LOR Questions

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I've decided to go ahead and apply to UAMS for next year, just to give it a shot (won't have BS until may 09). I have a pharmacist and my organic chem professor who will both right me strong reocommendations. I need a third...choices are my mammalogy professor, who said he would write what he could but he didn't knwo me that well, and he went on to say he wouldn't make anything up, or my world lit professor, and although that's not a science course I'm doing very well in her class. Which would look better, one from the mammalogy professor or from the world lit professor?
 
how well does the world lit professor know you?
you could be getting A's in both classes yet the world lit professor could just as equally write a bland letter
 
Hey, guys,
I have a question on LORs that I'm hoping some of you can help me answer.
I started working as a pharm tech last month in a chain pharmacy, and, quite frankly, I kind of hate it. I've realized retail is not at all for me, and after doing some shadowing/volunteering at a hospital pharmacy, I think I want to quit at the end of this semester and find a job as a hospital pharm tech. The thing is, I was going to ask my pharmacy manager for a LOR after she gets to know me better/sees that I'm a hard worker/etc. but I don't think it would be right for me to ask her now that I might be quitting. However, I've known this one pharmacist from my hometown who's known me for several years and could write me a pretty good letter, but I've never worked for her.
So, my question is, should I go with my pharmacy manager now, or the other pharmacist back home?
 
What's the 'Waive right to review' box on the LOR forms all about it? Does it make your letter seem less credible if you retain your right to review it?
 
it means you waive your rights to read the letter. the letter is confidential.

if you retain your rights, then the letter seems less credible.
 
Really,no takers? lol🙂
 
i've marked this waiver but the people who wrote my letters showed me anyway, i even got to actively make suggestions on one.
 
rXcmoney said:
What's the 'Waive right to review' box on the LOR forms all about it? Does it make your letter seem less credible if you retain your right to review it?
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I have always been advised by friends and professional school advisers to waive this right. If you have a good relationship with your recommender (and you should!), then you should have peace of mind that they'll write something decent about you.
 
From what I could tell about the schools I applied to, if you retained the right to see them, you could only view them if you were accepted. So, I waived because I decided that if I got in, I didn't care what the letter said, and if I didn't, I couldn't see it anyway. I also think it lets the writer be more honest if they know you're not going to be reading it, although many will offer to let you see it before they send it in.
 
well my take on checking the box is: if you feel confident that your references will give you excellent LORs, you shouldnt be worried that the letters were nothing but great. yeah, my boss gave me his LOR on me. i was like okay. lol.
 
nehe87 said:
Really,no takers? lol🙂
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Hi! Well if I were you, i would assess the situation like this: If your current pharmacy manager knows you adequately, and you are like 90% confident that she will write u a good letter, ask her even though u are quitting. If she asks why u are quitting, let her know that you enjoy hospital pharmacy better because it provides you with more pharmacist exposure. In retail pharmacy, it is often difficult to observe what a pharmacist does because it is so high paced. Let you manager know that you want to be a pharmacist and that you feel that hospital pharmacy provides you with more exposure. I don't think that she/he will be mad because she/he was in your position at one point in time. I don't think that it would be inapporpriate to still ask him/her for an LOR if U FEEL THAT SHE KNOWS YOU ADEQUATELY!

If you don't feel like she has a true perception of your personality, I would ask the family friend.

Just remember that this LOR, pretty much makes or breaks your application. A good LOR from a Pharmacist tells schools that you have what it takes to succeed in the pharmacy profession.

GOod LUck! Hope you found this helpful!
 
Thank so much; that helps a ton!
 
Hi,

I just want your opinion about asking a LOR from my pharmacists. I'm currently working at CVS pharmacy where theres 2 regular pharmacists.

One is older with 15+ years working as a pharmacist - who's nice but i'm not too friendly with her. Its more like a boss / employee relationship.

The other pharmacist is fresh out of school with nearly 6months experience, I get along with her really well and we are more friendly towards each other since we're closer in age.

Who do you think would be better to ask for a LOR?

Thanks for your help!
 
I had a similar situation when I was looking for LORs. I just asked both of them to write one for me.
 
I doubt that pharmacist puts down their age in the LOR nor does the school look up the pharmacist. I guess the pharmacist may implicitly indicate age through the introduction (e.g. "I've been working in the field for 15 years and I can tell that <your name here> is a fine candidate for pharmacy school"). If I had to pick one, I'd pick the one who can best articulate your strengths as an applicant to pharmacy school. That may be the older pharmacist, but you have to evaluate that person's communication skills. A crap letter from an older pharmacist isn't countered with experience in my opinion.
 
