Question about a LOR

[cliffhuxtableDO]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Ok, so I have a letter of recommendation that I am trying to decide to use or not. It is a great letter and talks about all the great things, but then she included what she viewed as a flaw and it reads like this:

"Acknowledging that almost every individual has some flaws (although man LORs depict their subjecst as "super human"). The only area of weakness I see in _____, and perhaps this is a maturity issue, is taht I have found him on several occasions to be a bit inflexible and unhappy if he did not get his way. This was never a significant issue, but I feel a responsibility to bring this to light. Again, perhaps a maturity issue, insecurity issue- not sure. Too many of today's youth have not often been told 'no', nor had to accept constructive criticism. Again, not a significant issue.

In closing, ______ continues to make a positive impression on his professors with his knowledge, skill and dedication to his work. I do hope that ________'s application to medical school will be given serious consideration. Thank you for the opportunity to write on his behalf."




Input will be greatly appreciated.

 

[calimed214]

Ok, so I have a letter of recommendation that I am trying to decide to use or not. It is a great letter and talks about all the great things, but then she included what she viewed as a flaw and it reads like this:

"Acknowledging that almost every individual has some flaws (although man LORs depict their subjecst as "super human"). The only area of weakness I see in _____, and perhaps this is a maturity issue, is taht I have found him on several occasions to be a bit inflexible and unhappy if he did not get his way. This was never a significant issue, but I feel a responsibility to bring this to light. Again, perhaps a maturity issue, insecurity issue- not sure. Too many of today's youth have not often been told 'no', nor had to accept constructive criticism. Again, not a significant issue.

In closing, ______ continues to make a positive impression on his professors with his knowledge, skill and dedication to his work. I do hope that ________'s application to medical school will be given serious consideration. Thank you for the opportunity to write on his behalf."




Input will be greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't use it. She basically calls you out for acting immature "on several occasions". No matter how positive the rest of the letter is, that's going to stand out in a majorly bad way. I know some letter writers feel obligated to point out any flaws in an applicant, but this is a going to come back to bite you in the butt.

 

[LizzyM]

You are lucky to have had the opportunity to see the letter. That's not a letter you should use, if you have a choice.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

Thank you for the responses. I will definitely not be using it. I thought about it, and realized that if I'm even asking this question I probably shouldn't use it. The LizzyM response was just icing on the cake.

 

[wanderer]

What a horrible letter. She also starts rambling, indicating that she is not a good writer to begin with.

 

[Poliscidoc]

Burn that letter and tell the writer thanks for nothing. At least you got to read it, I cant even begin to think of how much damage that letter would have done if you hadn't been able to read it and you sent it.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

I think the event she is referring to is when I asked my professors for permission to get a research methods course waived, because I had done a research project for an entire year, and the measurements class within my major was basically a more in depth class of the research methods class. Which, if you ask me, isn't immature, I just didn't want to waste my time. Oh well, such is life.

 

[BerlinDude]

Thank her for writing the letter, then trash it. In addition to the fact that she is raising a huge red flag, her writing skills seem overall horrible and the letter is contradictory. If it's not a big issue, why is she bringing it up? This is definitely a ****ty letter.

 

[KMIMSM]

Ok, so I have a letter of recommendation that I am trying to decide to use or not. It is a great letter and talks about all the great things, but then she included what she viewed as a flaw and it reads like this:

"Acknowledging that almost every individual has some flaws (although man LORs depict their subjecst as "super human"). The only area of weakness I see in _____, and perhaps this is a maturity issue, is taht I have found him on several occasions to be a bit inflexible and unhappy if he did not get his way. This was never a significant issue, but I feel a responsibility to bring this to light. Again, perhaps a maturity issue, insecurity issue- not sure. Too many of today's youth have not often been told 'no', nor had to accept constructive criticism. Again, not a significant issue.

In closing, ______ continues to make a positive impression on his professors with his knowledge, skill and dedication to his work. I do hope that ________'s application to medical school will be given serious consideration. Thank you for the opportunity to write on his behalf."




Input will be greatly appreciated.

how did you get to read the letter? did she let you see it beforehand?

 

[randombetch]

You are lucky to have had the opportunity to see the letter. That's not a letter you should use, if you have a choice.

Well, that settles it .