how long should LORs be - aProgDirector your thoughts!

[NDESTRUKT]

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So I was able to see a letter one of my attendings had written for me, and it wasn't as long as I thought it would be.

Don't get me wrong, it was a good letter and spoke highly of me, but it was only 172 words long filling about 50% of the page. The whole letter with his header and signature made up about 90%. Is that how it usually is?

 

[yaah]

This is why people shouldn't look at their letters. Do you honestly think most letters are 2-3 pages or something? This is probably a standard length, most letters are probably 3/4 of a page or so (including all the signatures, addresses, etc), but what does it matter provided it is good?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

It's all over the map. Many letters are short. You are worrying about nothing.

If your letter simply says "He was pretty good. I don't think he'll screw up too badly.", then I would worry.

 

[Maitreyi]

hi,

this is mainly for aprogdirector but I welcome anyone's opinion.


what constitutes a good letter of recc? for instance I have two letters from the same department, one is the head of clerkship. Both know me well. One (clerkship head) spoke highly of me but did not rave and was much more detailed - the other raved about me (lots of superlatives) but few specifics (though there were some). which should I choose???

I realize this is hard to answer w/o seeing the letters themselves😳
Thanks.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Honestly, unless I personally know the person writing the letter, I find most LOR's useless. Everyone is described as "being in the top 5% of all medical students I have worked with" -- a great example of the Lake Wobegon Effect.

If I know the person, then I make a call.

Still, the letter with the specifics from the clerkship director is the more valuable of the two, for sure.