is it dishonest to write your own LORs?

[desam]

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this physician told me that she is so busy that I should write my own LOR and show it to her to make a final edition.

my mom was telling me that this is being dishonest and I shouldn't do it.

what you guys think????

 

[elektroshok]

this physician told me that she is so busy that I should write my own LOR and show it to her to make a final edition.

my mom was telling me that this is being dishonest and I shouldn't do it.

what you guys think????

i dont think its dishonest.. the doc will read it and add/delete what she feels necessary.

 

[Abilene85]

I had several friends write one or more of their letters. Obviously, the "writer" reviewed and edited as they saw fit. My friends thought it was a great opportunity to create an amazing letter. Personally, however, I would never have felt comfortable doing this and would have requested a letter from someone with enough time to write one. It's not "dishonest," but it's up to you to decide if you are okay with it.

 

[midn]

A lot of professors have you write the LORs for them. This basically tells them what you would like to emphasize and allows them to not have to completely write the thing from scratch themselves.

I wrote one of my LORs, but I think the person heavily edited it before submitting it.

 

[bigdog8829]

this physician told me that she is so busy that I should write my own LOR and show it to her to make a final edition.

my mom was telling me that this is being dishonest and I shouldn't do it.

what you guys think????

She said its ok. Do it.
Its dishonest if you wrote it and signed it off as being a physician 😱

 

[Kikaku21]

She said its ok. Do it.
Its dishonest if you wrote it and signed it off as being a physician 😱

While there is nothing immoral about it, I hesitate at the idea.

If someone cannot take the time to sit down for an hour and say something nice about you, are they really the right person? What about when the style and sentence structure of your PS matches one of your LORs? What about the fact that a self-written LOR does not provide any outside perspective on your accompliments?

 

[WoodyInvincible]

It isn't an uncommon practice for someone to ask you to write your own LOR and then submit it to them.

 

[amartinezz43]

the way i see it, if the recommender asks you to write their letter than he/she is not the type of recommender you want. you want someone who is going to give an honest account of your strengths,qualities,personality on a personal level......so i would find another recommender

 

[Frank Hardy]

Tough call.
It depends how desperate you are for a letter. If the professor is going to edit it afterwards I don't think so because he is trying to do you a favor if you don't know him/her very well but still need a letter.

 

[alwaysaangel]

This isn't that unusual. She will probably make a lot of additions and changes. She just wants a base of the things you want her to focus on before she gets started. Its not dishonest and it doesn't mean shes a poor letter writer.

 

[munnabhai]

I once had a prof ask me to write one for some little fellowship I was applying to. I hated the task cause I just couldnt bring myself to write praise about myself. So I gave him half a page of some bs and I think he basically rewrote the whole thing cause it was like 2 pages long when he faxed it. Dunno if that length is a good thing or a bad thing though.

 

[benzene2008]

this physician told me that she is so busy that I should write my own LOR and show it to her to make a final edition.

my mom was telling me that this is being dishonest and I shouldn't do it.

what you guys think????

Yes .

But, I will say this. I have seen many of people do this and think about it. You're doctor is going to be a better writer than you could ever be... Something coming from another person rather than first person trying to write second person is probably going to come through.

I have personally seen a letter written by an individual and then get "edited" for final revision and sent back to the person and it was HORRIBLE.

I would say to the doctor this statement. Dear Dr. XYZ I appreciate you having faith in my ability to write my own LOR. However, I would much rather appreciate you writing something so that I can have an honest and personal view only you could provide in words. With this letter I could then look over and perhaps suggest and or add anything that might make it the strongest LOR it can be. Would you mind doing this for me?

Regards,

YOU

 

[deleted103644]

This isn't dishonest at all - in fact it's common practice when asking for a recommendation from someone whose time is valuable to give them a draft recommendation letter for them to change as they see fit. Since they get "final cut" on the letter (and you will not see what they end up putting in/taking out), there is nothing dishonest about it at all. It's a little awkward, but expect to get similar treatment when asking for recommendation letters for match, etc. etc.

The reason why it is not dishonest is because the person you send the draft to will change it if they disagree with any part of it. I would say the only negative thing about it is that it shows the person writing your rec values their time much more than your application - which could be reasonable, depending on how valuable his/her time is. Try to ask for recommendation letters from people who know you well and can write persuasively for you - otherwise your letters may all start to sound the same (since a lot of the original material will be coming from you).

 

[benzene2008]

This isn't dishonest at all - in fact it's common practice when asking for a recommendation from someone whose time is valuable to give them a draft recommendation letter for them to change as they see fit. Since they get "final cut" on the letter (and you will not see what they end up putting in/taking out), there is nothing dishonest about it at all. It's a little awkward, but expect to get similar treatment when asking for recommendation letters for match, etc. etc.

The reason why it is not dishonest is because the person you send the draft to will change it if they disagree with any part of it. I would say the only negative thing about it is that it shows the person writing your rec values their time much more than your application - which could be reasonable, depending on how valuable his/her time is. Try to ask for recommendation letters from people who know you well and can write persuasively for you - otherwise your letters may all start to sound the same (since a lot of the original material will be coming from you).

