Am I correct to make the assumption that if somebody willingly agrees (without coercion of any sort) to write a letter on my behalf, I can safely assume that it should be fine? Basically, if somebody has reservations, I can expect them to let me know upfront, right?
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Finding letter writers
Started by dent_wannabe
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When you ask them, ask if they would be willing to write a strong letter for you.Am I correct to make the assumption that if somebody willingly agrees (without coercion of any sort) to write a letter on my behalf, I can safely assume that it should be fine? Basically, if somebody has reservations, I can expect them to let me know upfront, right?
Yeah I usually ask if they would be willing and able to write a positive letter on my behalf.When you ask them, ask if they would be willing to write a strong letter for you.
One instructor did reply with a warning that he won't be able to write about much more than what appears on my transcript, and suggested that I ask somebody else if possible. On the other hand, he said he sympathizes with me if I have limited options due to schools requiring explicitly BCP letters, thus he would be happy to do it if I didn't have much of a choice.
Others I asked agreed without expressing any reservations.
In general, can I expect people to be that upfront if they have hesitations about writing me a good letter?
From my experiences, usually they would be upfront about what you would expect. But I've heard stories of professors from my school writing bad (though honest) letters.Yeah I usually ask if they would be willing and able to write a positive letter on my behalf.
One instructor did reply with a warning that he won't be able to write about much more than what appears on my transcript, and suggested that I ask somebody else if possible. On the other hand, he said he sympathizes with me if I have limited options due to schools requiring explicitly BCP letters, thus he would be happy to do it if I didn't have much of a choice.
Others I asked agreed without expressing any reservations.
In general, can I expect people to be that upfront if they have hesitations about writing me a good letter?
Perhaps you could invite your instructor to meet outside of his office and discuss your strengths over a cup of coffee.
They can still have a positive letter and yet still be a bad letter. I have heard stories where the student is praised but the writer never even mentioned that the student wanted to go into (in this case) medical school and would be a good doctor. You should tell them maybe what you want to be addressed within the letter. You have to remember that this is a letter of recommendation into a profession, so they will be strong letters if they add to why you will be good at what you want to do.
