Small formatting mistake... Will it hurt my chances?

[Kinkster]

Hey guys,

I am applying to a graduate psychology program. I had to write two statements to grad school admissions and the department. The department statement of purpose is fine but the one to the grad school admissions has one small mistake. I don't know why I haven't caught it earlier but the first line at the beginning of the third paragraph is "over-indented". The rest of the paragraphs line up and are formatted correctly. The rest of the essay is fine and well-written but that one error is what is freaking me out. On inkjet paper, it isn't too conspicuous but still noticeable. I have pretty solid credentials and don't want a small mistake to ruin my chances. Are schools really anal about this? Any help would be appreciated.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Kinkster

[johndiligent]

Absolutely. You won't get in anywhere now.

...

Of course, I'm kidding! A small indentation error? You have nothing to worry about! In fact, it's so clear you have nothing to worry about because you've obviously been looking hard and a slight over-indentation was all you came up with. I strongly doubt any grad school would even notice or care.

I think Douglas Adams said it best: DON'T PANIC.

[Anita]

I too made a formatting mistake, this one a little more glaring, as in having one paragraph 1.5-spaced while the rest of the SOP is single-spaced. I did notice that something was wrong, but in the stress of last-minute submissions, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what. And I sent that bastard to at least one school, and my dream one at that. Can't tell you if that's the dealbreaker until April, but I hope you'll at least enjoy the company

Oh, also, one school: where I should say "Texas A&M" I said "Texas T&M". And God forbid if I forgot to replace all instances of school names while recycling parts of my SOP.

Oh and here's one more; also for dream school, I was so desperate to show my personal growth that I actually mentioned my first breakup. It really was a pivotal event, but apparently breakups just don't belong in SOPs, according to the writing center. Oh well. Expensive lesson, I guess.

[mario]

I think Douglas Adams said it best: DON'T PANIC.

yes, i think that should be put somewhere in the apps in big letters

[jacib]

Hey guys,

I am applying to a graduate psychology program. I had to write two statements to grad school admissions and the department. The department statement of purpose is fine but the one to the grad school admissions has one small mistake. I don't know why I haven't caught it earlier but the first line at the beginning of the third paragraph is "over-indented". The rest of the paragraphs line up and are formatted correctly. The rest of the essay is fine and well-written but that one error is what is freaking me out. On inkjet paper, it isn't too conspicuous but still noticeable. I have pretty solid credentials and don't want a small mistake to ruin my chances. Are schools really anal about this? Any help would be appreciated.

Don't worry, I found in my fit paragraph an incomplete sentence for one of my top schools. Something like "This program is of particular interest for me because ." and while I had made it clear in the previous sentence what I was about to stay (the app had a 2500 word limit so conciseness wasn't a big thing, and it was my alma mater so I knew a lot of details why this program was awesome), it would have been better to actual write the damn thing out. Honestly, you're worrying about something that wasn't even part of what you wrote. We all need "chillax."