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Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:15 pm
by xonimi
My professor mentioned an internship I did in the LOR she wrote for me. She said it was from summer 2012 to summer 2013 but the actual dates (and what's on my resume) was summer 2012 to the end of 2012 so that's about a 6/7 month difference between the two.

It's not something I can ask her to change because she did this some time ago. I'm not sure what to do. Should I change my resume to match that or should I just leave it all as is?

How much, if at all, will this affect my chances?

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:31 pm
by mattf
Honestly I would just contact the law school and let them know of her mistake and ask them how they would like you to go about correcting this situation. That would be the best thing to do.

If you worried that bringing up her mistake would lessen the impact she appears to have in her LOR because it makes it seem like she didn't know you as well then you can go ahead and edit your resume and they more than likely wouldn't notice since the LOR would corroborate it.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:33 pm
by Rigo
Definitely do not change your resume to match the LOR. That'll jeopardize C&F.

You can do nothing. A lot of people don't even get to read their LOR's, so they are blissfully unaware of any discrepancies that would be in them.

OR

You can alert the schools as to the mistake. It's really not a big deal and will not affect your chances. Just don't do something stupid like change your resume to conform to the mistake/lie.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:13 am
by BillsFan9907
Also - keep in mind the following:

1) Nobody would lie and say their internship was shorter than it was. It makes no sense.
2) They probably won't notice it
3) back again in reference to 1, they would assume that the teacher made a mistake by expanding it.

Why can't you contact the Professor:

"Hi Professor X,

This is XXX. I interned for you during XXX, and you were kind enough to not only write me a letter of recommendation but also show me the letter of recommendation. I noticed a minor discrepancy. You have me listed as interning for you longer than I did. You have it listed as XX-XXX, but in fact it was XXX-XXX. The later is what I have on my resume. As you know, law schools can be strict about perceived dishonesty and I wouldn't want them to believe that I dishonestly put incorrect dates on my resume. If you could make the minor changes, I would be much appreciative.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:28 am
by RZ5646
I have a slightly related question re resumes.

If I have a job at school, on my resume do I need to record every longish gap where I'm not working (i.e., Christmas breaks and summer breaks), or can I just say "Campus Job -- August 2012-present"?

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:22 am
by axel.foley
I really don't think this is an issue, and if on the off chance a law school ad com does notice he or she would probably just assume error on the part of the LoR writer.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:28 am
by BillsFan9907
RZ5646 wrote:I have a slightly related question re resumes.

If I have a job at school, on my resume do I need to record every longish gap where I'm not working (i.e., Christmas breaks and summer breaks), or can I just say "Campus Job -- August 2012-present"?
The later is fine. It's obvious you weren't working during winter break or something along the lines. If it's not obvious, it's not deceptive. There is no feasible way to include

August Fall Semester - End of Fall Semester
Spring Semester - End Spring.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:29 am
by BillsFan9907
axel.foley wrote:I really don't think this is an issue, and if on the off chance a law school ad com does notice he or she would probably just assume error on the part of the LoR writer.
Yeah, that is what I am thinking. Obviously, if this issue is giving the OP a lot of anxiety, then he has some useful paths. My suggestions were merely for peace of mind, not for necessity.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:32 am
by RZ5646
BillsFan9907 wrote: The later is fine. It's obvious you weren't working during winter break or something along the lines. If it's not obvious, it's not deceptive. There is no feasible way to include

August Fall Semester - End of Fall Semester
Spring Semester - End Spring.
Thanks man... I actually just made a separate post about this because I was so worried, and then I saw that someone had replied to this thread.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 2:33 am
by BillsFan9907
RZ5646 wrote:
BillsFan9907 wrote: The later is fine. It's obvious you weren't working during winter break or something along the lines. If it's not obvious, it's not deceptive. There is no feasible way to include

August Fall Semester - End of Fall Semester
Spring Semester - End Spring.
Thanks man... I actually just made a separate post about this because I was so worried, and then I saw that someone had replied to this thread.
No worries!

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:14 pm
by xonimi
BillsFan9907 wrote:
axel.foley wrote:I really don't think this is an issue, and if on the off chance a law school ad com does notice he or she would probably just assume error on the part of the LoR writer.
Yeah, that is what I am thinking. Obviously, if this issue is giving the OP a lot of anxiety, then he has some useful paths. My suggestions were merely for peace of mind, not for necessity.

Yeah you're right. I think I'll just leave it alone. I was thinking I would email the school about the discrepancy but that might not look good since most applicants don't get to read their LOR and knowing I did may cause them to question whether the writer was sincere.

Re: Internship dates mentioned in LOR don't match my resume

Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:42 am
by ChemEng1642
xonimi wrote:
BillsFan9907 wrote:
axel.foley wrote:I really don't think this is an issue, and if on the off chance a law school ad com does notice he or she would probably just assume error on the part of the LoR writer.
Yeah, that is what I am thinking. Obviously, if this issue is giving the OP a lot of anxiety, then he has some useful paths. My suggestions were merely for peace of mind, not for necessity.

Yeah you're right. I think I'll just leave it alone. I was thinking I would email the school about the discrepancy but that might not look good since most applicants don't get to read their LOR and knowing I did may cause them to question whether the writer was sincere.
Yeah this is a non-issue. But if you were going to contact someone I would definitely contact the recommender over the school. Best case - he/she updates it to match your resume, worst case - nothing happens and it remains a non-issue. But at least the school won't know that you read the LoR that way