Rec Letter fine, not great

[MicroSteph]

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My supervisor of 6 years at the YMCA wrote a recommendation letter for me and asked me what I thought of it. To quote a friend, it's fine as a recommendation for a camp counselor job, but probably not good enough for medical school.

Should I interfere in her rec letter writing process in an attempt to improve it, or have her send it off?

It basically states that I've been dependable and a good supervisor.

 

[Ironmandoc]

You are already being unethical by reading it...so why not? You should write it yourself and just send it to the counselor to sign

 

[MicroSteph]

You are already being unethical by reading it...so why not? You should write it yourself and just send it to the counselor to sign

She sent it to me without my requesting it for advice.

 

[carnelian]

She sent it to me without my requesting it for advice.

I would've refused to look at it to be on the safe side... did she know that you waived your rights before she asked? If she didn't and finds out later, things could get ugly...

 

[Ironmandoc]

She sent it to me without my requesting it for advice.

And my statement still stands. You chose to read it.

 

[kami333]

Waiving your rights to see the letter just means that you can't use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to access your letters of recommendation from your student file, it has nothing to do with whether or not your letter writer lets your read it before they send it in. That is between you and your letter writer and depends on the relationship you have.

 

[DolFAN]

Waiving your rights to see the letter just means that you can't use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to access your letters of recommendation from your student file, it has nothing to do with whether or not your letter writer lets your read it before they send it in. That is between you and your letter writer and depends on the relationship you have.

BOOM. You just been lawyered.

 

[Contemplating]

boom. You just been lawyered.

+100

 

[MicroSteph]

Waiving your rights to see the letter just means that you can't use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to access your letters of recommendation from your student file, it has nothing to do with whether or not your letter writer lets your read it before they send it in. That is between you and your letter writer and depends on the relationship you have.

Thank you!

 

[Dmr6186]

You are already being unethical by reading it...

Not sure how that's unethical. A DO doctor I work with told me to write one for myself and have him sign it. An MD I shadowed wrote one up in the doctor's office when I was there and told me to read it and see if it's ok.

If she asked what you thought of it, be honest and say it needs to be stronger (but in a nice way). If she refuses to rewrite it, at least you have the one she wrote previously.

 

[Jepstein30]

Waiving your rights to see the letter just means that you can't use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to access your letters of recommendation from your student file, it has nothing to do with whether or not your letter writer lets your read it before they send it in. That is between you and your letter writer and depends on the relationship you have.

Exactly.. How in the world is being shown or reading your own letter 'unethical'?

You waived a right.. that doesn't mean it is now illegal/unethical to still read it. You just waived your ability to read it without permission/help of the person who wrote it.

 

[Praefectus]

BOOM. You just been lawyered.

It's just that bird law in this country is not governed by reason.

 

[Ironmandoc]

Call an adcom and tell them you wrote your own letters and had others sign off on them. Let me know what they say

Lmao

 

[Jepstein30]

Call an adcom and tell them you wrote your own letters and had others sign off on them. Let me know what they say

Lmao

THAT is unethical.

However, reading one's letters is not unethical, as you stated.

"You are already being unethical by reading it.."

 

[Illinois2012]

I can see the argument for writing your own letter being unethical without much of a problem. Reading your own? Nope, and this is coming from somebody who didn't read any of theirs. Like somebody else mentioned, you're simply waiving the RIGHT to view your letters by FERPA. This simply means that you cannot demand to view the letters. What the letter writer allows you to do is completely unrelated to this.

 

[FattySlug]

Ignore the "ethical" ones on this thread. They probably think you are a criminal for exceeding speed limit to save your dying mother.

 

[kami333]

Call an adcom and tell them you wrote your own letters and had others sign off on them. Let me know what they say

Lmao

Moving the goalposts are we? Because originally you claimed that:

You are already being unethical by reading it

In any case, even if the OP wrote it, unless he forges his supervisor's signature without their knowledge I don't really see that much of a problem. By signing, the supervisor is basically certifying that they agree with the contents of the letter and are willing to stand by it, any repercussions would fall on them first and if they sign it even though they don't agree with it then they are being unethical. Is it really that much different than having an assistant or secretary write it? Sure it may devalue the letter, but I don't see anything outright unethical about it. It's not like anyone is requiring the letter writer to sign a document stating that the letter is their work and theirs alone.

 

[samsunimomo]

Yikes