letter of recommendation!

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pv214

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Hi boys and girls!

about letter of recommendation, what would be considered good letter of recommendation?

From a pharmacist I know or work with? what if I haven't worked with any pharmacist, but know plenty of Dr. and Pharmacists all over, and I've been working in the IT , and my boss knows me really well, but it has nothing to do with pharmacy nor health related, can I still have him write me a letter?

Can I have a friend who is a pharmacist write me a letter, my current boss, and my organic instructor....cuz I got all A's in chemistry, was a very dedicated students in chemistry.....beside the letter from my orgo instructor, letters from pharmacist whom is also a friend of mine and my current boss would be appropriate?..... who would you guy get to write your letter of recommendation?.....please share infor! I know it's still a while but I want to start on that first


pv.
 
I got letters from the following:
Ochem professor
Director of volunteering program
Pharmacist I worked with

I had alot of people tell me to get a LOR from personal, professional and school. Good luck
 
Many schools like to see both professional and academic letters, so having your Orgo prof write you a letter would be perfectly acceptable. Having your boss write you a letter, even from a non-pharm field, would be fine, too, because he or she can attest to your work ethic, dedication, interest in the field, etc.

What you want to do is go to each person you want to write you a letter and say, "Would you be willing and able to provide me with a strong recommendation letter for pharmacy school." Offer to provide your transcripts, your resume, and your personal statement you've written for your apps. If you feel comfortable, see if the writer would be willing to discuss what he or she would write - good and bad - in the letter. Provide any forms the school requires to accompany the letter, and make sure you give the writer PLENTY of time to write! It may help to put post-it's with forms with the name of the school and a due date (make it at least a week before the ACTUAL due date). If the writer will not be writing on school or work stationery, include a SASE for each letter. If he or she will be writing letters to multiple schools at one time, write the school's name in pencil somewhere on the envelope (so you'll be able to tell when it's time to send them off) and stamp anything that they need to mail in directly. Basically, make it as absolutely as easy as possible for them to write the letter!
 
CSzGirl said:
Many schools like to see both professional and academic letters, so having your Orgo prof write you a letter would be perfectly acceptable. Having your boss write you a letter, even from a non-pharm field, would be fine, too, because he or she can attest to your work ethic, dedication, interest in the field, etc.

What you want to do is go to each person you want to write you a letter and say, "Would you be willing and able to provide me with a strong recommendation letter for pharmacy school." Offer to provide your transcripts, your resume, and your personal statement you've written for your apps. If you feel comfortable, see if the writer would be willing to discuss what he or she would write - good and bad - in the letter. Provide any forms the school requires to accompany the letter, and make sure you give the writer PLENTY of time to write! It may help to put post-it's with forms with the name of the school and a due date (make it at least a week before the ACTUAL due date). If the writer will not be writing on school or work stationery, include a SASE for each letter. If he or she will be writing letters to multiple schools at one time, write the school's name in pencil somewhere on the envelope (so you'll be able to tell when it's time to send them off) and stamp anything that they need to mail in directly. Basically, make it as absolutely as easy as possible for them to write the letter!
Very well stated! I got a professor and the senior enlisted advisor at my command to write my LOR's. Just having two respected individuals to put their signatures on something that highly recommends you is the most important aspect of your LOR's. Sure, having one or both of those people being a pharmacist is probably an advantage, but not necessary.
 
Im going through the same process and actually went to the chancellor(important dude) at my school just for kicks to see if he could write me a letter, and he said yes his executive assistant specializes in that and can write a strong letter. So hopefully having the chancellor's name on the LOR will give it more weight.

And yea I was wondering about the secure service some schools provide, particularly for med school LOR's, but the system where you waive your rights to see the letter and you use the schools system as a mediator. Ive read some people just send them out directly w/o this service (w/o waiving rights)? Or do pharm schools not care
 
I received letters from the following:

My advisor/chemistry professor
The 3 pharmacists I work under

Letters of recommendation hold more weight if they are someone you work for NO MATTER what kind of job it is--rather than just a friend who is a professional. They say youth leaders, preachers, counselors etc are okay, but I think they stress letters from your employeers/advisors/teachers.

All of my "letter-writers" provided me with a copy of what they wrote so that was helpful. Don't badger them about this though, let them give you a copy if they choose to. Good luck, I've been through the entire process so PM me if you need anything further 🙂
 
J00kie33 said:
Im going through the same process and actually went to the chancellor(important dude) at my school just for kicks to see if he could write me a letter, and he said yes his executive assistant specializes in that and can write a strong letter. So hopefully having the chancellor's name on the LOR will give it more weight.

And yea I was wondering about the secure service some schools provide, particularly for med school LOR's, but the system where you waive your rights to see the letter and you use the schools system as a mediator. Ive read some people just send them out directly w/o this service (w/o waiving rights)? Or do pharm schools not care

I sent them out directly and did not use my school's letter service mainly because I had some schools that required my LOR on a specific form. My recommenders would just put it in a sealed envelope and sign the seal to prove that I couldnt open it. YOu still sign a waiver that negates all rights to the recommendation as soon as the school receives it. In terms of reading the letter before hand, it's up to the writer to decide that.
 
I think the most effective recommendations are from people that know you really well. If you ask someone (a professor for example), who doesn't know you that well... what can he/she write about you that will make you stand out and be viewed as an unique candidate for the program? In my opinion, for letter of recommendations, it's really a matter of quality, not quantity. I got a recommendation from my organic professor (which I have gotten to know) from a community college since the class was only 30 people incomparision to a science professor at the university where I attend during the regular school year, who can barely remember my face. 🙂 Good luck!
 
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