Mistake in personal statement

Thanks guys

I feel a lot better about it now, I'm just gonna hope for the best!

I made the mistake of reading it through again and noticed ANOTHER typo. Again it was only a small one but I'm just mad that I didn't noticed them when I was supposedly proofreading!! duh. But I'm not gonna worry about it...just hope I get an interview and a chance to redeem myself lol.

Hang on, why is everyone saying 'oh it doesn't matter'? It does, its one of the most important documents you will write in your working life. You made a mistake in it, it suggests you didn't re-read it. If someone else was level pegging with you on all fronts and then they compared personal statements you would probably lose out.

I say cancel it and submit again, its lazy not to.

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Ok well as for your assumption that I didn't re-read it, I'd like to point out that I checked it, got a friend who is also applying for a PGCE to look at it and travelled up to Manchester from Birmingham specifically so I could get a careers advisor from my old university to go through it. Although when I eventually did spot my mistake (after already sending it off to my principal referee), I majorly panicked; in hindsight I can see it was a very minor mistake (hence none of us noticing it) and hopefully does not take much away from my personal statement as a whole. It was a missing word, not a spelling, punctuation or grammar mistake and the meaning of the sentence is still perfectly clear.

Thanks for your advice though.

I didn't assume anything. I was saying thats what they will think at the uni's. Its like a CV, if there is a mistake on it the HR department will chuck it in the bin immediately.

It also a grammar mistake, as it doesn't make sense without the word. Maybe you should leave it in there, it probably shows the true you.

The meaning of the sentence is clear. I would hope that admissions tutors would not reject my application on the basis of me missing 'at' out in a sentence as based on the rest of my personal statement, it is obvious that it is a typo and nothing to do with my English ability.

With regards to your last (and rather nasty) remark; if the true me is someone who makes mistakes sometimes then yeah you're right. I'm not ashamed of it, I'm only human!


Like I said thanks for your advice.

Ok yes that remark wasn't nice, sorry about that. I was just annoyed that i tried to stress the importance of making a good impression to uni's, and you seem to have dismissed this. I get the feeling you created this thread to make you feel better and will dismiss anyone who says that you should withdraw and correct the mistake. I believe the BIGGEST mistake you're doing is the decision you're making right now. You have noticed it as an error yet you appear not that bothered about correcting, just about feeling better.

I was just annoyed that i tried to stress the importance of making a good impression to uni's

don't worry i proof read mine many times and got others to read it too. Then i stupidly re-read it after i had sent it and noticed an 'and' in a sentence where it didn't make sense. I decided to leave it- i doubt unis are that petty.

Your own grammar isn't perfect though sorry, I have an irrational hatred for extra apostrophes.

anyway, my mind filled in the extra word and it took a re-read to notice a mistake... I wouldn't worry too much, maybe if they noticed it would count a tiny bit against you but the chances of them noticing (they do read a lot of personal statements) are quite slim. Good luck!

Lol why oh why did we read them after we had sent them? Ignorance would definitely have been bliss in this case! Ah well these things happen, I'm sure we'll be fine

Where have you applied?

yeah it's human nature to get paranoid about silly little things- we need to just forget about it.
I have applied for History and Philosophy at York, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham and Southampton. you?

I've applied for English at Birmingham, Warwick, Wolverhampton and Manchester. I'm just getting so impatient now, I keep checking my emails and track and there's been absolutely nothing so far!

Birmingham and Wolverhampton- i'm guessing you want to stay close to home. I was born in Wolverhampton but live in Ipswich and am bored of it! I'm really impatient i check every day also although it's pointless as only one of my unis interview and they are unlikely to give out offer this early! You might get one for manchester soon as they've given out lots of interviews/offers for various subjects. I have had confirmation from all but leeds... I'm getting frustrated but i don't know why.

yeah i was, sorry i assumed you were too- silly mistake.

Depending on the context, you might be able to get away with that one, if they notice it... it might just come across as a strange sentence pattern that doesn't detract from the meaning. Hopefully they won't even notice if though!

(Welcome to TSR, by the way! )