LOR question

[HappyPerson]

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Hello!

I have quite a few letter of recommendations from professors and MD's and DO doctors. I have around 8 total, I was really good at networking with my professors and the doctors I worked under for a few years. My question is, what is a polite way to ask a former professor if the letter they wrote for me is a "GOOD" and not something that simply states I was a student in their class and got this and that grade. I picked professors that knew me pretty well, but I also know that they sometimes get lazy and don't write a good letter. Is it fine to send an email such as:

Hello Professor X,

Thank you very much for your decision to support me in my journey to medicine. The letter you wrote is a critical part of my application, and I am truly thankful to have gotten one from you. I am applying to medical schools in the next few weeks, and just wanted to triple check every part of my application. I wanted to ask if the letter that you wrote for me is a GOOD letter of recommendation. I'm sorry for such a question, however with how competitive medical schools are I really want to make sure every part of my application is stellar and beyond.

I truly do appreciate your time in reading this email, and look forward to hearing back from you!

 

[chilly_md]

If you did them through Interfolio, you can see the page total. I would assume if there are letters that are 2 or more pages long, those should be pretty strong. That may help you cut down on the total you plan to use. Asking them with the e-mail you constructed might come across as offensive. And they likely all think they wrote a good letter. It would have been better to ask at the beginning if they could write a strong letter.

If the Interfolio trick does not work, you could potentially e-mail them the AMCAS letter writer guidelines and politely ask if they were able to incorporate that into their letter when they first wrote it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It's not a formal rule, but in general, professors and references should be very frank about writing you a "strong" letter when you ask them at first.

 

[gyngyn]

Hello!

I have quite a few letter of recommendations from professors and MD's and DO doctors. I have around 8 total, I was really good at networking with my professors and the doctors I worked under for a few years. My question is, what is a polite way to ask a former professor if the letter they wrote for me is a "GOOD" and not something that simply states I was a student in their class and got this and that grade. I picked professors that knew me pretty well, but I also know that they sometimes get lazy and don't write a good letter. Is it fine to send an email such as:

Hello Professor X,

Thank you very much for your decision to support me in my journey to medicine. The letter you wrote is a critical part of my application, and I am truly thankful to have gotten one from you. I am applying to medical schools in the next few weeks, and just wanted to triple check every part of my application. I wanted to ask if the letter that you wrote for me is a GOOD letter of recommendation. I'm sorry for such a question, however with how competitive medical schools are I really want to make sure every part of my application is stellar and beyond.

I truly do appreciate your time in reading this email, and look forward to hearing back from you!

The time to assess the likelihood of a strong letter is at the very outset, not after the letter is written.