Should I send an apology email if I misentered a professor's academic rank in an application?

Question

I'm in the process of doing my PhD applications. A few weeks ago, I filled out the Letter of Recommendation section, which sent out emails to all of my referees asking them to upload their letters via an external link.

They have since submitted their letters. Today, as I was submitting an application, I browsed through the LOR tab one more time just for good measure, and lo and behold, one of the boxes that I filled changed from "Assistant Professor" to "Associate Professor". In a panic, I went through the other applications and it looks like I made the same error everywhere, and this professor silently fixed everything (wherever possible) before submitting.

• Should I send them an apology email for misentering their academic rank? I don't want to send them more spam about my applications when they've gotten so many emails from me already in the past week.
• Will it affect my admission chances if the admissions committee sees that I entered a professor's academic rank wrongly?

Answer 1

As for your first question: I wouldn't send a standalone apology email. You're right, it's too bothersome. Instead, I would wait until you have another reason to email that professor -- maybe a thank you email once all your applications are done, or an update email when you get accepted/rejected. In that email, you can casually apologize for that mistake.

As for your second question: no. Avoid "applicant's hypochondria", don't worry about this.

Answer 2

No, you're fine. Your instinct to not spam their mailbox is correct, and it is doubtful anyone can see that you entered it wrong to begin with.