I think I will go with the younger pharmacist, thanks for your help!
 
sdn1977 said:
So much depends on how often you're with this person & how much you interact.

First, you mentioned shadowing....which to me implies just watching. I couldn't really write you a letter if you just watched what I did - even if you spent years just watching.

Then, you mentioned volunteering...which to me is a totally different thing. That is more in the realm of "work" - I ask you to do something, you may or may not know how, I show you, you do it, then in my mind, I think - good - he/she did a good job or aaargh - I'll never ask that of him/her again or perhaps I need to reteach him/her.

Now....if you're actually doing tasks and if you are coming often enough - say at least once a week, then I'll get an insight into how you handle work which is given to you. I'll get an idea of how willing you are to do unfamiliar things, how pleasant you are, how well you take direction, how reliable you are.

The issue here is - if you volunteer for years, but only come once a month...you never learn anything well enough so I know I can rely on you to do it (or....I may have forgotten I even taught you how to do it - I'm old🙁 !) However, if you come weekly or more than once weekly, for just a few months....I'll get some idea of your personality, your work ethic, how distractable you are, how realiable you are, how interested you are.

Does that help you know what you'll need to give the pharmacist so you can get a good LOR???

Good luck!
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What if the place that you are volunteering does not have a pharmacist? I volunteer regularly (at least once a week) at a medical clinic with a head nurse and a clinic director. It is obvious they are happy with my work and I enjoy doing it.

The clinic director is writing an LOR for one of the schools that I'm applying for, but I don't know how to get a recommendation from a PHARMACIST. And two of the schools I would like to apply to require a PHARMACIST LOR.

I feel like I'm running out of time and options.:scared:
 
Hey guys, I tried searching but found nothing about this. I'm applying to UF which has an app deadline of Feb 1. I already submitted my pharmcas but am waiting for my second LOR. Does it have to be in by Feb 1?
 
UFpharmhopeful said:
Hey guys, I tried searching but found nothing about this. I'm applying to UF which has an app deadline of Feb 1. I already submitted my pharmcas but am waiting for my second LOR. Does it have to be in by Feb 1?
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Yes, they do. Also, its more important to have all documents in by the dates assigned by the specific school. So, I would start bugging your recommenders.
 
A few months ago, I asked my professor to write my letter of rec to schools requiring the PCAT. I had intended to take the Jan '08 PCAT but decided I didn't need it afterall.
I'm still in possession of these 3 sealed LORs. I want to maintain the integrity of the LORs and would like to return it back to him, but I don't know how he will feel. He might get upset for wasting his time (worse case scenario). But I don't feel right holding onto them either. What do you guys suggest I do with these LORs?

Thanks!
 
Open them and put them on your fridge so everyone knows how great you are. Definitely don't return them, though.
 
choylifut said:
A few months ago, I asked my professor to write my letter of rec to schools requiring the PCAT. I had intended to take the Jan '08 PCAT but decided I didn't need it afterall. I've been accepted to 1 school and interviewing to a few others in the near future.

I'm still in possession of these 3 sealed LORs. I want to maintain the integrity of the LORs and would like to return it back to him, but I don't know how he will feel. He might get upset for wasting his time (worse case scenario). But I don't feel right holding onto them either. What do you guys suggest I do with these LORs?

Thanks!
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It it makes you feel uncomfortable, you can always just destroy it. I don't really think your prof would want it back, what is he going to do with it?
 
I admire your integrity 👍:bow:! I also don't think your professor would want the LORs back, so I suppose they should go into the shredder and/or recycle bin.

Ok now I will try to get some sleep =P
 
You definitely should NOT return them. Why don't you feel right holding on to them? You can still send them to the schools that you're gonna be interviewing at. I mean, a little extra boost won't hurt you.
 
choylifut said:
A few months ago, I asked my professor to write my letter of rec to schools requiring the PCAT. I had intended to take the Jan '08 PCAT but decided I didn't need it afterall.
I'm still in possession of these 3 sealed LORs. I want to maintain the integrity of the LORs and would like to return it back to him, but I don't know how he will feel. He might get upset for wasting his time (worse case scenario). But I don't feel right holding onto them either. What do you guys suggest I do with these LORs?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Definitely NOT return it back
 
Ok, I could not quite find the answer to this, so from my understanding eLOR's from pharmcas are just an email with a questionaire sent to the reference correct? They do not actually write a paragraphed letter?

