Musick Posted February 19, 2017 Posted February 19, 2017 So I was just reading over one of my SOPs for a school I'm still waiting to hear from, and... I found a missed comma in a place it obviously should have been! I believe that I demonstrated my ability to use various punctuation including the comma correctly all over the rest of the application in various portions of prose... but this stuck out to me and freaked me out. Not only that, in an additional statement I prepared about some of my work (not required), I found a missed apostrophe (the possessive kind). So my question is... how screwed am I? My worry is of course that this bespeaks carelessness. But I also think everyone makes the occasional typo (including my POI at this place in some emails to me!)... and since the degree I am applying to pursue is not one in K-12 English education... perhaps the rest of my strong application is far more relevant to my chances for success at that school than two punctuation mistakes across an entire application. Of course, it's often said that PhD programs are very competitive and pretty much looking for any reason to not have to consider yet another applicant when so many are qualified and so few can be admitted. Thoughts? Experiences with this? guest56436 1
cmykrgb Posted February 19, 2017 Posted February 19, 2017 I was reading my SOP too and realized and I missed a period at one of my sentence. I end up getting an interview from that school. I don't think you're screwed but it's definitely not ideal.
meep95 Posted February 20, 2017 Posted February 20, 2017 I accidentally wrote "suck as" instead of "such as" in my first SOP, that was due Dec. 1st. somehow I, my advisor, and my parents did not catch it. I was convinced I would be rejected. I still got an interview though, and should hear back if I got in next week. Its not ideal but still definitely possible
DBear Posted February 20, 2017 Posted February 20, 2017 Typos really are not deal-breakers. I had 10 people (including multiple professors) look at my SOP. I still found a misplaced word and some sentences that didn't quite flow right. The admissions committees must have missed that misplaced word like the 10 ppl who reviewed my document. Or they didn't care. Anyhow, I got into 4 schools and one waitlist, typo and all. The consensus on this forum is that typos are okay (you're not the first person to post this question) but I was nervous until my own experience showed me that it really doesn't matter. I also found typos in my writing sample and resume that I didn't see BEFORE submitting my applications. Figures.
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