a mistake no one should make

  • This has become our largest and most active forum because the physics GRE is just one aspect of getting accepted into a graduate physics program.
  • There are applications, personal statements, letters of recommendation, visiting schools, anxiety of waiting for acceptances, deciding between schools, finding out where others are going, etc.

Post Reply
schmit.paul
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:48 pm

a mistake no one should make

Post by schmit.paul » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:16 pm

Yeah, so I went back and looked at the application I submitted to Harvard physics a few weeks ago and realized that I made a critical error in my statement of purpose. I had filled out my Stanford app right before I filled out my Harvard app, and in the concluding paragraph of my Harvard statement of purpose I used a sentence out of the Stanford statement of purpose, only I forgot to change the name from Stanford to Harvard! So now my statement of purpose concludes on the note that Stanford is a fantastic match for my goals and academic strengths...I'm sure the Harvard admissions committee will "love" it. So NOBODY do the same and make this dumb mistake! I thought my track record was perfect, and I only checked my old Harvard app on a lark. I don't even know why I didn't catch it the first couple times I read through it. Anyway, I'm going to try to get a hold of the graduate admissions department on tuesday and see if I can fax or mail my corrected statement of purpose to be included in my application, so hopefully they'll be kind enough to indulge my temporary lapse in common sense. If, by any slim chance, someone has submitted an app to Harvard and later had to make an addition/amendment to it and was either successful or unsuccessful in making the correction, please let me know how flexible they are. I figure I gave them $90 just to look at the damn thing, so the least they could do is swap out a couple sheets of paper for me.

rjharris
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 10, 2006 6:48 pm

ouch

Post by rjharris » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:32 pm

that sucks man.

i don't really know, but it seems a bit silly not to let you correct it as long as the deadline hasn't passed. btw, were you in a time crunch with other things if i might ask? the earliest deadline is, i think, dec 8? (mine is dec. 15 for astro)

schmit.paul
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:48 pm

Post by schmit.paul » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:17 am

Yeah, I'm hoping they're as flexible as it seems they should be. As far as time constraints are concerned, my program decided to throw me a curveball and stick me with 3 end-of-the-semester projects in quantum, electrodynamics, and statmech, with the two GREs (thankfully done at this point), finals in all classes, ~13 apps to fill out and submit, and a conference at the beginning of November that I had to prepare for. So I actually got started filling apps out really early, pretty much as soon as they became available. I felt a little weird submitting them so early, but for the most part nothing was going to change if i waited a month or two to fill them out. I'm the kind of person that would like this stuff done (done well, hopefully), out of the way, and relieved from its post at the forefront of my conscious mind as soon as possible so I can focus on other things. Stanford was my earliest grad app deadline at Dec 12th, but most of my apps are already submitted (and this Harvard faux pas is the only mistake I'm aware of, thankfully), with the exception of UCLA and Berkeley, which for no specific reason wound up being last on my list of schools to which I planned on applying. I don't know about you, but I need this winter break more than I've ever needed one before, this semester has been a neverending onslaught of obligations, exams, and uncertainty, and rushing to fill out 10 graduate schools applications at the beginning of what should be a straight month of sleep and mental recuperation just didn't appeal to me. Best of luck to you.
Last edited by schmit.paul on Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

invidia
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 1:25 am

Post by invidia » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:27 pm

Good thing you didn't apply for Yale beforehand

schmit.paul
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:48 pm

Post by schmit.paul » Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:21 pm

good point

schmit.paul
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:48 pm

Post by schmit.paul » Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:47 am

just an update, in case any of you unfortunate souls make the same mistake I did. I talked to a lady at the graduate admissions office at Harvard and she (very kindly) informed me that I could *mail* in a copy of my new statement of purpose (i included 3 copies) with a cover sheet informing them that I wanted them to switch it with my original statement of purpose and a brief explanation why (which I left *very* general, alluding to a "critical typographical error" with no mention of Stanford). So there is hope if you go back and realize you made a mistake on your documentation, though I cannot guarantee the policy will be the same at every institution.



Post Reply