Question about Letter of Recommendation

[laura_mideon]

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At the pharm school I am applying to they have structured reference letters (Do any of your schools have this?)
Well anyways, I have been talking to a lot of ppl about who should do my letters. I pretty much decided on my supervisor at the Red Cross and my biology professor, but I have 2 questions.

1. I know alot of ppl find pharmacists to write their letters (I don't know any pharmacists well enough) do you think that will matter if I don't use a pharmacist?

2. How do I nicely tell someone that if the letter is not excellent, I don't want it. And at the end of the structured reference letter it advises the writer to seal the envelope and sign it on the seal, and send it to the school themselves. I only want it sent if I can read it first because I may have more than 2 ppl write them and choose the best ones to send

I saw this question on another post

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=131162&page=1&pp=20

but the replies went off in another direction about plagiarism and I didn't see a response to this question.

Thanks a bunch for your help~~

 

[tanyas]

1. I did not have a pharmacist letter and got in...However, I think it puts you at an advantage to have one. Other than that, I think having a letter of rec from a teacher that taught you an upper division course is preferred over lower division
2. there is no way you would tell someone to mail only "nice" letters. Thus, you should ask for letters of rec from people you know would write good info about you. Likewise, most schools will ask for the letters to be mailed directly to them by the authors and thus you will not be abe to read them

 

[farmgrl00]

I think some schools require a pharmacist to write a letter, but not all. This is what you do, people have always told me that when I ask for a letter; I should ask for a "Great" letter. and if they hesistate; maybe you should ask someone else.

 

[bananaface]

Telling someone you only want a "great letter or no letter" could very easily be taken the wrong way. Anyone who writes you a letter should naturally recommend you wholeheartedly and write their best. You don't want to offend them by implying that their writing skills are not good enough. You might want to ask your Red Cross reference how much experience he/she has writing letters, and offer to go over the basic format is he/she isn't familiar with it. Your bio prof should already have experience writing letters. Don't be shy about telling your references what specific activities, attributes, etc. you would like he or she to mention in the letter. Your reference will appreciate the guidance. Make sure that you give them the material to work with and they will write you a good letter.

 

[farmgrl00]

you ask them if they are willing to write you a great letter; then offer ur resume or cv, transcript and personal statement or other writing samples that represent you. I don't think its too much to ask someone to write you a great letter; you are only being honest.

 

[ucdbiochem]

Telling someone you only want a "great letter or no letter" could very easily be taken the wrong way. Anyone who writes you a letter should naturally recommend you wholeheartedly and write their best. You don't want to offend them by implying that their writing skills are not good enough.

yes, sometimes people could take it the wrong way, but it's better to ask them to write a great one than getting a generic letter. if they write you a generic one or use a template, it's just wasting both your time and the writer's. i would rather ask someone else if that's the case.

sure, the writer should do their best on the letter, but sometimes they don't because they're simply lazy or just don't have the time. when you ask them to write one, they would say sure i'll write you one and it turns out to be a typical letter.

so do whatever you can like other posters said.

upshot: great letter or move on and ask someone else.

good luck.

 

[laura_mideon]

Thanks for your responses. Those are good ideas. I chose these 2 people because I know that they both think highly of me, so I'll just ask for a great reference letter and like you said, if they hesitate, I'll find someone else.

I just wish I could read it first so I know exactly how good they are.

I'm not applying til the 2005 start though so I have plenty of time to decide who are the best people to do it and who I trust the most to write an excellent letter. Because it's true, even if someone thinks highly of you, they might just not be very good at writing letters.

 

[julesc76]

this what my friend told me to do when asking for LORS.... ask the person "do you feel comfortable writing me a strong recommendation for pharmacy school?" that way, it reaffirms that they CAN write a good LOR and WILL write you a good one. if they don't, they can say things like... oh, i don't know if i know you well enough, or maybe you should ask someone else.

i think it worked well enough for me, cuz i got into pharm school for this fall =).

also, you don't need to have a pharmacist if the school doesn't require it. so it's best to find the 2 ppl who will write you the best LORs.

good luck!

 

[laura_mideon]

Thanks, that sounds like a good way to say it.

 

[jemc2000]

I have another question about this. UF is not posting their letter of reference form until August 1. My Chem II final is August 9. I want to ask my Chemistry Professor for a LOR. Would it make an instructer cranky to get the request with only a week left in school? Or should I give her the UF form for 2004 and white out 2004? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks as always.

 

[TCB]

jemc2000 you can't give her the UF form for 2004 and white out 2004. All you can do is wait whenever the 2005 form is available. It doesn't matter if you give her the form only a week left in school.

 

[Glycerin]

I have another question about this. UF is not posting their letter of reference form until August 1. My Chem II final is August 9. I want to ask my Chemistry Professor for a LOR. Would it make an instructer cranky to get the request with only a week left in school? Or should I give her the UF form for 2004 and white out 2004? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks as always.

No white-out. It's unprofessional. What I do with mine is give each recommender a self-addressed and pre-stamped envelope. That way, they can type or fill out the letter, seal the envelope, and put it in the mail. When I get the LORs in the mail, I just put them with each corresponding school's materials to be sent off together.

 

[de javu]

laura mideon,

I just sent you a PM. Please check it. 🙂

 

[MilkTea101]

Hey guys,

What is your opinion on this?

I plan on getting a rec from a science teacher that has had me for a pre-req course and a non pre-req course.

Now for my second rec, I am deciding whether or not to ask an english 1 teacher or a physics prof (who may or may not remember me too well-but will probably say I worked hard in the class). My instinct to go with the english 1 professor b/c this person knows me better, but I wonder how this would look to admissions. The rec from the physics prof would probably look ok but it wouldn't be too personal. Do they prefer to have all the recs be from science teachers?

Btw, how do you know whether the rec will be positive or just mediocre? Can you bluntly ask the recommender?

*MilkTea101*

 

[bananaface]

An english professor could speak to your communication skills quite well. A physics professor is not going to be able to tell the admissions committee much that is relevant to pharmacy. I would recommend getting the letter from your english professor.

Ask if they feel comfortable recommending you for the program without reservation. Be sure to discuss your goals with them and give them information about yourself which demonstrates the traits and skills that you want them to mention to the admissions committee. You can steer the content and quality of the letter by preparing the focus and background information to present to your recommender.