Really Weird Letter of Rec Issue.... PLEASE HELP!

[wuster]

Hi all,

So I asked for a letter of recommendation from one of my laboratory supervisors, who I have worked under for several years. He is a PhD engineer and when he asked me for ideas on what to write about, I sent him a link to the AAMC letter guideline. (https://www.aamc.org/download/332578/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf)

Today he sent me a draft of the letter and asked me to review it. (I hadn't requested to see the letter, he just sent it to me).

The letter he sent is formatted in such a way that the 15 headers from the AAMC Guidelines (thinking & reasoning competencies, science, interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies) are all listed and under each, he writes a paragraph regarding my performance and specific examples.

The "letter" is literally an introduction paragraph, 15 bullet/mini paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. It is currently 3-4 pages, but I could cut some down. The headers also take up a lot of space. His writing style is quite concise, but there is some overlap between things like "social skills" and "service orientation." I would say he put in a lot of effort into coming up with examples and showing off my strengths. Should I try to ask him to convert it to a regular letter format?? Is the current format ok?


THANKS IN ADVANCE!

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[sudo]

Yup, it won't hurt to suggest to him to change it to a different format. He shouldn't take offense to it..

Sent from my SPH-L720

 

[wuster]

Ok thanks! Is there any way adcoms would find this format to be appealing because it's so concise? It's also unique, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

 

[sudo]

Maybe...maybe not. I'm probably not the best person to ask though.

Concise is good, but the formatting you describe is a little odd IMO.

Sent from my SPH-L720

 

[pathologyDO]

First off, and by making the statement " (I hadn't requested to see the letter, he just sent it to me). " you probably know this, it is not ethical to be reading your LOR.

But, regardless, I would kindly ask him write it as formally as possible (in paragraph form, not bulleted items).

 

[wuster]

Ok thanks for the tips

 

[NCKSD]

First off, and by making the statement " (I hadn't requested to see the letter, he just sent it to me). " you probably know this, it is not ethical to be reading your LOR.

But, regardless, I would kindly ask him write it as formally as possible (in paragraph form, not bulleted items).

If the LOR writer sends it to you for review though, I dont think its that big of a deal. What are you gonna say? "SORRY I HAD TO DELETE THAT EMAIL YOU ALMOST MADE ME IMMORAL"

 

[SixStringPsych]

Ok thanks! Is there any way adcoms would find this format to be appealing because it's so concise? It's also unique, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

3-4 pages is not concise

 

[wuster]

3-4 pages is not concise

Point taken, but there are a whole lot of spaces between the headers/start of each new point.

What is the maximum length a letter should be?

 

[ericksonj15]

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[pepes1lv1a]

If the LOR writer sends it to you for review though, I dont think its that big of a deal. What are you gonna say? "SORRY I HAD TO DELETE THAT EMAIL YOU ALMOST MADE ME IMMORAL"

agreed. and what if the writer says "OK send me a draft, I'm very busy and I have lots of students so I would like a template." What are you supposed to say? "Oh never mind let me ask someone else." What if you don't HAVE someone else?