LOR value

[Gnugs2130]

How does everyone determine that they have "great LORs?" Do people not normally waive their right to see them? Has anyone been denied admittance based on LORs, and if so how did you go about identifying what the problem was and correcting it? I would assume that my LORs are fine but I am not sure how everyone knows what their prof/evaluators are saying about their candidacy.

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[RxnMan]

Some letter writers will send copies to the schools and give a copy to the applicant. Some letter writers will show the letter and "OK-it" with the applicant. So a few applicants know exactly what their letters say before they are sent. Some people will regard a letter from the head of their department as a "great LOR," because it is someone they hold in high esteem or it is from someone they think will get them name recognition. And others still will say whatever makes them look good to the company they want to keep.

All of these are widely different things, yet applicants will still refer to them as "great LORs." So the first rule is to ignore what others say, and focus on making your application as good as it can be.

 

[limpkitty]

Another way that some people know is that an interviewer might mention it to them. This has happened to me at two of my interviews, at each the interviewer told me that a particular letter was very strong or that the writer held me in high regard. Each one mentioned a different letter, so I can honestly say that two of my lors are "great".