No this isn't "common" practice. Not one person who I wrote an LOR to asked me to do this. In fact my LOR's were checked by my school and they were all excellent. In fact a person asking YOU to write an LOR is just being Lazy. come on think about it would you ask someone to write their own LOR if thought highly of the person and wanted them to succeed in getting into med school? Sorry, sounds inpersonal, unethic and lazy.

 

[deleted103644]

Yes .

But, I will say this. I have seen many of people do this and think about it. You're doctor is going to be a better writer than you could ever be... Something coming from another person rather than first person trying to write second person is probably going to come through.

I have personally seen a letter written by an individual and then get "edited" for final revision and sent back to the person and it was HORRIBLE.

I would say to the doctor this statement. Dear Dr. XYZ I appreciate you having faith in my ability to write my own LOR. However, I would much rather appreciate you writing something so that I can have an honest and personal view only you could provide in words. With this letter I could then look over and perhaps suggest and or add anything that might make it the strongest LOR it can be. Would you mind doing this for me?

Regards,

YOU

Bad idea. For starters, this person seems barely literate (you're doctor? seriously? yes, I would suggest you not write your own letters, or your own PS for that matter - that would be dishonest btw). Second, the main thing that makes letters of recommendation meaningful is that you DO NOT GET TO LOOK AT THE FINAL COPY. Schools usually do not take letters seriously unless they are accompanied by a signed form saying you waive your right to look at the letter. Your letter writer should be free to write anything, good or bad, about you. The only input you should have in the process is that you choose who writes your letters and can provide them with some information about yourself to get started (CV, draft recommendation letter, etc...).

 

[postbacker]

This is a common practice in the post college world, and I know quite a few people whose professors asked them to write the LOR for med and grad schools...harder to do than it first appears...

 

[benzene2008]

This is a common practice in the post college world, and I know quite a few people whose professors asked them to write the LOR for med and grad schools...harder to do than it first appears...

Am I on crack? are we arguing that one can write a letter better themselves than one could write for them?

 

[alwaysaangel]

Am I on crack? are we arguing that one can write a letter better themselves than one could write for them?

No you're not on crack. But for some reason you're throwing a temper tantrum about something you know nothing about. Like the previous poster said - its fairly common in the post college world. Doctors have a lot to do and often request a framework so they have an idea on what to base the letter off of before editing it to suit themselves.

For whatever reason you can't accept that and would prefer to make a fool of yourself on an anonymous internet forum. But I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you'll grow up by the time you have to do it for the match.

 

[Kingfish]

You're not being dishonest. She is asking you this because she wants an idea of what you think you have contributed or learned. She will rewrite it and certainly won't include anything she doesn't think is true.

 

[benzene2008]

No you're not on crack. But for some reason you're throwing a temper tantrum about something you know nothing about. Like the previous poster said - its fairly common in the post college world. Doctors have a lot to do and often request a framework so they have an idea on what to base the letter off of before editing it to suit themselves.

For whatever reason you can't accept that and would prefer to make a fool of yourself on an anonymous internet forum. But I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you'll grow up by the time you have to do it for the match.

I am not trying to rant, but I don't agree with this. Do people do it yes, but does that make it right or does it make for good letters... IMO hell no. just MO

 

[deleted103644]

I am not trying to rant, but I don't agree with this. Do people do it yes, but does that make it right or does it make for good letters... IMO hell no. just MO

For the record, my letters were written by the people I asked to write them - not by myself. But you clearly have not spent any time in the professional world if you have this viewpoint - be prepared to get some bad recs in med school.

 

[Karen12345]

Yes .

But, You're doctor is going to be a better writer than you could ever be...

Maybe that doctor is not only busy, but also inconfident about his/her writing ability. Perhaps he/she got into med school before there was a writing sample on the MCAT. And even today, so many schools place little emphasis on the writing score...it wouldn't be all that shocking to have MDs that can't write very well.

 

[JohnMadden]

FYI -

Waiving your rights to see the LOR does not necessarily mean that you did not see the final version of the letter. It means that once submitted to the school, you no longer have the legal recourse of viewing the letter (e.g. you were rejected by all your schools and think one of your profs wrote you a bad letter).

Most LOR writers in academia (i.e. professors) will NOT share the final draft of the LORs with you, but professional letter writers are much more likely to share the letter and some will even give you a copy and ask for your feedback. They call this "Quality Control".

I am torn about the whole "waiving rights" issue. I'm not completely sold on the value of LORs that are confidential as compared to those where a student has access. I also think it gives professors the opportunity to write weak or lukewarm letters without giving students any recourse. I'm sure more than a few applicants have been sabotaged by a lukewarm letter from someone who indicated they would write a strong one.

 

[etf]

i was offered the opportunity to write my own letter, but i turned it down because i know i have a very specific writing style that's easily identifiable as my own - plus i have no idea how exactly to write a letter, and would have freaked out about "did i praise too much, or not enough" etc. instead what i did was write down a list of qualities that i felt are what makes me me, and asked that she incorporate those ideas (if she agreed) in her letter. of course, since i waived my rights, i'll never know...