So what about schools that do not use eLOR and actually require the paragraphed letter? Would you simply ask the reference to write a separate letter to give to you in addition to the email?

Basically, just seeing how things work when applying to both pharmcas and non schools.

Thanks
 
You are correct, PharmCAS is only a questionnaire but I think they can add a letter if they choose. The only non-PharmCAS school I applied to had a similar questionnaire. You should look at how the school wants a letter sent because I suspect a lot would still use some sort of electronic submission.
 
Is it okay to get letters of recommendation from your lab professor? I ask because I think it looks better if you get a recommendation from a chemistry teacher than a biology teacher, correct me if I'm wrong. I could get a recommendation from my Biology I teacher and also my Biology I lab teacher. My lab teacher for Chemistry I also offered to write me a recommendation also. I don't know which one's to chose....any suggestions 🙂
 
tootoo30 said:
Is it okay to get letters of recommendation from your lab professor? I ask because I think it looks better if you get a recommendation from a chemistry teacher than a biology teacher, correct me if I'm wrong. I could get a recommendation from my Biology I teacher and also my Biology I lab teacher. My lab teacher for Chemistry I also offered to write me a recommendation also. I don't know which one's to chose....any suggestions 🙂
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If your lab instructor is a PhD holding professor, then I see no reason why you can not ask him/her for a LOR. It he/she is a grad student - then I would not.
You can pick Chem teacher in order to have letters from people from two different departments (chem vs. bio) - that way you'll have variety!!!!
That is my opinion.
 
I would choose the ones who know you best because they will have more good and concrete things to say about you rather than someone who gave you a good grade but rarely interacted with you before.

Some schools have specific requirements of who the LOR's can/cannot be from. http://www.pharmcas.org/docs/ReqTypebySchool.pdf lists the schools and what those requirements are. I do not think there is a difference if the letter comes from a bio or chem professor, just as long as they are professors and not lecture/lab teaching assistants.

One of my LOR's was from a lab teacher (not PhD. but not TA either). I made sure we kept in contact for a year after the class ended before I asked for the letter.
 
Hi I plan to ask my Chem. Professor for a LOR's at the end of the quarter since he knows me well and I have done well in his classes.

So, I was wondering, should I just ask him and let him run with it? Which seems inconvenient and a lot of work for him.

Or is there a guideline that pharmacy schools have or look for in LOR's, like information about the student that should be mentioned...etc?

If you have had this experience, could you please share? Thank you.
 
Sometimes. Some schools have specific LOR forms that the recommender must fill out, and they have key characteristics that must be addressed about you. I would check the school(s) website that you are interested in and read the applicant section to see what they require of LORS.
 
since the semester is winding up i think its time to start looking for letters...

anyways pharmcas doesnt open untill june so how do i approach a teacher with writing a letter? do i give them a link to pharmcas and ask them to write a letter when pharmcas opens?

letters are sent electronically correct to pharmcas then they send it to all the schools you apply to right?
 
For now, I suggest you ask them if they would mind writing you a letter and then tell them you have to wait for the applications to open. For PharmCAS, you put the professors e-mail address in the application and PharmCAS sends them the form they need to submit. Everything is done electronically, but you can do hard copies if you choose. PharmCAS sends the letters to every school you apply to.
 
There's different types of professors that you can ask:
You can ask the professors, for classes you've done very well in...but you had to have talked to them before. A teacher that doesn't know you at all, are not good for recommendations.
You can ask a professor that just knows you really well, or you did research with them,etc....these are the BEST ones!
You can ask a professor for a class that you didn't do so well in, in the beginning but over time your grade improved a lot....this allows the professor to write your hardwork and improvement.

What do you do when you want to ask a professor for a recommendation?
I would work up to it - Which means I'd come to their office to talk to them every once in a while. If you have a class with them, you could set up an appointment to ask a few questions about the course, and then afterwards just sit and talk for awhile. Professors LOVE talking about themselves, so ask about them, how did they get to their job, what advice they have for you, etc!

