Recommendation Issue

[Elsa_Freud]

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I just finished with all my applications for PhD programs in clinical psych. One of my recommenders was nice enough to email me a copy of the letter they wrote for me today.

I noticed that it was addressed to one program, in the header, but then they referenced a different program that I'm also applying to in the body of the letter. Other than this error, the letter was very nice, flattering, and very specific and detailed about my relationship and work with them and did a great job advocating for my qualification for graduate school.

Exactly how bad is this for me? Is this a minor thing that I shouldn't worry about or will this hurt the strength and perception of the recommendations they wrote for me? Is this a big deal and unusual or is it not that bad and a common occurrence, because recommenders will use the same letters as templates for all the places they are sending the recommendations?

Is there anything I can or should do about this?

 

[FreudianSlippers]

Did the letter writer already send the letter out? Sometimes letter writers send students copies of letters to proof-read and make sure they are okay. To answer your question, I don't think it will have much of an impact, but my perfectionism would definitely make me want to say something to the writer if there was still time for him or her to edit it.

 

[psych.meout]

Maybe the posters here who are faculty members and on admission committees will correct me, but I don't think it's too big of a deal. It's typical to have the same references write all your recommendations for every program. If you're applying to 15 to 20 programs, I'm sure they're probably using mostly the same letter and not writing a completely unique one for each program. It's probably not too rare for programs to receive them with an error in who they are addressed to.

I'd say it's more of a problem of you as the applicant were to do this.

 

[Elsa_Freud]

Did the letter writer already send the letter out? Sometimes letter writers send students copies of letters to proof-read and make sure they are okay. To answer your question, I don't think it will have much of an impact, but my perfectionism would definitely make me want to say something to the writer if there was still time for him or her to edit it.

They were already all sent out. The deadlines were last week.

Anyone else have any input about how important or bad this is?

Should I just leave it alone, because the overall letter is still really good and specific even with the typo? Should I try contacting the department or having my recommender contact them and see if they can send in amended letters with the correct information?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Not a big deal.

 

[WisNeuro]

Agreed, nbd. If the applicant does it, that's a red mark. If the LOR does it, meh. Unless that thing is riddled with errors, then it's bad. We had an Alliant LOR once where there were more than 10 gross grammatical errors, they referred to the applicant by several different gendered pronouns (e.g., at one point left he/she in the letter) and referenced us (the selection committee) as "you guys" throughout the letter. This application did not receive an interview. Although, the rest of the application was also as terrible as this LOR. I'm feeling tangential this morning, time to get some coffee.

 

[Justanothergrad]

^^ Not a big deal. Folks given letter writers some room for errors during the letter writing process.

 

[Elsa_Freud]

Not a big deal.

Agreed, nbd. If the applicant does it, that's a red mark. If the LOR does it, meh. Unless that thing is riddled with errors, then it's bad. We had an Alliant LOR once where there were more than 10 gross grammatical errors, they referred to the applicant by several different gendered pronouns (e.g., at one point left he/she in the letter) and referenced us (the selection committee) as "you guys" throughout the letter. This application did not receive an interview. Although, the rest of the application was also as terrible as this LOR. I'm feeling tangential this morning, time to get some coffee.

^^ Not a big deal. Folks given letter writers some room for errors during the letter writing process.

Phew, that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks for the help.

Since it's not a big deal, should I just leave it alone or should I contact my recommender and have them send amended letters of recommendation to each program?

 

[WisNeuro]

Bring it to their attention, leave the ball in their court.

 

[Elsa_Freud]

Bring it to their attention, leave the ball in their court.

K, that sounds like a good idea.

It seems like the consensus here is that it's not really a big deal and won't factor much in my application that the error happened in the first place, since it's the only error in the letter.

It sounds kind of like other people have had this happen before, which makes sense, since I did apply to a lot of programs.

 

[Elsa_Freud]

As an update, the program wants my recommender to send a corrected copy of his letter.

How do the review processes go for applications? Do you all think there's any deadline or urgency for my recommender to send in his corrected letter?

I know my recommender has been really busy lately and that this is the time that many programs are reviewing applications.

I'm just wondering if the program is using my original letter as part of the review process (since only the program name was wrong) and just wants the corrected letter as a formality or if they are waiting for the corrected letter to begin reviewing my app.