Need help with letter of rec

[AvgApplcnt]

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I asked for a letter and the prof told me to write it myself. I've no idea how/where to begin. Can somebody PM me with a letter they have written or seen. Even the first paragraph would be nice just so I know how to proceed.

Thanks in advance,

AvgApplcnt

 

[jlee9531]

hmm is this a common practice?

is he gonna make it seem like he did himself and did not let you see what he wrote? because you do have to fill out waiver forms dealing with that stuff...

 

[JonnieQuest]

Originally posted by AvgApplcnt
I asked for a letter and the prof told me to write it myself. I've no idea how/where to begin. Can somebody PM me with a letter they have written or seen. Even the first paragraph would be nice just so I know how to proceed.

Thanks in advance,

AvgApplcnt

AvgApplcnt--this can spell into lots of trouble for you...I would ask a prof to write it for you because you need to do a waiver form and write it (and sound like a real professor). and if there is any doubt about the authenticity of the letter...

Wow, my profs didn't even let me see the letters they had written. At least, I had one less hassle of having to write them!

Good luck.

 

[chapinsita]

Do you have other profs whom you could ask? If the adcoms see as much as a hint of your writing style in the letter, you could really be in big trouble. Usually when a professor asks you to write your own letter, he is not really interested in you or your application. I'm not saying this is the case with you, but you might want to ask another professor who is a little more enthousiastic about you as an applicant, enough to dedicate some time to writing you a strong letter. Someone like that can list positive qualities that you may not realize and focus on other aspects that you may not have already incorporated in your apps.

If you don't have any other prof to ask, you should ask someone else who's close to you to write the letter. Atleast this way the writing style would be different. I don't know...I just think you should ask another prof.

Good luck!

 

[Sonya]

Hi,

This is not that uncommon. Neuonix was able to help me write mines. But then the prof changed his mind, and decided to write it himself. Be SURE to give the professor a LOT of information (your PS, AMCAS application, resume, transcripts), as well as what to write in a letter (if the professor is going to write it). I think my professor c hanged his mind once he saw all the background info i gave him.

It u sually start like.

I have known Jack Jones students for two years, including three quarters of Organic chemistry. Jack was a fabulous student, usually scoring in the top 5 percentile. Over the past 17 years of my teaching chemistry I have seen many premedical students, and Jack is clearly among the best.....

basically, how well he knew you, a brief qualification of himself as a writer, and how you did the class.

Well, that's the first paragraph. After that, i'm not too sure. I found looking in MSAR EXTREMELY helpful in deciding what to tell profs to include in the letter. the beginning of MSAR has a section on what qualities are important for a future physician. I copied those qualities down and told them discussing those aspects of my personality were important.

oh yeah.. i found this link when i was trying to decide how to write mines:

http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/ppa/sampleletter.htm