Recommendation Dilemma

Hi everyone! This is my first post, but I've been lurking for awhile. I've actually been forced out of my lurking because of this dilemma. Some background: I'm almost 24. I graduated from Vassar in 2003 with a degree in political science. I completed all of the pre-med courses, took the MCAT (and bombed with a 23), and was rejected from the 3 schools to which I applied (all in Louisiana). I'm applying next year for admission in 2007 and will re-take the MCAT in April -- and study this time. In that time, I've taken some post-bac science classes (2 anatomy classes and one microbiology course). I'm applying through my pre-med committee at Vassar, but I will be supplementing my older committee letter with a letter from my current employer, for whom I've been working for a year and a half.

I'm currently working as a case manager/admin assistant/counselor/whatever-else-needs-to-be-done-girl in a group home for juvenile offenders. My employers are basically my second family, and we all have a very close and very comfortable relationship. Seriously, it's like working for my parents. None of my supervisors possess particularly good written communication skills, so I've written every letter, every recommendation, every request for anything that has left this facility in the past year and a half. Yesterday, my supervisor, Wanda, asked me to compose a letter of recommendation for another employee and let her sign it when I was finished. The conversation went like this:

Wanda: "Here's a list of relevant dates and titles. I don't do letters of recommendation... you know that!"

Me: "What! You'd better start! You have to write me a letter of recommendation for medical school!"

Wanda: "Don't worry... you write excellent letters. Your letter of recommendation will be fantastic... since you're going to write it yourself."

Ummm... she's serious. If I'm going to get a letter of recommendation for medical school, I'm going to be writing it myself. Don't get me wrong: I'm a master of bs, and I'm a very good writer. I think that with those two skills, I could manufacture a stunning letter for myself.

My question is this: is this... ummm... ethical? Is there a limit to how many amazing character traits I can give myself, lol? Assuming I do this, I don't want to write an over-the-top bunch of junk, so what guidelines should I follow?

I'd appreciate any advice.

 

Whew, I'm relieved that this is more common than I thought!

That link is sooo helpful. Thank you!

 

I think you could put a positive spin on that. You could tell them that you think your application to Northwestern was really strengthened by their letters, and you would appreciate it if they could update their letters to be more current... that you think their recommendations were extremely valuable in your prior application and would be a tremendous asset to your med school application.