typical letter writer mistakes?

[deleted555445]

I'm requesting a letter from my company commander in the Army, and he has never written a letter for med school applications before. He's also, truth be told, not the best writer in general, but he knows me well and I think he'll add some good stuff. I'm going to have his letter go through Interfolio so they will do a quality check, but I'd like for there to be no hold up. What do people usually mess up on? I know a big two are lack of official letterhead and lack of signature.

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[wysdoc]

Also be sure it's dated.

Have you sent him the AMCAS guide for letter writers? He can ignore the scientific skills part and focus on your personal strengths and qualities.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/5306/download

 

[deleted555445]

Also be sure it's dated.

Have you sent him the AMCAS guide for letter writers? He can ignore the scientific skills part and focus on your personal strengths and qualities.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/5306/download

Thanks! Yes I have sent him that but like I said he's not the best writer so I was hoping to narrow it all down to a few key points... he's written letters of rec before but I know AMCAS can be picky

 

[LindaAccepted]

I'm requesting a letter from my company commander in the Army, and he has never written a letter for med school applications before. He's also, truth be told, not the best writer in general, but he knows me well and I think he'll add some good stuff. I'm going to have his letter go through Interfolio so they will do a quality check, but I'd like for there to be no hold up. What do people usually mess up on? I know a big two are lack of official letterhead and lack of signature.

Wrong school name if he is writing for more than one school...

 

[Catalystik]

Typical Letter Writer Mistakes? I'm requesting a letter from my company commander in the Army, and he has never written a letter for med school applications before. He's also, truth be told, not the best writer in general, but he knows me well and I think he'll add some good stuff. I'm going to have his letter go through Interfolio so they will do a quality check, but I'd like for there to be no hold up. What do people usually mess up on? I know a big two are lack of official letterhead and lack of signature.

A common error I see is incorrect gender designation, but neither that nor spelling/grammatical mistakes will be held against you. Also (rarely) the writer may close with a comment like, I strongly recommend this candidate for your osteopathic program, or MD/PhD program, when neither applies to the application I am reviewing.

 

[LizzyM]

He should be asked to focus on what he has observed. We have your grades and your personal statement and your work history so unlike a letter to a prospective employer, that does not need to be in a letter of recommendation for medical school. Ask him to tell the reader what he's seen when you have worked with peers, with underlings and with supervisors. A story that highlights your ability to work as a member of a team or as a team leader would be great.

If he never writes this type of letter he is unlikely to be using a form letter that sometimes trips up writers who forget to change a pronoun resulting in the applicant's pronouns changing in mid-letter which can be very awkward.

 

[deleted555445]

these are all awesome tips, thanks!

 

[Goro]

I'm requesting a letter from my company commander in the Army, and he has never written a letter for med school applications before. He's also, truth be told, not the best writer in general, but he knows me well and I think he'll add some good stuff. I'm going to have his letter go through Interfolio so they will do a quality check, but I'd like for there to be no hold up. What do people usually mess up on? I know a big two are lack of official letterhead and lack of signature.

1) Getting your name wrong
2) Not signing the letter
3) Not writing on official letterhead

 

[Moko]

I strongly agree with having your commander share their (and others') personal observations of your character, work ethic, dependability, team-orientation, and accomplishments.

Another common "mistake" from those who don't often write academic LORs is that they may be too reserved in their assessment and praise. Medical school LORs are uniformly (and overly) positive, whereas military personnel can be very matter-of-fact and to the point. We are aware of this different style of communication and recommendation, but it doesn't hurt for them to be mindful of what we typically see.

I would recommend having your commander offer some evaluation of your performance relative to your peers, e.g. "so-and-so is among the top X% of officers who I have worked with in my X years in the army", "so-and-so is among the few who I implicitly trust with X", etc. It is also common for letter writers to share personal comments such as "I would not hesitate to entrust my medical care to so-and-so in the future".

Letter writers will also typically quantify how strong their recommendation is, e.g. "recommend" vs "recommend strongly"/"recommend with enthusiasm" vs "recommend in strongest possible terms"/"recommend with greatest enthusiasm"; "without any reservation", etc. As you can see, simply being "recommended" is relatively faint praise by comparison.

Just my thoughts and best of luck.