Name Misspelled on LOR

[jtbiggs]

I was pleased to see an email today from one of my LOR writers, saying that she had just submitted my letters online--more than two weeks before my deadline. She even attached a copy of my letter although I waived my right to see it.

I read it and found that my last name is seriously misspelled. She made an error people often make with my name. (Without giving away my real last name, the error is similar to if my last name was Jenson but someone wrote Jenkins instead.) Also, I now have a hyphenated last name with my husband's name attached to my maiden name. However, she only put the part with the maiden name (misspelled), which I used when I knew her during my time in undergrad.

Does anyone know if it's possible for her to resubmit online LORs? Should I be concerned if she can't? Other than the name the letter is really well-written and very personalized, and she is my most prestigious letter writer. How do grad schools look at this? Am I stressing about nothing?

[sohbetocean]

As someone who has a name that is very difficult to pronounce (that also affects spelling), I can confirm that it is possible to have a very close relationship with a professor and still face this problem. This is particularly true if your advisor/prof calls you primarily by some version of your first name. To point, my advisor for 4 years pronounced my name incorrectly on a daily basis. It happens.

Regarding your LOR, I would write an e-mail to your referee and ask that she contact the graduate admissions office directly (usually an e-mail is sufficient) regarding how to resubmit her LOR. There is no need for you to approach the admissions office yourself.

On the issue of you reading your own LOR, my experience is that it is fairly common (particularly if you have a stellar relationship with this prof) for the professor to send you a copy of the LOR (without even being asked first!). I always waive my right to view the LOR but I have still had professors send me an additional copy for my reference (I am sure that the professor wants me to feel more at ease about the application process in general and boost my confidence).

So, my advice, don't sweat it if the prof can not resubmit the LOR.

However, send her an e-mail, tell her the issue with the misspelling of your name, and provide the graduate admissions e-mail address in case she would like to inquire about the process for resubmission.

[anxiousapplicant]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, one of my profs told Yale he regretted that I chose to apply for their MA in poli sci instead of their Ph.D.

.....

They don't offer MA only. Just goes to show how well he knows what I'm up to!

[tem11]

An internship advisor wrote a few letters of recommendation on my behalf and wrote "Mr." instead of "Mrs/Ms.". The letter was also full of typos which showed he was sort of careless and didn't proofread. I was accepted to all of those programs, so all hope is not lost. Good luck getting this sorted out!

[anxiousapplicant]

An internship advisor wrote a few letters of recommendation on my behalf and wrote "Mr." instead of "Mrs/Ms.". The letter was also full of typos which showed he was sort of careless and didn't proofread. I was accepted to all of those programs, so all hope is not lost. Good luck getting this sorted out!

that's hilarious. But I'm glad things worked out for you!

[rev IT]

that's hilarious. But I'm glad things worked out for you!

lol i have the same problem.

my former boss was my worst referee. he sent the letter 6weeks after i submitted my application and 24hrs before it was due and was given a waiver to email it from his official email instead of hard copy. and he got my name wrong. and worst of all he wrote the most generic LOR i was expecting. i regret asking him for it. he's my friend but i was surprised and disappointed and i don't intend to ask him for references anymore. i'll ask my supervisor at that job. h

[jtbiggs]

Wow, I was hoping posting this would lessen my stress over this, but it's made it worse.

Anyway, there are a few assumptions I need to correct. The LOR writer is no longer a professor but an associate dean of the school of education of a large, competitive private university. I know her mainly through a student honors program she headed and the related service-learning projects I did with her and organized with her help. I did very little academic work with her, but I'm using her recommendation to illustrate my commitment to community engagement--something that is stressed in all of the education programs I'm applying to and a area which I am thinking about exploring in my research. While we worked together, we were on a first name basis--she wanted it that way. When you work in a soup kitchen with someone, it kinda puts you on equal footing.

I don't think she misspelled my name b/c she doesn't know me well enough--people often misspell my last name. I would say she knows me very well and that the letter shows this in the way she describes my service projects and my activities in the honors program in detail.

Am I guilty if she broke the waiver agreement? She stated that she knew I had waived my right but was sending the letter anyway for my own reference. The principal of the school where I teach has also hinted at the fact that he'll be showing me his LOR although I waived my right to see his as well. I don't know...I think the whole waiver thing is an antiquated etiquette. But I wouldn't have actually told an AdCom that we broke the agreement. I was thinking maybe I could just get her to request to resubmit it on her own? Is that asking too much?

[graddamn]

Honestly, depending on what your name is/if it's a common mistake. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have a first name that everybody spells wrong, it's a fairly common name but with an unusual spelling. Not only did one of my LOR writers misspell my name, but an acceptance letter from a DGS did!!! I can't decide if I should tell the school or not...

Seriously, I think if the content is personalized and shows that your LOR writer believes in you even if he/she doesn't know your last name, I wouldn't worry about it. It happens, adcomms are human too.

[rising_star]

I agree with the suggestion of getting your letter writer to contact the grad admissions office and see if she can resubmit the letter with a corrected name. Otherwise, I would try not to stress out too much over it. My first name is commonly misspelled by pretty much everyone that isn't a family member... It's probably been misspelled in recommendations or other application materials but I've been lucky enough to have never read them (unlike some people I do NOT want to know and, even when I had the chance [my advisor forwarded me the email with his password in it to say that he'd written the letter], I still didn't look at it).

Good luck!

[jtbiggs]

Well, I think I can put this topic to rest. I emailed my letter writer about the problem and she immediately responded and sounded horrified. She told me that she knew she had forgotten how to spell my name but wanted to just start the letter. She planned to correct it later while she was proofreading it but completely forgot. Anyway, she has already contacted the two schools and will send corrected letters. Thanks so much for all the advice everyone! I now feel so much better

[sociolog86]

My major prof from undergrad sent me a copy of her letter. I just looked at it again, and she spelled my name wrong as well!

I'm not too concerned, I've already gotten a couple acceptances and some other good buzz from my schools.

Either they didn't notice (maybe doubtful), or recognize it doesn't matter in comparison to the vitae or the writing sample or the SOP.

If an admission decision comes down to whether or not my name was misspelled once in a letter I had no part in writing, then maybe that should be a red flag to steer clear.

Everyone's situation is different, but I'm thinking our rush to make everything perfect is just rearing its ugly head