Letters of Recommendation

[ptisfun2]

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Hi -

For those of you applying in 2015-6, I thought I would just share some information. I am a faculty member for a PT Program. I have read a lot of comments on here, and almost all state something like, 'I have excellent LORs.' It is quite possibly true. However, I think some applicants may just not know.

We do interview, and we score interviews with a large percent for ultimate acceptance. The interviewer evaluates the interview and letters of recommendation at our institution to make a recommendation for acceptances.

When asking people to write letters, please make sure each person can address all of your strengths and write a letter that shows they know you.

A couple of examples from this cycle:
1. I interviewed someone with high stats...like overall 3.9 and 155-160 GREs. The interview was average...nothing good, nothing bad. 2 of the 3 LORs stated the references recommend, but with reservations; both of these people stated they knew the applicant 'well' for at least a year. The other letter was highly recommend, but know the applicant 'moderately' for 2 months. All letters (the additional part from the check boxes) were all less than 5 sentences. I am guessing this applicant, if asked, would state, 'I have good LORs.' I could not recommend this person highly for acceptance based on my interview (average), and well below LORs.
2. I interviewed someone with above average generally, but average stats for a PT applicant (3.4 GPA and low 150's GRE). This person was probably fairly low on the list before interviews as below our average accepts. The interview was very good, and I was between 2 scores (highest and 2nd highest). The LORs were quite frankly the best I have ever read. Each of the 3 (PT, professor, and boss) knew this person well and really spoke about the person's potential for PT and how they will help move the profession forward (the PT wrote that). That pushed me to score them in the highest category since these people truly evaluated more than I could in a short interview. This person will be joining us in the Class of 2018.

I know you all do not read your LORs, but it is worth it to have an honest conversation with potential writers. Come up with a list of more than 3 people (and pay attention to required letters for each school you apply to), and then meet with them. Tell them what you need, and ask them to frankly tell you if they can evaluate you favorably for all of your strengths. It may require you to swallow some humble pie if the potential reviewer says no, but rather they say no then write a letter that will not help you (and may hurt you).

Ask the schools you are applying to how much these are weighted. We will tell any applicant who asks exactly how we weight interviews/LOR, GPA, and GRE. Prepare for applying to avoid surprises as you move through the process. Schools are getting so many applicants now that you all become a number after a while as applicants are reviewed and processed. Do something to make yourself stand out!

 

[ptlover]

This was a fantastic post! Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[tweaze]

Thank you for this post! One of my regrets this application cycle was not being more selective in my letter writers.

 

[DesertPT]

This is great advice to be taken into consideration for people who aren't applying for a couple of years too. It can be difficult to form long-enough term relationships with potential letters writers, and I know I didn't start early enough. It's tough to get a good professor LOR if you go to a huge university too, but you do the best you can.

Ask the schools you are applying to how much these are weighted. We will tell any applicant who asks exactly how we weight interviews/LOR, GPA, and GRE. Prepare for applying to avoid surprises as you move through the process.

This is great advice too that I think is underutilized by most applicants. I have definitely learned over time that schools vary incredibly widely in what they are looking for in the students they admit.

For me LORs was one of the most painful and awkward parts of the application process to deal with, and I think that is true for many applicants. I hope people who still have some time before they apply can take this strategy you have presented into consideration when approaching this step of the process. Thanks for your excellent post.

 

[starrsgirl]

100% agree. I was a "weaker" applicant going into the mix based on my GPA. Letters of recommendation are largely IN your control because you get to pick the people! I chose my writers carefully. As a non traditional student, I felt like some of my stronger recommendations came from former bosses and I chose them over pre req community college professors (this is different for everyone, in my case, I didn't have very personal relationships with my community college instructors who I had for just 1 class. Be creative here too. My school required a professor/instructor recommendation. I chose a professor of a course that was part of my job training....not a traditional college professor). Make sure your writers understand exactly what is required of them. I sent my recommenders a personal statement highlighting our relationship and some specific things I had accomplished with them/while working for them/while in class/while volunteering for them. My personal statement also included reasons I wanted to be a PT and how I felt I had demonstrated those traits while working with them (**this was different for each writer). Don't expect your writers to know everything about you....the more material you give them, the better they can capture you in a letter. I also gave my writers some ideas to use if they needed them. (Again, consider that I knew my writers well and we had developed an open professional, relationships). I felt like the letters of recommendations could be used to help flush out potential weaknesses in my application.

For example, one piece of feedback I had received in my first round of applying was that I took my pre reqs one at a time and the program was unsure of my ability to handle the rigors of PT school. I suggested to one of my writers that he could talk about my ability to handle an extremely high work load, in a very high pressure job while also going to school in the evenings. He took that idea and ran with it and definitely captured that he felt I could handle pressure and stress and long hours.