Great LOR but grammar mistakes

[brommanders]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Thank you.

 

[DokterMom]

They're not *your* mistakes, so they don't reflect on you. If anything, they illustrate the disadvantaged nature of the clinic where you volunteered. Don't worry about them -

 

[GrapesofRath]

You're fine. The worst absolute thing that could happen is a med school suspects this letter might be fake or not written by whom you claim it is and theyll call the source and she'll verify it is her. There's nothing to worry about.

 

[onyisraw]

They're not *your* mistakes, so they don't reflect on you. If anything, they illustrate the disadvantaged nature of the clinic where you volunteered. Don't worry about them -

I like this.

 

[mimelim]

Hey everyone,

I have a bit of a dilemma. I recieved an LOR from the health center supervisor where I have been volunteering for over two years in an underserved community. She wrote wonderful things about me and most of my activities occurred at this health center. However, there are some grammar mistakes since English is her second language (Native language is Spanish and most patients here are Hispanic). She's really busy and it took her a while to get me the LOR so I am a bit hesitant to bug her about editing the mistakes. They are mostly plural vs. singular and possessive grammar mistakes. What do you suggest I do? I really want to use it since she speaks very highly of me and talks about everything I did while there.

They're not *your* mistakes, so they don't reflect on you. If anything, they illustrate the disadvantaged nature of the clinic where you volunteered. Don't worry about them -

I disagree to a certain extent. Your letter writers were selected by you. They are somewhat a reflection on you, right or wrong, fair or unfair, a poorly written letter (outside of content) is going to hurt the effectiveness of a letter. Yes, you may find a few sympathetic admissions committee members here and there, but this is admissions for professional school. There is an expectation that everything in your application is going to read well or at least be clear. Things that are clearly unedited reflect poorly on the applicant. I think that argument (fair or unfair) that most would make in their minds is, if this writer was really supportive of this applicant, they would have someone check over their grammar/spelling if they know that their English writing is poor. I can not say that I necessarily blame them.

To the OP. You should either edit it for them or ask them to have someone edit it. If they know that their English writing is not very good and they really want to help your cause, then they should not be offended. I am not (and neither are most adcoms) very sympathetic to the, "my letter writer is too busy to do XYZ." Maybe it is a product of most of us having gone through medical school/residency or maybe it is just because everyone is busy, but that is pure excuse for a poor product. We don't particularly care for excuses, especially really bad ones.

 

[northernlights15]

I believe I've seen both @LizzyM and @gyngyn say that the applicant is not faulted for grammar mistakes in LORs. As long as the overall quality of letter is good/great, it's worth keeping.

Most of my professors don't speak fluent English but I'm sure can still effectively communicate their intended message. I just can't imagine an adcom holding it against a student because of a letter writer's suboptimal English grammar or spelling.

 

[GrapesofRath]

x

 

[northernlights15]

I would feel uncomfortable offering to edit if the person not asked me to do so.

 

[Catalystik]

I believe I've seen both @LizzyM and @gyngyn say that the applicant is not faulted for grammar mistakes in LORs. As long as the overall quality of letter is good/great, it's worth keeping.

Agreed.

 

[mimelim]

I believe I've seen both @LizzyM and @gyngyn say that the applicant is not faulted for grammar mistakes in LORs. As long as the overall quality of letter is good/great, it's worth keeping.

Most of my professors don't speak fluent English but I'm sure can still effectively communicate their intended message. I just can't imagine an adcom holding it against a student because of a letter writer's suboptimal English grammar or spelling.

Ya, I don't want to make it seem like we blame applicants for how their writers write. I just think that IF it is something that can be corrected without a terrible amount of work, it should be because it can only help (if fixed).

 

[brommanders]

.

 

[GummyBeh]

Wait how do people know what someone wrote for them in a LOR? All the 'professional' LORs I've ever received have either been sealed or sent directly to whoever requested it.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I think you will be ok as long as the grammatical mistakes are not extremely frequent (I'd say every other sentence), they do not make the letter difficult to read, and they don't obstruct the communication of the intended ideas.

 

[Goro]

This is one of those few times I'll disagree with my learned colleague. I would never let a poorly written LOR reflect badly on a candidate, unless it was a bad LOR.

Also, in > 13 years of doing admissions, I've never seen a poorly written LOR! If we've gotten one we've never, ever mentioned it at adcom meetings.

I disagree to a certain extent. Your letter writers were selected by you. They are somewhat a reflection on you, right or wrong, fair or unfair, a poorly written letter (outside of content) is going to hurt the effectiveness of a letter. Yes, you may find a few sympathetic admissions committee members here and there, but this is admissions for professional school. There is an expectation that everything in your application is going to read well or at least be clear. Things that are clearly unedited reflect poorly on the applicant. I think that argument (fair or unfair) that most would make in their minds is, if this writer was really supportive of this applicant, they would have someone check over their grammar/spelling if they know that their English writing is poor. I can not say that I necessarily blame them.

To the OP. You should either edit it for them or ask them to have someone edit it. If they know that their English writing is not very good and they really want to help your cause, then they should not be offended. I am not (and neither are most adcoms) very sympathetic to the, "my letter writer is too busy to do XYZ." Maybe it is a product of most of us having gone through medical school/residency or maybe it is just because everyone is busy, but that is pure excuse for a poor product. We don't particularly care for excuses, especially really bad ones.