LoR and CV, what to expect?

[peerie]

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I have given CVs to three of my letter writers, and personal statements to two. One person, I just sat down with them and had a chat and that was great!

One of my writers said she wanted to show me what she wrote - just to give me an idea, rough draft form - and I was surprised to see how much of my CV she had put in the letter. This is someone I have actually known for almost five years, and while she said great things about me, there was alot that was from my CV. I guess I was wondering how much one can reasonably expect to see put in the letter. I thought maybe this person would say 'peerie is a great clinician and will make an excellent physician in xyz field , and by the way also taught water management in Zimbabwe in the Peace Corps.' (Not really!)

Is this a normal thing to see that your CV is sort of re-hashed in your letter? The irony is that this person does actually know me really well! Wasn't sure what to expect, and this whole application thing is sort of a learn as you go thing. 😳

 

[Ludicolo]

There seems to be no end to the variety of LORs. I am fairly certain that most attendings aren’t formally instructed in LOR writing. Yes, I’ve seen the CV redux. I’ve seen a 3-page LOR. I’ve seen a 4-sentence LOR (Mr. X rotated with me for one month. He was courteous and professional and completed all assignments satisfactorily. He was a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend him to your program. Please call with any questions.)

While I have never seen a horrible LOR - one stating that under no circumstance should you rank this person - I have seen many mediocre letters (see above) which don’t necessarily hurt you (depends on the rest of your application), but certainly do not help you in any way. It is hard in these some of these cases to tell if the mediocrity stems from the applicant, or the letter writer.

When reading a LOR, I look for what I call “anecdotes of excellence”. Details suggesting how well this candidate will perform in our residency: any particular clinical or research interest, examples of strong character and professionalism, specifics about how well he/she works within the medical team.

In your case - other than the CV rehashing I don’t know what she included in the LOR. It sounds like it could have been a stronger letter if it was more personal. As long as the tone of the letter was strongly positive, I guess I wouldn’t worry about it too much. But this also depends somewhat on what specialty you’re pursuing. In smaller fields, LORs probably carry more weight. Helps if I actually know the letter writer (more likely in a smaller specialty), then I have a better sense of how much the recommender likes one candidate relative to others.

 

[Dr McSteamy]

i would say cv rehashes are pretty common.

redundant and horrible.

no one knows me more than myself. So I write my own draft, and have the "writer" finalize.

I wrote 2 of my LOR's this match season. Frankly, i prefer it this way. it's win-win.

 

[Samoa]

Even better is when you wonder whose CV they were rehashing, because it clearly wasn't yours!

I've also had a letter writer include the last half of a letter written for someone else. And it wasn't a positive recommendation of that person.

Yikes!

 

[peerie]

Thanks for the replies, I was sort of wondering what others thought. This person really knows me very well, and so that is why I wondered why they used my CV instead of just saying, "I know Peerie very well and ..."

This person has also worked with students for years and has written a g'jillion letters for people.

 

[Medstudentquest]

I have given CVs to three of my letter writers, and personal statements to two. One person, I just sat down with them and had a chat and that was great!

One of my writers said she wanted to show me what she wrote - just to give me an idea, rough draft form - and I was surprised to see how much of my CV she had put in the letter. This is someone I have actually known for almost five years, and while she said great things about me, there was alot that was from my CV. I guess I was wondering how much one can reasonably expect to see put in the letter. I thought maybe this person would say 'peerie is a great clinician and will make an excellent physician in xyz field , and by the way also taught water management in Zimbabwe in the Peace Corps.' (Not really!)

Is this a normal thing to see that your CV is sort of re-hashed in your letter? The irony is that this person does actually know me really well! Wasn't sure what to expect, and this whole application thing is sort of a learn as you go thing. 😳

Just curious since you said you asked your writers to write you "strong letters," I didn't because I figured that those who didn't want to write me letters would not. Is it a problem if I didn't ask for "strong letters" though? Now I am getting nervous.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Just curious since you said you asked your writers to write you "strong letters," I didn't because I figured that those who didn't want to write me letters would not. Is it a problem if I didn't ask for "strong letters" though? Now I am getting nervous.

You are worried about nothing. If your letter writers were uncomfortable writing you a letter, they would have said so.