Mistakes(typos) on my SOP!

[yoyo]

As I was re reading my SOP, I realized that i completely over looked not one but two typos! I know this topic has been discussed earlier that it shouldn't make much of a difference but Im wondering if I should contact the admissions office about replacing my SOP by just correcting those errors?? Is this a completely absurd request?!

[Aunuwyn]

Never hurts to ask.

[curufinwe]

if u r a native speaker, i don't think little grammatical errors would be a problem. but typos like "taht" instead of "that" would sort of indicate that u dont really care about the application process and if it came down to so little things in order to determine who gets in, that would be an issue. but personally, i'd say "ah i'll look like an idiot" and move on. i dont think such small stuff will be what defines whether i get accepted or rejected.

[joro]

After you submit your SOP, never look at it again or else you'll start finding things you should have included along with mistakes you've made.

[iWILLgetin]

joro, thats wonderful advice.

[fuzzylogician]

No, don't contact the admissions office about a typo on your SoP. The damage (if any) has already been done. Making a scene of a typo will only make you look very desperate. What would you even say?

"Hi, um, XYZ U? In the third sentence on the second to last paragraph on the first page of my SoP, I wrote "eth" instead of "the". Just thought I would let you know!"

*heavy breathing*

Admissions Office: "..."

... Or you could politely contact the admissions office, say you found a mistake in your SOP and ask if it would be possible to replace it with a new version. Personally I don't think a typo or two are anything to worry about, but you don't have to "make a scene of a typo" or breath heavily to have it fixed. Asking nicely works just as well, if not better.

[alexis]

On the advice of fuzzylogician and others, I did this with my SOP (my reasons were a bit different, it was because they updated the website with some new research after I submitted my SOP but before the deadline, and I wanted to include some new information in my "fit" paragraph). The admissions office was super nice about it, let me email them my new document, and they replaced that version of the SOP in my file.

[utsusemi]

FWIW, I just today found an icky typo (two "the"s in a row) in one of my SOPs. Before now I'd been religiously avoiding even looking at any of them, so... the only reason I was reading this one again? To revise it for a fellowship application, because somehow the school I sent it to actually wants me to attend.

I still reallyreallyreally wish that I had been less punchy (or whatever) and caught the typo before I submitted. But anecdotally, I guess some admissions committees are forgiving of these kinds of finger errors in otherwise solid pieces of writing.

[nycrican2]

I called my university to find out when the admission committee would meet and found out that it would not be until the middle of May so I asked if I could write a better SOP to replace the one I submitted and improve my chances.

To my surprise, they said yes and asked me to email it to the admission coach directly. I just sent a new one today.

So, if I had a spelling error, I would say that I wanted to write a stronger and better one instead of calling attention to the spelling error.

[mja8b9]

I just discovered that I had the word macaque capitalized for no reason in the first paragraph of my statement of purpose. I had my paper edited several times, but I can understand why a non-primatologist would not catch it. However, the people reviewing my application will certainly notice and I'm absolutely gutted. I spent every moment of the last six months preparing my applications and every single one now has a glaring error in the first paragraph.

[fuzzylogician]

4 hours ago, mja8b9 said:

I just discovered that I had the word macaque capitalized for no reason in the first paragraph of my statement of purpose. I had my paper edited several times, but I can understand why a non-primatologist would not catch it. However, the people reviewing my application will certainly notice and I'm absolutely gutted. I spent every moment of the last six months preparing my applications and every single one now has a glaring error in the first paragraph.

This, too, shall pass. It's a typo, not something to be gutted about. No one is going to reject your application over a typo.