Rec Letters

[spillsomepaint]

Is there anything else I should do besides sending out an email thanking professors for their time in writing rec letters? I want to make them feel as appreciated as possible (esp. if I have to go through another round of letters next year) w/o going over board. So what advice might you all have!

tia.

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[joetro]

I sent out Thank You cards with a gift certificate in them.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I'm sending each person a print from my personal photography collection (i shoot photography on the side. The prints will be nature mostly, with one being from New Orleans). I wanted to give them something meaningful, but not have it be expensive (remember, I'm a poor grad student!). All of my letter writers are people I've worked with closely, so I tried to match the print with the person.

Don't feel like you need to do something this personal, I just decided it would be something nice and relatively easy for me to do.

-t

ps. My better work is from 2007, so if you look at my gallery, just keep that in mind....

 

[thewesternsky]

Since applications were due a few weeks before Christmas, I got each of my recommenders some holiday chocolate and a card. One prof seemed surprised. A token of some sort is nice, but don't feel like you *have* to give anything, and DEFINITELY don't spend a lot of money (I'd say $10 each is a good upper limit; spending more than that seems excessive).

However, I get the feeling that a note saying thanks is really all that's expected.

 

[spillsomepaint]

Since applications were due a few weeks before Christmas, I got each of my recommenders some holiday chocolate and a card. One prof seemed surprised. A token of some sort is nice, but don't feel like you *have* to give anything, and DEFINITELY don't spend a lot of money (I'd say $10 each is a good upper limit; spending more than that seems excessive).

However, I get the feeling that a note saying thanks is really all that's expected.

great great idea- holiday cards and some chocolate!

thanks everyone

 

[psychwanabe]

I did the same. A handwritten thank you note and a small box of Godivas. One writer said thank-you, one was uncomfortable that I had done it, and the other didn't acknowledge it at all. All typical reactions based on personality...quite funny really.

 

[deleted176373]

Is there anything else I should do besides sending out an email thanking professors for their time in writing rec letters? I want to make them feel as appreciated as possible (esp. if I have to go through another round of letters next year) w/o going over board. So what advice might you all have!

tia.

I had to do a second round of apps. I provided each professor with a small trinket of a gift that reflected their personal tastes, interests, and showed that I thought individually about their help. The next year when I asked them to write 27 letters each, not one flinched.

Mark

 

[joshie6891]

On the topic of letters of recommendation, I'm in a kind of quandary. I'm applying next year for programs, and I'm having problems deciding between recommenders.

My first two recommenders are faculty members that I've conducted research with. Picking my final one has been a problem, though. I have one professor who I've had for two courses that would be able to write me a decent one. One of the courses was a small seminar-style section where I did a lot of discussion and paper writing. Most of my interaction with her has been through class, though.

My other potential recommender is our undergraduate advisor. I've worked with her professionally at our summer freshman registration program with new students in the major, and this year I've helped her put together a student organization for psych undergrads. More to the point, a friend mentioned to me that she sounded interested in writing me a letter if I needed one. She knows me pretty well, and I know a letter from her would be really great.

However... she doesn't have a PhD, though she's engaged in research activities. I could care less that she doesn't have one (in fact, she's way smarter than a lot of PhDs that I've met...) but how would an admissions committee regard this letter?

Thanks for the help, everyone!

 

[Marissa4usa]

I think I'd go with the one you took a class with as it is more related to what you are going to be doing in grad school. If I was a professor looking at someone's recommendation letter I would much rather (if it can't be about research experience) read something about how this is person is doing in class (how well you can articulate yourself, etc) than on how good this person is advising undergrad students. It's simply not related. Even though she might be able to write you a nice recommendation, it would pretty much on how good of a person you are, you know what I mean?

 

[deleted176373]

I think the adviser is the weaker of the two choices. Too bad you can't get the dean of your honors program or dept head to write you a killer letter. You do need letters that will knock the socks off the faculty where you are applying. The more intimate and personally invested your faculty are in writing those letters, the higher dividends the letters will pay.

Mark

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

However... she doesn't have a PhD, though she's engaged in research activities. I could care less that she doesn't have one (in fact, she's way smarter than a lot of PhDs that I've met...) but how would an admissions committee regard this letter?

