Mistake in eLOR

[migc]

One of my letter writers is the chancellor of my school. I met him during a research symposium where I presented research and he offered to write me a letter of recommendation. After he submitted my letter, he sent me a copy of it. I didn't ask to see it but he said he wanted time to have it. It was a really great letter that was definitely tailored to me (i.e. most likely not copy and pasted) but in the letter he says that I am "a recent graduate" and that he "met me during my senior year". The problem is that I was only a junior when I met him and I haven't graduated yet, I won't till next May. I know there is nothing that can be done at this point but do any of you think this could hurt my chances? I just feel that it gives the impression that he doesn't know me very well. Although we never discussed my class or when I was planning on graduating and I'm sure he just assumed that since I was applying to vet school that I must be a senior. What do you guys think? I'm trying not to worry about it but I would like some more opinions.

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[battie]

I might be way off base here. Just as a warning.

Over in pre-allo, a lot of these little mistakes seem to be chalked up to human error, if noticed at all. They further encourage applicants to just let it slide and not address it at all with admissions committee unless directly asked by an interviewer for clarification.

I don't see this being a big deal.

 

[TrashPanda]

One of my letter writers is the chancellor of my school. I met him during a research symposium where I presented research and he offered to write me a letter of recommendation. After he submitted my letter, he sent me a copy of it. I didn't ask to see it but he said he wanted time to have it. It was a really great letter that was definitely tailored to me (i.e. most likely not copy and pasted) but in the letter he says that I am "a recent graduate" and that he "met me during my senior year". The problem is that I was only a junior when I met him and I haven't graduated yet, I won't till next May. I know there is nothing that can be done at this point but do any of you think this could hurt my chances? I just feel that it gives the impression that he doesn't know me very well. Although we never discussed my class or when I was planning on graduating and I'm sure he just assumed that since I was applying to vet school that I must be a senior. What do you guys think? I'm trying not to worry about it but I would like some more opinions.

I agree with Bats, but it wouldn't hurt to give VMCAS a call to explain the situation and see if there's a way for the chancellor to resubmit. If there is, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you pointed out the errors and nicely asked him to change them. If there is no way to resubmit, I'm sure it's not a big deal. First off, it's his mistake, not yours, and secondly, I think it's unlikely that adcoms will notice the error as they're going through mountains of applications. It sounds like you have a good letter and adcoms will be able to tell that it was personalized to you- that's really all that matters!

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Not to stress you, but one of my letters was flagged in a bad way because my writer mentioned me applying to Michigan State specifically, as if it were the only school I was applying to. I had applied to MSU in addition to four other schools. Two of the other schools brought it up in file reviews saying 'it gave the impression that the writer and I must not have been communicating' or whatever (we were, and I mentioned I was applying to several schools, she just must not have really realized what she was writing. idk.). So yes, sometimes errors that are out of your control can have an effect on your app. Was it the main thing that led to my rejection? Unlikely. This mistake is a lot more obvious than the one in your letter, however.

Someone would have to be really vigilant to even notice the discrepancy in the first place. Don't worry.

 

[Jess Monster]

Those seem like fairly minor issues. I really doubt someone will be crosschecking your LOR's with your application to see if the events match up to the timeline 100%. Even if they do, those mistakes are easily and reasonably explained and don't really alter the recommendation (he could have left those bits out and it sounds like it would have read the same).

Honestly, this is one of the things that sucks about asking for recommendations. You might know the particulars of who, what, where, and when but for people who teach/mentor a lot of students, inaccuracies in memory abound.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

So one of my ELORs gave me their recommendation on their own. It's a great recommendation, a few minor details are incorrect but it has some major grammar mistakes. I'm not sure if they had them corrected before they submitted, but this person has a master's degree so I figured I wouldn't have to worry about this. I'm a little neurotic when it comes to writing, but things like capitalizing proper nouns and other grammatical mistakes are clearly present. How do you think this will come off?

 

[genny]

So one of my ELORs gave me their recommendation on their own. It's a great recommendation, a few minor details are incorrect but it has some major grammar mistakes. I'm not sure if they had them corrected before they submitted, but this person has a master's degree so I figured I wouldn't have to worry about this. I'm a little neurotic when it comes to writing, but things like capitalizing proper nouns and other grammatical mistakes are clearly present. How do you think this will come off?

AdComs are evaluating you, not your letter-writer. So if the letter says nice things about you, and emphasizes the abilities they want in a future DVM, you'll be just fine.