Generic LOR, harmful?

[clocks123]

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Will a generic LOR hurt me in the application process? I know that my writer will write a good LOR, but I'm not sure if it will have that personal touch that would make it great. Is this a problem, or should I be ok?
All my other letters should be more on the strong side though.

 

[Goro]

Not harmful, but not helpful.

Harmful LORs are actually quite rare.

Will a generic LOR hurt me in the application process? I know that my writer will write a good LOR, but I'm not sure if it will have that personal touch that would make it great. Is this a problem, or should I be ok?
All my other letters should be more on the strong side though.

 

[clocks123]

Not harmful, but not helpful.

Harmful LORs are actually quite rare.

Thanks, about how may LORs do you see that are actually amazing per cycle? Do most basically say the same things about students? Just curious

 

[mimelim]

Not harmful, but not helpful.

Harmful LORs are actually quite rare.

Thanks, about how may LORs do you see that are actually amazing per cycle? Do most basically say the same things about students? Just curious

I would expand on what Goro said. Broad numbers, 1 in 5 applicants have a letter that will help, 1 in 5 applicants will have an awkward or confusing letter, 1 in 50 will have a letter that hurts, but, what I have found is that letters will modify the rest of someone's application. For instance, if the center piece of your application is your research experience, you should have a letter from your PI. Not having one looks weird. If you talk about it in your personal statement or on the interview trail, what you say should match what the letter says. If the letter is generic, but you talk it up like it was amazing, it is a little odd and gives people pause. Applicants that don't come off as genuine do worse. Inconsistencies may bring nothing about if everything else is good, but they can also tank an application. If it is someone that you should be getting a strong recommendation from, you should get a strong recommendation.

I will also say that maybe now in a relatively competitive field and a big name program, 50% have strong letters of recommendation. We also call the letter writers of our top 10 or so applicants directly and get follow up. Nobody really does this en mass at the medical school level, but being able to get strong letters is an incredibly important skill from here on out.

 

[Goro]

I think Mimelim's numbers are pretty close to what I see.

With each interview panel I do, I can count on one of the interviewees to have one or more really great LORs ...one that makes me actually write "fantastic LORs for candidate".

Awkward LORs are uncommon. More common are those that are uninformative ones "Joe is a nice guy; he'll make a good doctor"; "Jane was in the top 5% of my class". Sometime they're of the ilk the British call "damning by faint praise." This illustrates that if you have a LOR writyer that really doesn't know you, it can backfire.

Thanks, about how may LORs do you see that are actually amazing per cycle? Do most basically say the same things about students? Just curious

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

I think Mimelim's numbers are pretty close to what I see.

With each interview panel I do, I can count on one of the interviewees to have one or more really great LORs ...one that makes me actually write "fantastic LORs for candidate".

Awkward LORs are uncommon. More common are those that are uninformative ones "Joe is a nice guy; he'll make a good doctor"; "Jane was in the top 5% of my class". Sometime they're of the ilk the British call "damning by faint praise." This illustrates that if you have a LOR writyer that really doesn't know you, it can backfire.

Going off of this, how do you judge letters that seemingly aren't "extremely professional?" For example, I do research right now for my ochem professor, and he's become my mentor to the point we're on a first name basis and play FIFA together with some of his grad students, know his family, etc. I can definitely see him putting somewhere in my letter something along the lines of "DrShephardWannabe is an excellent FIFA player, we've had him over for dinner, he's lighthearted and knows a work/play balance" just because that's his personality. I'm sure he would elaborate on how we got to know each other so it doesn't look like I'm just casually playing video games or dining with him, but are points like that viewed as a plus to the personal aspect of the letter, or more of "so this guy probably knew the professor beforehand and just got a letter from him"?
If it makes any difference, the man who wrote this letter is extremely renowned and probably has admission deans on speed dial, he's also wrote several letters so I'm sure he knows what to write but I'm just taking a guess because I know his lighthearted personality.

 

[Goro]

Most LORs are professional. A PI would typically attest to your diligence, and intelligence.

Going off of this, how do you judge letters that seemingly aren't "extremely professional?" For example, I do research right now for my ochem professor, and he's become my mentor to the point we're on a first name basis and play FIFA together with some of his grad students, know his family, etc. I can definitely see him putting somewhere in my letter something along the lines of "DrShephardWannabe is an excellent FIFA player, we've had him over for dinner, he's lighthearted and knows a work/play balance" just because that's his personality. I'm sure he would elaborate on how we got to know each other so it doesn't look like I'm just casually playing video games or dining with him, but are points like that viewed as a plus to the personal aspect of the letter, or more of "so this guy probably knew the professor beforehand and just got a letter from him"?
If it makes any difference, the man who wrote this letter is extremely renowned and probably has admission deans on speed dial, he's also wrote several letters so I'm sure he knows what to write but I'm just taking a guess because I know his lighthearted personality.

 

[Doug Underhill]

If your LOR writers aren't 100% convinced that you're the Messiah, you're better off not getting a letter from them.


I kid, I kid. Honestly, the idea on SDN that you need to have an insanely close and tremendously beneficial relationship with your LOR writers is questionable. Your average PI is extremely busy and does not want to cultivate deep, meaningful relationships with all 100 of the pre-meds in his biochemistry class who got an A. Of course, the person should have interacted with you enough to honestly speak about your good qualities, but it's tough to stand out to them as an undergrad.

 

[caffeinemia]

Sometimes you write the letter for the pi to write for you. You get my drift...? At least I know some pi's who did that for "some" students.