Admission committees would notice, and care. It seems arbitrary, but the competition is so high, most other people will have LORs from 3 doc-level people.

-t

 

[joshie6891]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I sort of had the feeling that the professor would be a better choice, if only because of the doctorate level issue.

In any case, it was awesome to basically be offered a letter of rec, since it's a pain in the butt to find good ones. She's been offering great advice so far in the pre-admissions process, so she'd probably agree that letters from doc-level are the best. Too bad... I feel like she could testify to my professional side pretty well, but it doesn't look like there's a good way to incorporate her into my applications.

 

[deleted176373]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I sort of had the feeling that the professor would be a better choice, if only because of the doctorate level issue.

In any case, it was awesome to basically be offered a letter of rec, since it's a pain in the butt to find good ones. She's been offering great advice so far in the pre-admissions process, so she'd probably agree that letters from doc-level are the best. Too bad... I feel like she could testify to my professional side pretty well, but it doesn't look like there's a good way to incorporate her into my applications.

You can send 4 letters. Don't feel restricted to only 3!

Mark

 

[JockNerd]

You can send 4 letters. Don't feel restricted to only 3!

Mark

Ah, nope.

If they ask for three, send three. Admissions committees don't want people sending a bunch of extra stuff in the packages. At worst, it can reflect badly on you in making it look like you didn't read the guidelines, or don't think they apply to you.

Only use doc-level people, unless you have two *kickass* doc letters and then one non-doc who knows you really well and can comment on something unique that the other letters didn't get (e.g. clinical supervisor or whatever).

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Ah, nope.

If they ask for three, send three. Admissions committees don't want people sending a bunch of extra stuff in the packages. At worst, it can reflect badly on you in making it look like you didn't read the guidelines, or don't think they apply to you.

Only use doc-level people, unless you have two *kickass* doc letters and then one non-doc who knows you really well and can comment on something unique that the other letters didn't get (e.g. clinical supervisor or whatever).

JN's on the money with these comments.

-t

 

[deleted176373]

Ah, nope.

If they ask for three, send three. Admissions committees don't want people sending a bunch of extra stuff in the packages. At worst, it can reflect badly on you in making it look like you didn't read the guidelines, or don't think they apply to you.

Only use doc-level people, unless you have two *kickass* doc letters and then one non-doc who knows you really well and can comment on something unique that the other letters didn't get (e.g. clinical supervisor or whatever).

Didn't seem to hurt my number of interviews. While in theory it could hurt your chances, it did not hurt mine. I talked to a number of the programs and some said they would only use the 1st three letters, but understood that I was having 4 sent just to make sure that my packets were complete on time and that one letter was there as a backup simply because things happen and letters can get lost in the process. Either by you, your faculty, the post office, their mail room, accidentally filed wrong, etc, etc.

I do not believe that I was denied by any program because of this. Over 14 of the 27 programs I applied to offered me an interview (more than 50%). Some programs that I did not get interviews from were simply poor matches, did not have faculty that matched my interests taking students that year, or had better candidates than me.

I applied to some wickedly competitive programs... I applied to some lessor programs. At both ends of the spectrum I had problems. I did very well in the middle upper range and where, honestly, my scores indicated I should be applying. Schools looking for people in the 1000-1100 range GREs were less likely to interview me. School looking for 1350-1450 GREs and Ivy educations ignored me as well.

I learned alot during my unsuccessful year and the time spent licking my wounds to get into a good program. I accomplished my goal, all I can do is relate my experiences. They certainly are not gospel, but they hopefully are helpful data points. Maybe someone here has been turned down for giving an extra letter of recommendation... if so, I hope they share their story with us.

I will leave you with this:

I submitted an essay to Texas A&M and put the professors from Texas Tech in the letter. I wrote off A&M figuring I had 0 chance at admission. After all who would admit a student after such a huge gaffe? I was admitted to the program, sight unseen, with a phone interview on January 15th!!!


You never know where the chips are gonna fall!

Mark

 

[joetro]

I sent 4. If you have 4 strong recommendations, I'd solicit them all, but that's just me.