Letter of Rec Question

[yoyoman123]

Hi all. I just emailed my biochemistry teacher for a rec, and was told that she only writes recommendations based on a student's performance in the class (I received an A) and she does not write about other things such as one's resume and other personality/character traits. Should I try to seek another letter writer?

Edit: She still said she'd still be happy to write a letter of rec for me, and to let her know if I want her to write a letter in that style.

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[Ismet]

Do not get this letter if she is only going to talk about your grade. We can see that in 1 second.

Alternatively, a good letter doesn't need to write about your resume. It's good to provide a resume so that the letter writer can get to know you as a whole package, but if they didn't directly observe you doing those activities, there's really no need to re-tell them.

What you really want in an LOR is comments on your character, work ethic, teamwork, leadership, response to adversity, seeking improvement, etc. based on their interactions with you. Even better if they can provide a specific example or two that really paints a picture of your good qualities.

 

[yoyoman123]

Do not get this letter if she is only going to talk about your grade. We can see that in 1 second.

Alternatively, a good letter doesn't need to write about your resume. It's good to provide a resume so that the letter writer can get to know you as a whole package, but if they didn't directly observe you doing those activities, there's really no need to re-tell them.

What you really want in an LOR is comments on your character, work ethic, teamwork, leadership, response to adversity, seeking improvement, etc. based on their interactions with you. Even better if they can provide a specific example or two that really paints a picture of your good qualities.

so this is what the professor replied with to me when I sent her an email
"yoyoman123, you did well in biochem and i am happy to contribute to your medical school file. i would expect to describe the difficulty of the class and your strong performance. i am not able to expand on your other qualifications. let me know if you want me to write in this vein"

I then replied asking if she could meet with me to get to know me better, and she states that she only write about student's success in the class and things that she had has first hand experience. What should i do??

 

[Ismet]

so this is what the professor replied with to me when I sent her an email
"yoyoman123, you did well in biochem and i am happy to contribute to your medical school file. i would expect to describe the difficulty of the class and your strong performance. i am not able to expand on your other qualifications. let me know if you want me to write in this vein"

I then replied asking if she could meet with me to get to know me better, and she states that she only write about student's success in the class and things that she had has first hand experience. What should i do??

What did she observe you doing in class other than getting an A?

 

[yoyoman123]

What did she observe you doing in class other than getting an A?

nothing really i guess...

 

[ImmunoLove]

No, because this letter is as informative as the grade you got in class, and since they already have your transcript, it adds nothing to your application.

 

[URHere]

This sort of letter would be essentially worthless, and you should ask for a letter from someone who knows you better.

Did you TA for any of your professors? Do you have a research mentor? How about a faculty member who also oversees a club that you are a part of? Basically, ask yourself which faculty members you interact with the most - if any of them have also been professors of yours, you want letters from those people.

 

[Biofilm]

Get another letter writer. "yoyoman123 took a difficult class with me and earned an A".

Average letters don't help. This may actually hurt your application.

 

[candbgirl]

It seems like you really want to get this letter so go ahead and do it. But don't be surprised when it says exactly what the teacher said it would say. And remember the ADCOMS reading it will probably wonder why you wasted one of your letters on this person!

 

[moisne]

so this is what the professor replied with to me when I sent her an email
"yoyoman123, you did well in biochem and i am happy to contribute to your medical school file. i would expect to describe the difficulty of the class and your strong performance. i am not able to expand on your other qualifications. let me know if you want me to write in this vein"

I then replied asking if she could meet with me to get to know me better, and she states that she only write about student's success in the class and things that she had has first hand experience. What should i do??

Ok no- in reality - she's not gonna just say "you got an A"

But she doesn't seem to want to evaluate anything else on you - so I'd say either
1. Find someone else
2.find someone else
3. Pre write the letter for her --- I don't mean write a letter. I mean to write a bullet point of 5 things she could beef ur your letter:

- I am not shy when I see the need to seek for help (if you went to office hours)
- I lead my biochem lab group for leadership
- I was professional with all my interactions between peers and professors

Etc...

If she likes you - she will include it. If she really likes you, she might even let you have a copy of the letter.

Source:

1. I write letters of Recs - and I always ask my students to pre write me ideas, and I always send them a copy
2. I usually use copies of letters that I receive from profs, and then I EDIT them and ask them to revise it.

- there are exceptions where I know they will just use my pre writes and I don't edit them.