Let's be honest (in our anonymity) here..

[TTSD]

Who has read their LORs? And what do they say?

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[ms. a]

I can honestly say I have never even come close to seeing mine and I have absolutely no idea what they, or my composite letter, say. Although, I assume they are good, considering my number of interviews.

You know, I take that back. One of my interviewers mentioned one thing that one of my letters said (regarding future dreams of mine) and told me which letter said that. But it's nothing revealing, since I already knew that was my future dream, and it's not like he showed me the letter.

 

[Rendar5]

Someone read it to me (months later), and it was really great.

 

[Sharkfan]

I too have no clue, which I admit is a tad scary. Even more scary, I had an interviewer ask me which of my writers I thought would have written the most truthful and accurate letter! Eeek! Apparently I picked a good one though, b/c I got accepted.

 

[Chrisobean]

im a research tech right now, and i only read a letter from my boss, which i "found" on his computer.
it said he supported my app, mentioned some techniques and procedures i know and stuff that i do, said i am motivated, and quiet, and work well independently, good problem solver, and i show a genuine interest in my work.

i thought that was good, but considering that it was the only letter i have ever read.. who knows!

 

[dentate_gyrus]

I wrote the first draft of one of mine for a professor, even though I told him it was supposed to be confidential. Also, I had two other professors send the letters to me after submitting them to the school letter bank. When professors are bosses and friends they don't want to let you down or create a conflict. LORs are really more about political skills than anything else.

 

[Optimist]

I had to write one of my letters myself. The other two I have no idea.

Actually, later on, after initially applying, I asked a doctor I was doing research with for a letter, because by then he had gotten to know me, and he let me see the letter and asked me if it was okay. (It was great) So 2 I know, and 2 I don't. But I've only had the last letter sent to a couple of schools.

 

[trying]

What is the whole point of not seeing your LOR? When I found this out, I was shocked.

 

[Xega]

Originally posted by trying
What is the whole point of not seeing your LOR? When I found this out, I was shocked.

It is supposed to be so that the writers of the LOR can be honest and not worried about confronting you if you see the letter and they were not too enthusiastic about your app.

 

[drdr2010]

i read one of mine...
a friend of mine worked in my undergrad dept office and she had my advisor's letter on her desk to mail out. during lunch we held it up to the window and tried to read it through the envelope. it was hard as hell since the letter was folded in thirds. we managed to figure out at least 3 or 4 sentences. they were all very complementary.
i felt kinda bad afterwards, but then i felt like a complete ass when my advisor outright gave me a copy of it a few days later.

 

[jlee9531]

the child life specialist i was working for was nice enough to send me a copy of what she wrote after she turned her letter into my letter service.

it was very good.

talked about what the hospital was all about and who she was...
then talked about my responsibilities at the hospital, why i was an important member of the hospital, hours, a special story about me and a patient to show what kind of volunteer i was etc...

 

[HollyJ]

One of my letter writers raised the possibility that I could actually be a cyborg. I am 100% not kidding. He asked me if it was okay before he sent it in; I of course agreed, since it was hilarious.

No clue what the other ones said, though.

 

[musiclink213]

I saw one of my LOR's, but couldn't see what it said. i wanted to check and see if it had arrived from the hospital i volunteered at, and i saw it was a long letter. not sure if that's a good thing or not.

 

[AlternateSome1]

I had no idea about my letters until I was at my first interview. The interviewer sort of chuckled after asking about my research and told me that he had never seen a letter like the one I got before. Apparently my prof. drew up a bunch of the reactions for the experiments I had been running for him during the past year or so. I didn't actually see it, but I can just imagine organic reactions and some detailed description of the research itself, because the guy is really into his work. At least it was something to talk about!

~AS1~

 

[tugbug]

I saw my letters at a distance in one of the interviews... One of them was HANDWRITTEN!!! I mostly noticed it because the interviewer said he was having trouble reading it. That one Im pretty sure was from my advisor. Not a good sign. But I got accepted, so it must not have been too bad.

