Weaknesses?

[psychick]

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My LOR writer asked me to give her a list of my perceived strengths and weaknesses. I really suck at statistics and SPSS, but I don't want her to mention that in her recommendation of me 🙁 For those who have been asked to do the same (make a list of your weaknesses) how did you manage to appear competitive while still being honest? 😕

 

[JockNerd]

My LOR writer asked me to give her a list of my perceived strengths and weaknesses. I really suck at statistics and SPSS, but I don't want her to mention that in her recommendation of me 🙁 For those who have been asked to do the same (make a list of your weaknesses) how did you manage to appear competitive while still being honest? 😕

hahaha no that's not a good weakness to list. 🙂 A good way to do it is to think of things that you just don't have a lot of experience doing, and haven't had the chance to get good at yet, and frame it as a growth area that you're going to improve.

 

[Ollie123]

Definitely don't put that😉

I'll second what JN said, and add that it could look even better if there was something you started out bad at when you started working in their lab (or whatever your relationship with them is)and have already improved during your time there. This way they can actually talk about you starting to overcome the difficulty rather than "She's planning to improve, but hasn't yet.".

 

[psybee]

how is she going to use that info? when you're preparing for interviews it's good to have a few weakness (that are secret strengths, like "i used to be X, but now i'm awesome", or being a perfectionist or whatever). for a letter writer, does she need these to answer some interview-like questions about your weaknesses, or does she want you to give her actual weakness (like GPA problems, lack of clinical expereince, etc) in your application so that she can help shore them up?

 

[lesleeannc]

Whenever anyone ever asks me this... like a job interview or anything along those lines I always say, "Sometimes I try to hard..."
I know it sounds stupid but if you explain it right, that you try to hard with everything and therefore push yourself to hard, etc... It sounds pretty good to them.

😕

 

[psychick]

hahaha no that's not a good weakness to list. 🙂 A good way to do it is to think of things that you just don't have a lot of experience doing, and haven't had the chance to get good at yet, and frame it as a growth area that you're going to improve.

haha yeah I didn't think the admissions committee will be delighted to hear that from my LOR-writer either! That's a good suggestion though, I'll definitely try to think along those lines... Thanks!

 

[psychick]

Definitely don't put that😉

I'll second what JN said, and add that it could look even better if there was something you started out bad at when you started working in their lab (or whatever your relationship with them is)and have already improved during your time there. This way they can actually talk about you starting to overcome the difficulty rather than "She's planning to improve, but hasn't yet.".

I'll save this idea for a (hopefully) possible interview question 🙂 thanks!

 

[psychick]

how is she going to use that info? when you're preparing for interviews it's good to have a few weakness (that are secret strengths, like "i used to be X, but now i'm awesome", or being a perfectionist or whatever). for a letter writer, does she need these to answer some interview-like questions about your weaknesses, or does she want you to give her actual weakness (like GPA problems, lack of clinical expereince, etc) in your application so that she can help shore them up?

I think she's going to use it as a reference for writing my LORs. She said she has an idea of what to write already, but also wants to know what I think are my own strengths and weaknesses. 🙂

 

[psychick]

Whenever anyone ever asks me this... like a job interview or anything along those lines I always say, "Sometimes I try to hard..."
I know it sounds stupid but if you explain it right, that you try to hard with everything and therefore push yourself to hard, etc... It sounds pretty good to them.

😕

My friend actually said that I should tell my prof I like working so much that sometimes even my health gets compromised! I think she would see right through it though 😀

 

[JockNerd]

My friend actually said that I should tell my prof I like working so much that sometimes even my health gets compromised! I think she would see right through it though 😀

Hmmm, some of the things mentioned in this thread as useful for backhanded self-praise seem unwise to me. Everyone sees through "I work too hard," "I'm a perfectionist" isn't a virtue (40 revisions is enough! Just submit the paper!🙂). "I work myself sick" in particular sounds like a bad idea. Emotional stability is important in grad school, especially in intensive programs. "I had a lot of coursework and service obligations and still had time for self-care" was one of my strengths in my applications.

Really, I'd say just list the stuff you haven't had much experience with. Submitting papers, presenting at conferences, etc. Easy.

 

[Thrak]

(I wrote this before I saw JockNerd's comment... so, yeah, I second what JockNerd said!)

Not to be contrarian, but I'd caution against going with the weakness-that's-really-a-strength, or the "sometimes I work so hard everything else falls to the wayside" weaknesses. Even if they're true, I can't imagine someone would believe it. And even if they did believe it, it's not necessarily healthy. I don't think they'd want to bring someone on board who will work so hard that they'll burn themselves out in less than a year.

Obviously, I wouldn't go with "I write all my papers the night before they're due" or "i write with the sentence structure of william faulkner and the punctuation of e e cummings" because those weaknesses might be a bit too glaring. Maybe go with "I'm not always comfortable with public speaking" or "my academic papers aren't as concise as I'd like them to be" especially if you can demonstrate how you've gotten better at correcting those weaknesses.

 

[lesleeannc]

I use my excuse because its true! I do work myself too hard. I got an ulcer this summer and my cortisol levels are high. Thank God for yoga.