but one of those additional statements some schools want). Still got in to that school!

[shorty06]

I found a typo on my CV on a publication title (good God... you'd think I could get that right), but so far I've gotten two interviews and no rejections so I don't think it's that big of a deal. Granted, I submitted CVs in supplementary materials or whatever.

[captiv8ed]

I was looking at some CVs online. On the cover page of a big, well known professor:

Dr. so and so

Ph.D.

And it is a separate cover page, so it really stands out.

That sort of thing fills me with relief!

[JennyFieldsOriginal]

Found a comma splice in my SOP after I sent it out. I'm kicking myself about it, but I'm thinking it won't come down to me vs. equally matched student with one less grammatical error than I had. Still though, I know how you feel.

[hamster09]

i forgot to the word "the" in my application to UNC but they're the first university to invite for an interview =) i guess it doesn't matter so much as long the sentence made sense

[mudlark]

I have a friend who badly misspelled the first name of the key critic she was basing her proposed dissertation on. Got in everywhere, and is one of the strongest people in her program

When I applied last year, I had to cut my SOP down to 400 words for an awards competition at a prospective school. In my rush to get the word count down, I ended up making a fairly major error that anyone familiar with my period would have laughed their head off at (the equivalent of lumping a British author in with two Japanese authors and calling them all Japanese). I won a highly competitive major award in that competition.

iduno typos look bad though esp. since its just a 2pg paper. i know for scholarships i heard they disregard applicants if there is a typo in their statement because they ahve so many applications they are looking for anything

This is absolutely not true. People on adcoms want the best scholars, not the best spellers. They know better than we do that the best people can make embarrassing mistakes, and have probably made one or two of their own in much more public circumstances than an SOP. They're (mostly) rational human beings. And they want the best people for their program! They don't want to pass on a strong candidate who will do good work for them just because of a mis-placed preposition.

[gem]

hi Mudlark,

That is what I think also! I just can't imagine holding a typo against someone, and I am a English teacher. That said, there are faculty members who are sticklers, I hope none of those folks are on the committee!

I have called and asked them to switch out my essay with a new copy---they said they would add it----IF they had the time to....so, I hope they do!

[cheesethunder]

This is absolutely not true. People on adcoms want the best scholars, not the best spellers. They know better than we do that the best people can make embarrassing mistakes, and have probably made one or two of their own in much more public circumstances than an SOP. They're (mostly) rational human beings. And they want the best people for their program! They don't want to pass on a strong candidate who will do good work for them just because of a mis-placed preposition.

well. dont have to take it sooo literally and sweeeping. when i applied to my OGS scholarship the prof who did the presentation sat on the decision board and said that is what happens. so yes it can happen. and one ofmy profs told me that typos are a deal breaking when sehs reading statements from potential students, she also told me its an indication of their writing ability that does include ability to edit/grammer

i agree with you. but that is what i've been told.

[jkl444]

making a decision over a typo or contraction is brainless. period. don't underestimate these professors. they're not brainless. not to worry.

[coyabean]

DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, I repeat, DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!!

People tend to read what they know is meant rather than what is there. And I think it's reasonable to think a very minor typo can happen in this process. The horror stories we hear are, I think, mistake riddled sloppy SOPs and, presumably, you sent a clean, well-written SOP with a very minor slip-up. I think it's ok.

[modernity]

DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, I repeat, DO NOT READ AFTER HITTING SUBMIT!!!!

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!! (This statement cannot have enough emphasis.)

Do not torture yourself.

[newms]

I had the wrong school in one place of one of my SOPs - I realized after I submitted and before the deadline was up, but they wouldnt let me change the SOP. Needless to say, I dont think I'll get in:(

It was in the fit paragraph for school X where I said that study at school Y would be perfect for me. Someday I know I'll look back and have a great laugh at it.

Edited December 18, 2009 by newms

[captiv8ed]

I had the wrong school in one place of one of my SOPs - I realized after I submitted and before the deadline was up, but they wouldnt let me change the SOP. Needless to say, I dont think I'll get in:(

It was in the fit paragraph for school X where I said that study at school Y would be perfect for me. Someday I know I'll look back and have a great laugh at it.

This is one of my biggest fears! I did that in a very early draft so hopefully I have been hyper-aware of it enough to avoid it. That totally sucks. Was it a program you really wanted to get into?

[newms]

This is one of my biggest fears! I did that in a very early draft so hopefully I have been hyper-aware of it enough to avoid it. That totally sucks. Was it a program you really wanted to get into?

It was a reach school for me, not the place I figured that I would end up at, so its not devastating. I would have really loved to have gone there, but I knew I had a small chance to begin with, so now I know I have pretty much no chance.