LOR revision . . .

[Arctic Char]

I received a letter of recommendation yesterday from a prof that i taught with this past year. the letter was flattering and and i'm grateful, but it was also quite short, almost overly concise (e.g. "he did excellent research" . . . as opposed to "he conducted research on the issue of X, Y, Z, and found that blah blah", etc), and parts were vague. obviously i plan on sending a note of sincere thanks, but is it taboo to ask for him to expand on particular aspects of the letter? is it poor form to ask him to do more work on it? how can i best go about doing this? he's a very nice, sweet man, but i'm not sure how he would take my 'rejection' of the letter . . .

its an uncomfortable position. any suggestions?

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[yaah]

Let it go. Many LOR are short and concise. This is part of the reason why people don't usually read their own LORs. I suppose if you are really concerned you can get an additional letter from someone else, but I wouldn't throw this one away. Sounds like it was a nice letter, after all.

Most LOR are well under one page, FYI.

 

[Arctic Char]

Let it go. Many LOR are short and concise. This is part of the reason why people don't usually read their own LORs. I suppose if you are really concerned you can get an additional letter from someone else, but I wouldn't throw this one away. Sounds like it was a nice letter, after all.

Most LOR are well under one page, FYI.

you don't say? well, good to know. thanks yaah . . .

 

[yaah]

Maybe people disagree with me, I dunno. I caught a glimpse of one of my letters during my interview, it was about 1/3 of the page. I don't know what it said but presumably it was similar to what you described above. It was from a well respected guy. It was also probably the letter about which I got the most comments from my interviewers (i.e., you got a nice letter from so and so).

Thus, personally I would not read much into it, and it is not worth making a fuss about.

 

[djmd]

Maybe people disagree with me, I dunno. I caught a glimpse of one of my letters during my interview, it was about 1/3 of the page. I don't know what it said but presumably it was similar to what you described above. It was from a well respected guy. It was also probably the letter about which I got the most comments from my interviewers (i.e., you got a nice letter from so and so).

Thus, personally I would not read much into it, and it is not worth making a fuss about.

I agree with yaah... short letters are nothing to fret about.. especially if it is positive...

I thought this thread was going to be about LOTR
Lord of the Rings....

 

[SLUsagar]

I received a letter of recommendation yesterday from a prof that i taught with this past year. the letter was flattering and and i'm grateful, but it was also quite short, almost overly concise (e.g. "he did excellent research" . . . as opposed to "he conducted research on the issue of X, Y, Z, and found that blah blah", etc), and parts were vague. obviously i plan on sending a note of sincere thanks, but is it taboo to ask for him to expand on particular aspects of the letter? is it poor form to ask him to do more work on it? how can i best go about doing this? he's a very nice, sweet man, but i'm not sure how he would take my 'rejection' of the letter . . .

its an uncomfortable position. any suggestions?

to me it depends on the "status" (if you will) of the person writing it...if he/she's pretty well known, I'd let it go as suggested by others. But if he/she's not nec. a bigshot/bigwig and you need solid letters, I don't think there's any shame in asking for a bit of detail in a particular area.

Of my LORs, one was from a very well known pathologist.....I'm not sure what exactly was transcribed, but I'd have been seriously content if he had just written: re: ____ (my name), put a big smiley face, and signed his name at the bottom.

 

[TypicalTuesday]

A bit off subject, but how well should you know someone before asking for a LOR? I'm having a trouble getting time with either of the two main surg pathologists at my school. I need to at least get one of them to write me a letter, but they were both extremely busy when I did my 2 week surg path rotation, so now I'm kind of stuck.

Should I just go ahead and ask for a letter anyway, or should I wait and try to spend some more time once 3rd year is over and I have more opportunities to slip over to the microscope for a couple of extra hours per week?

 

[Arctic Char]

A bit off subject, but how well should you know someone before asking for a LOR? I'm having a trouble getting time with either of the two main surg pathologists at my school. I need to at least get one of them to write me a letter, but they were both extremely busy when I did my 2 week surg path rotation, so now I'm kind of stuck.

Should I just go ahead and ask for a letter anyway, or should I wait and try to spend some more time once 3rd year is over and I have more opportunities to slip over to the microscope for a couple of extra hours per week?

seems to me that you should ask once you have had an opportunity to establish as much of a relationship as you can. if you see that you have more time with them coming in the future (after 3rd year, as you mention), i would prepare ahead, let them know your interests and goals, and then ask them once the end is in sight.

 

[gbwillner]

How short is it? I agree that all LORs are generally less than a page... but you don't want it to be too short and vague. That's what you typically get when the person doesn't know you very well or you ask 3 months after the rotation instead of during, after you brought them coffee while running throught the sleet. But I agree that if the person is the chairman of the dept. it may still look pretty good.

I'm torn here- the writer let you proofread the letter, so obviously asking for more detail is probably warranted. However, I've never done this- if it's not to your liking it almost seems as though you should ask someone else who will write you a better one. Of course, you could always ask, and if he frowns, just throw the letter away once you get it!

 

[Arctic Char]

How short is it? I agree that all LORs are generally less than a page... but you don't want it to be too short and vague. That's what you typically get when the person doesn't know you very well or you ask 3 months after the rotation instead of during, after you brought them coffee while running throught the sleet. But I agree that if the person is the chairman of the dept. it may still look pretty good.

I'm torn here- the writer let you proofread the letter, so obviously asking for more detail is probably warranted. However, I've never done this- if it's not to your liking it almost seems as though you should ask someone else who will write you a better one. Of course, you could always ask, and if he frowns, just throw the letter away once you get it!

from whats been said here i think i'm OK. the letter has 4 paragraphs, and is quite flattering; i think i can take a chill pill . . .

 

[Cloaca]

Yes, a chill pill is probably in order. It sounds like you got a great letter - I have seen all of mine as well as several of the candidates' for the program and most were very short, to the point, and positive. That's all you need. I haven't seen any that go into a tremendous amount of detail regarding specific activities or research.

 

[mlw03]

i've heard that many LORs aren't read in great detail anyway because 99% of them say the same thing: candidate X is solid and i think they'll succeed in a pathology residency.