The danger of hidden recommendations

[EarnestlyWilde]

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Hi everyone,

So today I was wandering around the library and noticed a past professor standing by the elevators. I had been planning on following up on bringing him the recommendation form for a hospital I want to volunteer at, so I walked over. We agreed that this was a very opportune coincidence, he quickly filled out the short form and handed it back to me.

First, I should note that we have a very good relationship and I received an "A' in his class.
Here's the funny part: He was in such a rush to complete this trifle of a favor for me that he essentially didn't read the form and marked randomly...he ended up checking off "below average" in every category and then "yes" for "Has this applicant been involved in criminal activity" and yes for "Do you recommend this individual for a volunteer assignment?"

This happened to be a simple paper reference so I noticed this...but how often do you think we get rejected by a program because of a simple error like that?

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi everyone,

So today I was wandering around the library and noticed a past professor standing by the elevators. I had been planning on following up on bringing him the recommendation form for a hospital I want to volunteer at, so I walked over. We agreed that this was a very opportune coincidence, he quickly filled out the short form and handed it back to me.

First, I should note that we have a very good relationship and I received an "A' in his class.
Here's the funny part: He was in such a rush to complete this trifle of a favor for me that he essentially didn't read the form and marked randomly...he ended up checking off "below average" in every category and then "yes" for "Has this applicant been involved in criminal activity" and yes for "Do you recommend this individual for a volunteer assignment?"

This happened to be a simple paper reference so I noticed this...but how often do you think we get rejected by a program because of a simple error like that?

Wouldn't there be a justification box for this. If there was then obviously it would have been empty and most adcoms (who I imagine would be experts at catching this kind of error) would just nullify the error. In LORs, I dont know for sure but I feel like they don't count your recommenders errors against you (but I have no evidential basis for that statement). Therefore, I'd figure it was rare for someone to do that...but speaking of hidden dangers & letters, I have heard of cases on SDN where Lab PIs do not write the best recommendations for medical school applicants and luckily the applicants find out when they meet with adcoms to discuss rejections.

 

[ComfortCreature]

That's why you get LORs from people that know you, like you, and care about your future to the extent that they won't make a mistake like that.

 

[Barcu]

When you ask to get a recommendation from someone, you should always make an appointment to meet with them. Even if it is just a simple paper. Mistakes happen when people are rushed. Make sure that doesn't happen.

 

[redshadow]

"Hidden" recommendations aren't done in the form of sheets with checkboxes.





They're done in the form of letters that a professor has to actually sit down and write. And therefore think about.