Did my letter writer accidentally screw me over?

[texas aggie]

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I am a Texas resident, and we are only required to send in 2 letters, meaning those 2 letters better be superb!

I submitted my application last month and sent in my letters and everything. One day while TAing for my professor, she made a comment on she didn't mind showing me the letter. She sent it to my inbox and it was a pretty decent letter. Nothing great, but she mentioned I was a leader among my peers and was a great TA, etc. So probably slightly better than an average letter. But then her last sentence in her second to last paragraph was. "These activities will be beneficial in the future and demonstrate"

And she just left the sentence half incomplete! It's like she didn't even double check the letter. She has one other mistake "we was my TA" instead of "he was my TA" which I guess isn't a big deal.

But my question is - how bad does the first mistake look? I don't want them thinking I picked some sloppy teacher to write my letter, which would show poor judgment on my part.

 

[xffan624]

I am a Texas resident, and we are only required to send in 2 letters, meaning those 2 letters better be superb!

I submitted my application last month and sent in my letters and everything. One day while TAing for my professor, she made a comment on she didn't mind showing me the letter. She sent it to my inbox and it was a pretty decent letter. Nothing great, but she mentioned I was a leader among my peers and was a great TA, etc. So probably slightly better than an average letter. But then her last sentence in her second to last paragraph was. "These activities will be beneficial in the future and demonstrate"

And she just left the sentence half incomplete! It's like she didn't even double check the letter. She has one other mistake "we was my TA" instead of "he was my TA" which I guess isn't a big deal.

But my question is - how bad does the first mistake look? I don't want them thinking I picked some sloppy teacher to write my letter, which would show poor judgment on my part.

Not great, not the end of the world especially if you have multiple letters. One of my letters had a error (a paragraph tab made in the middle of the sentence). Still got accepted 😀

 

[somethingdeep]

 

[Quizlet04]

It's not entirely uncommon if you have a strong relationship with the person. I'd be happy to share my recommendations with my students if they asked, though they've all been content to do things sight unseen.

 

[LaughingMan]

My letter writers told me they wouldn't feel comfortable writing a letter if they wouldn't let me see them.

I had very strong relations with them.

 

[La Presse]

My letter writers told me they wouldn't feel comfortable writing a letter if they wouldn't let me see them.

I had very strong relations with them.

You had relations with them? 😕

DAMN. I need a letter like THAT.

Sorry. couldn't resist.

 

[texas aggie]

No one has answered my question... 🙁

How bad would it look?

 

[Dbate]

I completely wrote one and wrote half on another. People are too busy to write the letters themselves sometimes.

 

[Dbate]

No one has answered my question... 🙁

How bad would it look?

It probably reflects worse on the letter writer than on you. Don't stress.

 

[487806]

I completely wrote one and wrote half on another. People are too busy to write the letters themselves sometimes.

That wouldn't make the letters strong. If the professors are genuinely interested in writing LORs, they will make time.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I completely wrote one and wrote half on another. People are too busy to write the letters themselves sometimes.

Even if they are busy, they can definitely make the time to write it themselves.

 

[texas aggie]

It probably reflects worse on the letter writer than on you. Don't stress.

I really hope so...it's just Texas requires 2 letters, and having one that's sloppy may reflect poorly on my judgment you know? 🙁

 

[texas aggie]

bump

 

[TheShaker]

I really hope so...it's just Texas requires 2 letters, and having one that's sloppy may reflect poorly on my judgment you know? 🙁

But you "don't know" what's in the letter right? So how can they arrive at that conclusion?

