Call me Ishmael

[MyNameIsWepeel]

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I saw one of my personal statements. My bio professor emailed it to me on the DL. It was not bad, in fact, he "enthusiastically" recommended me. I am kinda disappointed though, because he knew me fairly well and had me answer several questions and a few essays so that he could speak more accurately about my motivation and all that, but then when I saw the letter it is rather generic and doesn't really incorporate anything personal about me.

He basically has a couple paragraphs about me and then a giant list of well-written qualities he sees in me. It would be an AWESOME letter if there were one or two more things that made it look like he truly thinks this about me and doesn't write this stuff for everyone.

I know that no one can truly give me informed advice here, but should I use this letter which I know at least says "enthusiastically recommend" and other good, but impersonal stuff, or should I go with a letter from a Stats prof whom I am very close with and talked about non-class related stats questions outside of class and who thinks I am very bright, OR should I go with an Ochem teacher who I didn't know horribly well (but was still one of a handful of students in a class of 70 whose name he knew) but did give me two A's in Ochem I & II.

I basically need to decide which of these LsOR I will submit as an "additional letter" to certain schools which allow for more than the required science letters or whatever. My school does not have a committee I wish I could show this to some of my other letter writers and just ask "Is this better than yours?"

1000 thank yous to anyone who reads and responds to this book I just wrote.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

oK nit picky but its a LOR not a personal statement😉

I would go with your Stats professor, since you said he thinks highly of you and knows you very well.

 

[JLC]

I think with the exception if you're applying for md/phd then a rec letter won't help you get an acceptance or interview (in the very rare cases it might)

It seems he wrote a very supportive rec letter, which is exactly what you need, your mcat and gpa is what is going to get you an interview, I wouldn't stress too much about it.

 

[doomknight]

letter matters. I would go with the one you saw, it should still be good. Are you willing to risk a letter that might turn out bad. Unless you are like super super super close with your stats professor, then you might go with him/her instead.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

P.S. I know it probably doesnt matter, but you werent supposed to see your letter. Schools want "closed" letters or it pretty much defeats the purpose of the LORs.

 

[iduwanna]

P.S. I know it probably doesnt matter, but you werent supposed to see your letter. Schools want "closed" letters or it pretty much defeats the purpose of the LORs.

They want you to waive your right to see it. Most non-science writers will show it to you anyway as a courtesey.

If your bio teacher shows you the letter, so be it. I'm surprised you would call this out, Chubby.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

They want you to waive your right to see it. Most non-science writers will show it to you anyway as a courtesey.

If your bio teacher shows you the letter, so be it. I'm surprised you would call this out, Chubby.

Just saying...I didnt want the guy to slip and say during an interview....as you can see from my LORs, professor X highly recommended me.

..waive your rights...thats what I was thinking of.

 

[MyNameIsWepeel]

Yeah, I did waive my rights to see the letter, but my prof emailed it to me unsolicited. At that point, he had already uploaded it to Interfolio, so I just read it.

Thanks for the $0.02 my baby chickens!