Personal statement and/or CV?

[mochafreak]

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I realize it's a good idea to provide a personal statement, CV, biography or something to the profs who are writing your letters of recommendation. But, which exactly should you provide? I'm having problems figuring out how to approach the personal statement. I have a low GPA from my original degree, but all my recent work has been 4.0's. Should I mention my low GPA from 10 years ago, or should I let them write recommendations based on me as a "4.0" student? Are there any examples of personal statements written specifically for letters of recommendation on the web? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[bouncy_ball]

If you are requesting a letter of rec from a professor at your current school, the lor ought to be based on your gpa from your current school. As for a resume/CV, besides your educational background, I'd only put stuff that was really relevant that shows you have the skills for dental school (volunteer work, hands-on hobbies, research).

 

[nothen2do]

I gave them both my personal statement as well as my transcript. You really want to talk to them though, make sure they know your name because it only takes 2 lines to write what your grade was and your class rank. I made sure to meet with my prof's weekly while in their class. I also gave them a stamped envelope to send, so that they didnt have to get any of that on their own.

 

[bouncy_ball]

I gave them both my personal statement as well as my transcript... I also gave them a stamped envelope to send, so that they didnt have to get any of that on their own.

Slip in a $5 bill too. 😛

 

[eran76]

I formatted my guiding material for the letter writers like this:

Where I've been:

paragraph

Where I am:

Paragraph

Where I'm going:

paragraph

 

[mochafreak]

Thanks guys, that helped. Bouncy Ball...I think that's the most morbid avatar around here...but I like it 😀

 

[Sweeti8286]

What I did was gave my profs a summary- so..sorta like a resume, but not in a resume form. On there, it has the degree I'm pursuing, unofficial transacript with all the classes I've taken and the grades (in your case, I'd just provide the current grades...no from 10 years ago), volunteer work I've done, schools I'm planning to apply to (so they can address to different schools more "personally")...but really, just changed the name of the schools...but if this is what you did, make sure the name of each school is on the envelope and a signiture is written across the back. So AADSAS won't mess it up.....or you can hope they don't mess it up. Also- it'd be good to mention what class you were in with the prof and your grade that you got in that class.

 

[Sprgrover]

I realize it's a good idea to provide a personal statement, CV, biography or something to the profs who are writing your letters of recommendation. But, which exactly should you provide?...

What I did was I supplied a copy of my personal statement, my CV, and a copy of my transcript. Why all of the materials? A good LOR goes beyond listing an applicants gpa or his/her performance in class; it also gives an assessment of the applicant's character and disposition, ability to handle stress, level of involvement with the student body and/or classroom, and so on. The professors that I approached knew me fairly well and my performance in their class, but I wanted to supply them with enough information so that they could write the best LOR about me not only as a student but as an individual as well. I assembled these materials into a little packet, which also contained the AADSAS LOR matching form. I know one professor was very happy to receive such a packet and I am sure he went through everything - I don't know if my other recommendors did the same. The main point is that I provided them with enough materials to augment their LOR and strengthen my application.

 

[mochafreak]

Thanks again guys for the incredibly helpful replies. I think I will turn in a CV and a personal statement that addresses why I resigned as an engineer and what I've been doing since then. But, I won't go all the way back to my wonderful undergrad days. These profs know me fairly well, so that should do it.