Bad..LORS?

[DReject]

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Is there such a thing?
Are there professors who will actually write bad things? I mean I know lor's could be weak, but could it be bad like "this person won't be able to make it!"

Thanks.

 

[hale-bopp]

Generally, if a person does not think they can write you a supportive LOR, they tell you that and suggest that you find someone else. That said, my current boss did not know that and wrote a letter for someone (who worked in the lab in the summer) saying that they performed well below expectations. Professors, on the other hand, know how the system works, and should tell you if they can't write a good letter.

 

[Fritz]

On the same lines, please watch out for LORs from people that have no idea how the system works, like employers, or supervisors of volunteer work and such.
They may write something, just to write something, and not necessary meaningful, related to medical school, or your interest in medicine.
Usually for professors is professional courtesy to let you know if they cannot write something good.

Good luck.

 

[idlehouse]

bad LOR do happen, and lots of times, it happens to those who are desperate for letters from professors. Not so much as professors saying " I think this guy should not go to your institution" but more like a very short note, "He was one of my student, but I don't know which one. He got an A- so I guess he's good enough, I wish him the best in med school." If you are really desperate for letter of recommendation, please observe your writer first, kind of ask around if he/she is a helpful person type. On campus, there tend to be a group of professors who write LOR on the regular basis, so these people would know the game well enough. Also, if you use any type of letter service that gives you the option to have non-confidential letters, you might want to use that option for people you have qualms about.

 

[finnpipette]

a bad LOR will destroy your application. When asking for a rec, look your writer in the eye, and ask if they can write a strong letter or rec for you. if they hesitate even for a second, look elsewhere. that's how i got my letters, and i've gotten comments from interviewers on how strong my letters were.

 

[finnpipette]

one more thing, it is good to personally design your letters according to your needs. what i mean by this is that, since profs write lots of letters, and they don't know you very well, often times they'll write whatever you ask them to. so for your science profs, ask if they can talk about your intellectual curiosity, intelligence and stuff like that. for your fuzzy profs, ask them to talk about your well-roundedness and stuff that will complement the science. from your other advisers, ask them to write about your persistence, confidence, discipline, passions...whatever. the goal is to make the letters turn you into a wholesome applicant in the eyes of the adcom people. hope this helps. kickass in the app process.

 

[HKDO08]

Yes, there is such a thing. I was just talking to a professor the other day. We're really good friends and he was telling me about some pre-med applicants that are asking him for letters of recommendation. He actually told me that he will put something like "have reservations for him going to med school.....do not recommend....." if he feels he has to. Also he said that his letter is usually very general as well when he can't recommend/doesn't know the applicant. If you think about it, it's actually a good thing. If it was known that every letter writer always writes something positive, then LOR's wouldn't mean anything.

Lari