Residency Letter of Rec from Research Advisor

[Humabs]

So my research advisor pulled the old "I'd love to give you a strong recommendation letter, if you can write me a draft yourself" move.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
Trying here, but man I've been struggling, and it's getting late in the game.

Not finding any from-research-advisor non-clinical examples online either.

Anyone have any thoughts/examples/resources they'd even willing to share?

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[evilbooyaa]

Just write yourself the most over the top LoR possible. Don't say that your god's gift to earth, but talk yourself up significantly in the rough draft. Your research advisor will tone anything down that he/she feels is over the top, but is unilkely to pull things up if you are modest in your self-assessment.

Basics: Hard worker in lab (assuming basic science), productive, interacted well with other staff, no issues of professionalism, able to coordinate complex tasks with energy and ease, learned a significant amount, is intellectual about pursuing knowledge, etc.

 

[RadOncDoc21]

Don’t forget to mention your private jet. That always wins me over.

 

[medgator]

Don’t forget to mention your private jet. That always wins me over.

C'mon now, not like he's running for a cabinet position or anything like that...

 

[maruchan]

Paragraph 1: Introduction. "I write to you on behalf of Humabs. I know Humabs very well from (this context) and have worked with Humabs for (this time)."
Paragraph 2: Point 1. State in one sentence one idea/characteristic you want to emphasize about yourself, then follow with an anecdote to elaborate. Ie, Humabs has an amazing mind for research and self driven initiative. He independently devised a research idea and experiments, troubleshooting many difficulties, and pushed this project into a quality publication.
Paragraph 3: Point 2. Same idea as paragraph 2. Single sentence statement of a characteristic, then an anecdote.
Paragraph 4: Conclusion. Start with some throwaway points like evilbooyyaa said "In summary, Humabs is an intelligent and hard working individual. He is a consummate professional who was well loved by his colleagues and mentors alike." Then finish with the "ranking statement": "I have personally worked with and advised 80 (or however many) medical students and trainees. Humabs is the BEST (or "one of the very best" if you don't think they'll feel comfortable with that) student I have ever had and stands in a class of his own. I give him the very highest recommendation for your program"

Follow that outline and you should be golden. Good luck.

 

[scarbrtj]

Make sure to drop the appropriate buzzwords i.e. "recommend without hesitation" (or reservation, I forget which) and "top 1% I've encountered" etc etc. Also as others have stated make it come across in the beginning that your recommender has a very deep knowledge of you and your skills (versus superficial knowledge of course... "spent 6 months in my lab" versus "spent 6 months in my lab, several hours per day working alongside him and writing papers and gathering data together, interacting and getting to know him on a personal level as well"). I think that last part would be key, to me, if I were reading L's-o-R. Also see: "buffing the chart" from Sam Shem's "The House of God" for the overarching ethos at work here

 

[Humabs]

C'mon now, not like he's running for a cabinet position or anything like that...

Did you just assume my gender?

 

[Humabs]

Don’t forget to mention your private jet. That always wins me over.

It wound't surprise me if certain programs already had access to private jets...but I'll make sure to clarify that my private jet will be at the ready as needed.

 

[medgator]

Did you just assume my gender?

Yeah...I'll change it to he/she/it?

 

[scarbrtj]

Did you just assume my gender?

Personally, I only assume another gender at certain wild costume parties.

 

[RadOncDoc21]

Personally, I only assume another gender at certain wild costume parties.

Lol... That could be very risky!

 

[kristofer]

Did you just assume my gender?

Are you serious?

 

[Humabs]

Are you serious?

Ha. No. Him/her/it, doesn't matter to me what anonymous strangers call me on the internet.