Typo in cover letter Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi Everyone,

I had a typo in my cover letter. I applied to over 60 judges. I also had professors and the dean of my school contact judges on my behalf (for a total of 12 judges). Now, I really don't know what to do. I fixed the typo in OSCAR for a few judges who are still hiring. Some of the judges I applied to were via paper applications, so those are goners.

One of my professors contacted 10 judges on my behalf, and now I feel like that's all a waste. I'm also unsure on if I can ask her to contact more judges, or if that's taking advantage of her kindness. I'm going to apply to any new judges that post on OSCAR, and I'm beginning to apply to magistrate judges as well. I just think without a professor contacting chambers on my behalf it'll all be worthless.

I'm at a t25 school that doesn't rank, but I'm likely in the top 15-20%. Just please give me any advice.

[Anonymous User]

hey i totally understand how you feel-- i was the OP who discussed typos in my writing sample. if it makes you feel better, i had way more than one typo and it was in my writing sample and i got a fantastic clerkship anyway. as everyone in that thread said, update your OSCAR application-- they won't see/know why, write off paper apps (sorry), and keep applying to new ones that open up! tbh i think one small typo in a cover letter probably won't even be noticed given how much people skim so don't worry about it! do what you can to fix it but honestly a judge that dings you for one tiny typo in an otherwise great application is probably not someone you want to clerk for anyway!

[Quichelorraine]

tbh i think one small typo in a cover letter probably won't even be noticed given how much people skim so don't worry about it! do what you can to fix it but honestly a judge that dings you for one tiny typo in an otherwise great application is probably not someone you want to clerk for anyway!

Seconded. It's one of the best places to have a typo, honestly, especially if the judge gets roughly 17 quintillion applications and doesn't demand anything idiosyncratic in cover letters. Clerkship cover letters are pretty standard. Expect a heck of a lot more attention to be paid to your resume and possibly your writing sample.

[mjb447]

Yeah, I can't think of much you should do that you haven't already done.

As to how you feel, it would obviously be better if it hadn't happened, but it's not as universally disqualifying as you might think. Even as to the paper apps, you should only consider them "goners" or "write them off" to the same extent that you should be taking that view toward most of your apps once you submit - most judges will probably reject you for one reason or another, but you only need one offer.

[Anonymous User]

Original poster here:

Thanks everyone for all kind words. You really made me feel better about it/less anxious about it.

[Anonymous User]

Well, I'm the dummy who JUST realized -- after sending out 60+ apps myself -- that there were two typos in my resume. :'(

I've obviously fixed the errors and updated all my applications on Oscar, but it's probably too late for me, right? I assume that anyone who saw the bad resume already wrote me off, but if any former/current clerks have insight about that, please let me know.

[Anonymous User]

Well, I'm the dummy who JUST realized -- after sending out 60+ apps myself -- that there were two typos in my resume. :'(

I've obviously fixed the errors and updated all my applications on Oscar, but it's probably too late for me, right? I assume that anyone who saw the bad resume already wrote me off, but if any former/current clerks have insight about that, please let me know.

I had a typo in my resume and still landed 3 competitive district interviews with it. And maybe a 2/7/9 Circuit interview, but I can’t remember if that was after I caught it. Try not to sweat it too much and just keep applying if you don’t get bites.