When you ask them for a recommendation, I would suggest you ask them if they would write you a GOOD recommendation. Some professors are honest with you and tell you that they don't know you well enough to write one; others may write a bad one and not tell you 🙁

Next, make sure you tell them all that is required. How many letters (same or different) would they have to fill out (this depends on how many schools you want to apply to, and how many of them are non-pharmcas related), if there are extra forms attached to the letter they have to write, and when do you need them by. More importantly, is the question - where can YOU reach them (especially if they are going to write it over the summer) and where they can reach you (over the summer).

Be prompt! That means if you say that tomorrow you will drop by to bring the application, make sure you do that!

Be considerate! That means that if they have to mail a letter, provide them the envelope with the stamp on it already. When you remind them about the recommendation, be nice to them; they are taking time out to help write it for you (even though sometimes they DO wait until the last minute). If you accidentally irritate them, your recommendation may turn out bad.

Last suggestion: Give them a copy of your resume, or a list of your activities, etc. This really helps them if they get stuck while writing your letter. I even gave them a copy of my personal statement so they could understand why I really wanted to go to pharmacy school.
 
I am wondering if I should ask a pharmacist that I have only known for almost a month for a LOR.
 
simply ask if you can "count on them for a strong letter of recommendation"
 
what about writing your own?
 
Writing your own LOR? That's a joke right? If not well the answer is a big "no!".
 
pharmgrl5 said:
Writing your own LOR? That's a joke right? If not well the answer is a big "no!".
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Nope. Not a joke. Because people are so busy these days, if they don't have the time to write a letter of recommendation, and they want you to have one, they will ask you to write it yourself and they'll look over it and approve of it. It actually isn't that uncommon.
 
phuang06 said:
Nope. Not a joke. Because people are so busy these days, if they don't have the time to write a letter of recommendation, and they want you to have one, they will ask you to write it yourself and they'll look over it and approve of it. It actually isn't that uncommon.
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somebody I asked for a LOR said that..."just write it and i'll sign it"..so I asked somebody else instead
 
phuang06 said:
Nope. Not a joke. Because people are so busy these days, if they don't have the time to write a letter of recommendation, and they want you to have one, they will ask you to write it yourself and they'll look over it and approve of it. It actually isn't that uncommon.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's interesting. Not heard that before but then I'm not at the stage of asking for LOR's yet. I don't know how I'd feel about writing my own though. 🙄
 
Hi everyone, i was browsing on PharmCAS and it shows that to submit your LO evaluation, you will email the link to the person writing the Letter of evaluation and they will evaluate you. But then on some of the pharm school's website (even though they go through PharmCAS) they said they will need 2 LOR's one from pharmacist, one from a science teacher. Does that mean that your evaluator will have to write you a LOR and they also have to fill in the letter of evaluation from PharmCAS as well?

I'm confuse about the LOR and letter of evaluation because the letter of evaluation is just some questions that evaluators rate you, can anyone who understand care to elaborate?
 
It most likely means the school wants the PharmCAS evaluations to be from a pharmacist and a science teacher, and not that you have to submit extra evaluations. If you aren't sure though, it is best to contact the school rather than leaving it up to fate.
 
Will my LOR not send to the people I have added until I e-submit my PharmCAS, or does it do it as soon as I add them?
 
bkiskadd said:
Will my LOR not send to the people I have added until I e-submit my PharmCAS, or does it do it as soon as I add them?
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This is correct! PharmCAS will not send anything until you have e-submitted your application.

Answer to ur other questions...
I think PharmCAS ask if the recommendator would like to attach a letter of rec. but i'm not too sure on this. And you should definitely contact the schools to see what they would like for the letter of rec. I would definitely narrow down all the schools and obtain all the required info. before contacting your recommendators to fill stuff out (but remember, you must ask them ahead of time for the letter). That way, you can have them do it all at once.
 
AutumnCloud said:
This is correct! PharmCAS will not send anything until you have e-submitted your application.
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Actually I think what is being asked is if PharmCAS will send the questionnairre/LOR e-mail to the recommenders. As soon as you put their e-mails into PharmCAS, the system sends them an e-mail and they can submit their LOR whenever they want. However, the LOR won't be sent to the schools until you submit your application.
 
The questionnaire probably blows in descriptiveness (based on the impression I got from my LOR writers), so its better to bolster it with a true letter given that schools like letters that describe an applicant better than numbers and short statements on a sheet.

Better safe than sorry is my policy as the worst-case scenario is that they throw the LOR out, which doesn't harm your application. I had my LOR writers write a letter so that it could apply to both PharmCAS and non-PharmCAS schools.
 
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