Very minor grammatical flaw in the letter

[Doctor G]

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Do you guys think it's fine to have two very minor things in my letter?

At one place, the writer left out the word "were"
At another place, left out the word "with"

Otherwise, I think this is a strong and personal letter. Should I even bother to let my letter writer know and possibly change it?

Thanks!

 

[daseib]

Yes, by all means you should correct the letter writer...otherwise why even be allowed to read it? If you are not close enough to your letter writer that you cannot let them know that they made a grammatical error, then, in my opinion, you have to question your choice in the pick. If you are close and know each other well and you still think he/she will be offended by you correcting them, then he/she must have 1. god complex or 2. must have a poor self-esteem. However, if i were to guess, I would say that you are over-analyzing the situation and that the letter writer would be just fine with you letting him know that he made a typo or two.... Remember, this is your future, not his!

 

[grendelsdragon]

As someone who reviews cardiology fellowship applications, I do not care whether there is a random typo or grammatical error in a letter of recommendation. We read through these very quickly (more like scan). Most people in admissions committees also understand the number of letters we write on a regular basis.

Certainly, your personal statement or anything else you personally write, you need to be perfectly clean (anything short of that will draw attention to a lack of attention to detail). However, that same standard is not held to LOR writers.

I would not inconvenience your letter writers with anything short of substantive details.

 

[Doctor G]

Thank you guys for your input. Anyone else who has served on the residency application committee or program directors have opinions on this?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Agree with the Dragon. Minor typos or other grammatical errors in LOR's are of no concern.

One application I read yesterday had an LOR for a completely different applicant in it. That's a problem!

 

[Doctor G]

Agree with the Dragon. Minor typos or other grammatical errors in LOR's are of no concern.

One application I read yesterday had an LOR for a completely different applicant in it. That's a problem!

Thank you! Yeah, my case is actually a typo rather than an grammatical error. Either way, I get your point.

The letter was sent and placed under my file. I would not bother my writer for these minor detail issue.

Anyone else who serves in the application committee have input on this?