spelling mistake on the AMCAS app

[drdocdocdoc]

I just realized that I misspelled the same word 3 times for one of the activity descriptions (principal investigator --> principle investigator). I'm pissed that I didn't catch this (not that there is anything I can do about it now). And none of the people who helped me edit my application said anything either. Does anybody know how bad this is going to look? I heard the adcom ppl really frown upon spelling errors. Thanks.

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[alibaba]

It happens. Move on. Don't ever bring it up during an interview. Your grades, experiences and MCAT score will determine what happens- not the spelling of that particular word. As hard as it is to do, relax-- and, looking at the bright side of things, good job on getting your app in early.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

As long as you didn't misspell your name you are fine!

Seriously, if it's a common misspelling of the same word, I doubt they are going to even notice much less care. If you had sloppy grammar and misspelled words all over the place, they'd see it as not taking the whole process seriously. But, a mistake here or there? I doubt it'd make an appreciable difference.

 

[armybound]

They skim over essays pretty quickly, they may not even notice.

 

[seraph524]

actually...the spelling of "principal investigator" came up when i was applying for the goldwater scholarship...

if you search on the NIH website, as well as various schools, even harvard, hopkins, rockefeller, or even the NSF, they all use both variations on their grant forms and vitas..sometimes even both in the same document...principal and principle...


not many people know which one is the right one...hell, even the PhDs I asked weren't sure which one was the right way...so i would say dont even worry about it

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Make sure that you don't misspell the medical school's name (or forget to change the name of a school in a secondary essay that you are reusing), which invariably somebody will do this application season and plaster "OMG! I F***ed up my Secondary Essay!" threads all over the forum.

 

[armybound]

Make sure that you don't misspell the medical school's name (or forget to change the name of a school in a secondary essay that you are reusing), which invariably somebody will do this application season and plaster "OMG! I F***ed up my Secondary Essay!" threads all over the forum.

or a troll will come along to make a thread about it.

you know it's inevitable.

 

[postbacker]

Spelling and grammar errors are a pet peeve of mine, but I think that med school adcoms are probably somewhat forgiving knowing the difficulties applicants face in using the application interface, particularly when it comes to writing and inputting the PS.

I wouldn't worry about a few typos. But poor grammar is a definite no-no...no excuses for this.

 

[gotmeds?]

Definitely one of the more common mistakes since a spellchecker won't catch it. I worked for a guy who had it spelled that way on his business cards. I never bothered to correct him. Anyway, don't worry about it. The person who reads your app may not even know the difference.

 

[2008orbust]

YUP, it happens. I just now realized that my PS (that was carefully edited and redone a million times) has an error that actually kind of changes the meaning of my sentence. I freaked at first, but what ya gonna do?

I typed my PS into AMCAS so slowly, I thought it was word for word. Then reread it a million times, but you know the problem with reading something that you already know by heart, your head fills in the words for you. So, after much panic and kicking myself, I had to face that fact that the adcoms will already know that I am human.

 

[MChitty]

Make sure that you don't misspell the medical school's name (or forget to change the name of a school in a secondary essay that you are reusing), which invariably somebody will do this application season and plaster "OMG! I F***ed up my Secondary Essay!" threads all over the forum.

This is definitely something I would do. It happens at least once when I'm sending 'individualized' emails to 20 people. I promise I won't start a thread about it...

 

[DoctaJay]

I just realized that I misspelled the same word 3 times for one of the activity descriptions (principal investigator --> principle investigator). I'm pissed that I didn't catch this (not that there is anything I can do about it now). And none of the people who helped me edit my application said anything either. Does anybody know how bad this is going to look? I heard the adcom ppl really frown upon spelling errors. Thanks.

You'd be surprised at the amount of interviewers that don't even read your work/activities section completely. Don't sweat it.

 

[thedelicatessen]

I did exactly that on my AMCAS last year but didn't realize it until I had received acceptances. They're not going to notice such a minor spelling error when they have a zillion apps to read.

 

[Haemulon]

I had a few misspellings in my secondary essays last year. Caught it later on when I was bored and re-read them again a month or so ater I mailed them. Bad idea to look backwards. Caused me to stress out for a couple days but then I realized that there wasn't anything I could do about it. Don't worry, like everyone else has said it may not even get noticed. And even if it does, no biggie.

 

[ProjectGemini]

I just realized I wrote Los Angeles LA instead of Los Angeles CA for my traveling experience description....Oops...

 

[Spartyon]

I forgot a "the" in the last sentence of my personal statement. Hopefully I'm not screwed...I fee like s*it right now 🙁.

 

[StringTheorist]

actually...the spelling of "principal investigator" came up when i was applying for the goldwater scholarship...

if you search on the NIH website, as well as various schools, even harvard, hopkins, rockefeller, or even the NSF, they all use both variations on their grant forms and vitas..sometimes even both in the same document...principal and principle...


not many people know which one is the right one...hell, even the PhDs I asked weren't sure which one was the right way...so i would say dont even worry about it

i remember this old saying in school to tell the difference... the princiPAL is your pal. get it? hah....haha....haha... *silence*

 

[Dzeteo]

I just realized that I misspelled the same word 3 times for one of the activity descriptions (principal investigator --> principle investigator). I'm pissed that I didn't catch this (not that there is anything I can do about it now). And none of the people who helped me edit my application said anything either. Does anybody know how bad this is going to look? I heard the adcom ppl really frown upon spelling errors. Thanks.

No one will probably even notice or care if they do. Actually, I didn't even notice as I read your post...guess I need to learn how to spell.

I picked the wrong degree on my application for my graduate work. I picked MA instead of MS. I noticed, my own advisor didn't even notice when he read my app. No one noticed or cared if they did notice. Relax.