 

[BundleofHis]

I'm applying this cycle and I didn't get to read any of my letters of rec, but I do have a similar story for you! I applied to a pretty prestigious summer program (in Texas!) that required 3 letters. One of my letter writers, ironically my best one, wrote the worst grammatical letter EVER. He spelled my name wrong twice, he left sentences half-finished, and the very last sentence was "She shows strong common sense." WHAAAAAAT!!! I felt so horrible about telling him, so I just sent it in (slightly crying hahah) and just wrote the program off. Long story long, I GOT ACCEPTED. That letter looked worse than a first draft and it clearly didn't matter 🙂 So don't stress! They can always call her if that's the only thing holding them back from accepting you 😉

 

[theseeker4]

I really hope so...it's just Texas requires 2 letters, and having one that's sloppy may reflect poorly on my judgment you know? 🙁

Relax, you are fine, I guarantee that there isn't a committee member who will look at your application that hasn't made a mistake in their professional career, be it via an e-mail, publication, letter, etc. that they still don't think of from time to time and shake their head over. Stop over-thinking this, you will NOT be kept out of med school, or kept out of your top choice, because of typos by one of your LOR writers.

 

[sbhav]

I think you are fine as well. Don't worry about it. It sounds like the letter is good, despite the grammatical mistake! I don't think it will hurt your chances.

 

[Sassafrass23]

Not as bad as this:

For a grad program in archaeology, my friend's boss VOLUNTEERED to write her a letter because he was so impressed with her. One of her professors enthusiastically agreed to write a letter. When she found out she hadn't been accepted to the program she wanted, she met with the committee and they showed her the recommendation letters. Her boss had literally scribbled something on a piece of paper confirming her employment while her professor hand wrote (illegibly) a paragraph about her grade in his course. They told her to choose letter-writers more carefully next time...

I think the minor typos aren't a big deal so long as they can decipher that she was trying to write a good letter. At least it wasn't hand written.

 

[LiveLoveLearn]

I am a Texas resident, and we are only required to send in 2 letters, meaning those 2 letters better be superb!

I submitted my application last month and sent in my letters and everything. One day while TAing for my professor, she made a comment on she didn't mind showing me the letter. She sent it to my inbox and it was a pretty decent letter. Nothing great, but she mentioned I was a leader among my peers and was a great TA, etc. So probably slightly better than an average letter. But then her last sentence in her second to last paragraph was. "These activities will be beneficial in the future and demonstrate"

And she just left the sentence half incomplete! It's like she didn't even double check the letter. She has one other mistake "we was my TA" instead of "he was my TA" which I guess isn't a big deal.

But my question is - how bad does the first mistake look? I don't want them thinking I picked some sloppy teacher to write my letter, which would show poor judgment on my part.

You will be fine. ADCOMs aren't going to take the giant leap of logic to say, "Texas Aggie chose a professor to write his letter that can't even finish his sentences - what a loser! He would be a terrible doctor!" That sounds ridiculous because the thought process to dismiss your application based on a grammatical error in a letter you didn't write would be ridiculous. 😀

If it makes you feel better, I had a professor that wrote on both sides of the letterhead, and my school's admission staff only scanned in one side. So, the schools literally received half of a letter that ended mid-sentence. A couple of them called me, and I had my school re-upload it, and it was no big deal. 👍

 

[texas aggie]

.

 

[texas aggie]

I'm applying this cycle and I didn't get to read any of my letters of rec, but I do have a similar story for you! I applied to a pretty prestigious summer program (in Texas!) that required 3 letters. One of my letter writers, ironically my best one, wrote the worst grammatical letter EVER. He spelled my name wrong twice, he left sentences half-finished, and the very last sentence was "She shows strong common sense." WHAAAAAAT!!! I felt so horrible about telling him, so I just sent it in (slightly crying hahah) and just wrote the program off. Long story long, I GOT ACCEPTED. That letter looked worse than a first draft and it clearly didn't matter 🙂 So don't stress! They can always call her if that's the only thing holding them back from accepting you 😉

i totally forgot to respond to this, but that's hilarious. misspelling your name LOL

 

[hallowmann]

i totally forgot to respond to this, but that's hilarious. misspelling your name LOL

As if it hasn't been said enough: You're fine. I don't know people who would blame you because of a clear typo on one of your LORs.