I also was asked to write a first draft of one of mine for a prof, and I was glad to do it. That one at least had some good stuff in it.

 

[Kashue]

I didn't see any of my letters, but they were brought up in 3 of my interviews. They all said that my rec writers thought extremely highly of me and adored me.

 

[umass rower]

I haven't seen any of mine, but my Air Force recruiter got copies, and she said something along the lines of, "Your letters are amazing, I wish I could show them to you." So I take that to mean that on a scale of good to bad, they're leaning toward the good side.

 

[Supadupafly]

My advisor said it made her cry and that it was like a story out of a book. One of my interviewers also said it was heart-stopping. I have no idea what all of that means, but it's been helpig me get acceptances.

 

[finnpipette]

dang, i wanna read mine so badly...

 

[pud129]

All three of the MD's that wrote me letters gave me a copy to keep. I was pretty surprised by this. They were very good letters and no doubt helped me a great deal in this whole process. I haven't seen any of the ones from my profs.

 

[optimal_risk]

Well, I already have a Psych degree, but now I'm Chem/Pre-Med Major. (what can you say, I love torture) Anyway, before switching tracks I applied to a couple of Ph.D Psych programs. I wasn't able to send out the last batch of LOR's so I read them. Boy, was I surprised! The one I thought was the best was the worst. I was applying to program and school my prof. was from. She made me sound like some affirmative action case. I still got in one of the schools, though but not the one she was from. And now I'm on my way to medicine!

 

[modelcitizen]

haven't.

 

[ixitixl]

One of my recommenders sent me a draft so that I could edit his grammar. It was pretty good after I 'corrected' it.

 

[Amy B]

Nope, never ever saw them, although I will admit I wish I had. But they helped get me into med school so they must be good.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I have only read one of my LOR. The volunteer coordinator at the hospital gave me a copy of it. It seemed pretty good.

 

[TTSD]

Haha you fools! I am now tracking your IPs and sending your names to schools for violating the LOR confidentialities... HAHAHA! Nah, just messing

 

[Amy B]

Originally posted by TTSD
Haha you fools! I am now tracking your IPs and sending your names to schools for violating the LOR confidentialities... HAHAHA! Nah, just messing

 

[ManchotPi]

Originally posted by TTSD
Haha you fools! I am now tracking your IPs and sending your names to schools for violating the LOR confidentialities... HAHAHA! Nah, just messing

 

[duka]

I was told my one interviewer that all 5 of my letters described me as ambitious, hardworking, and thoughtful. I only read one of them though, when a doc I was shadowing gave me the letter to proofread and "add anything I thought appropriate."

 

[drlexygoat]

I had to write 3 of my letters. I made myself sound like God.

 

[Amy B]

Originally posted by ManchotPi
I know not to take you seriously here, but I though I might mention that I don't think its "illegal" to see the letters, you just waive your right to see the letters. In other words, you're allowed to see the letter if the letter writer gives you a copy, but you've waived your write to go to adcom office and demand to see the letters.

As for the original question, s few of my letter writers (for both med school and college) offered to let me read the letters, but I turned them down. I don't feel like reading things written about me.

I disagree. My form said on it......."I waive my rights to see this letter now or ever. I do hereby agree that I have not seen this recommendation."

If you sign a waiver, you are legally saying you have not seen it and if you have you are in fact being dishonest.

 

[Heal&Teach]

I knew a friend in college who got access to one of his letters and the recommender was brutally honest! The whole thing was pretty much a highlight of all of his negative qualities (even went as far as to imply that he was a little slow!) and what the professor thought he could do to improve upon them. Certainly not the appropriate place for doing this. The messed up part about the whole situation is that the professor was a person that he knew and loved, and trusted, and felt completely betrayed after reading the letter. Luckily, he got into most of the grad programs he applied to, despite his apparent misfortune.

Moral of this story: Maybe you're not supposed to read those letters, but at least make sure that the person knows you well enough not to screw you over (which admittedly didn't even happen in this circumstance)...