What do you give to writers of LOR?

[mcchicken1985]

I am planning to meet letter writers this month, and plan to give them the following info:

-undergrad transcript
-MCAT
-draft of personal statement

Any other suggestions?

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[qtrlifecrisis]

your resume
graded tests/essays from the class you took with the professor

 

[GoinBack2Cali?]

I am planning to meet letter writers this month, and plan to give them the following info:

-undergrad transcript
-MCAT
-draft of personal statement

Any other suggestions?

money

 

[Sunshine1025]

a wise doctor once told me writers of lor and interviewers really like $20 bills and advised me just to make a suit of 20's and it'd get me pretty far.

hahaha not funny when you're looking for serious advice, but i loved it.

 

[BigRedPremed]

I gave transcript, personal statement, a list/description of my EC's. No mention of MCAT score.

 

[GoLAClippers]

I gave transcript, personal statement, a list/description of my EC's. No mention of MCAT score.

Why not mentioned the MCAT?

 

[moto_za]

you dont need to take your graded tests in.

 

[omegaxx]

Why not mentioned the MCAT?

Most LOR writers won't give a damn about your MCAT score. Many won't even know what it is.

 

[LizzyM]

A resume or a list of your "experiences" from the AMCAS is helpful along with a draft of your personal statement.

I wonder if attaching a small photo of yourself might help jog an absent minded professor's memory, too.

 

[MaximusD]

lapdance?

 

[gujuDoc]

I am planning to meet letter writers this month, and plan to give them the following info:

-undergrad transcript
-MCAT
-draft of personal statement

Any other suggestions?

Resume which gives idea of work/activities

 

[ggman]

All the above suggestions are good, but hopefully at least one or two of your writers know you well enough that they don't really need anything from you. I gave my recommenders a transcript and a resume even though they said they didn't need it. One of my recommenders had me talk to her for 15-20 minutes about my motivations for going into medicine, so that's another thing that you should consider.
One more thing, when you are asking people for recommendations, keep in mind that a personal recommendation from a new/young faculty member is a lot better than a cliche recommendation from a hot shot, well known professor.

 

[Kfire326]

If a professor really knows you well enough to write a strong LOR, then you probably don't need to give them more than a resume at most.

 

[mtlove]

If a professor really knows you well enough to write a strong LOR, then you probably don't need to give them more than a resume at most.

I attended a small school where profs get to know you more than you would probably like them to. A lot of people here said that if the professor knows you well that you do not need to give them much. This is not the case in my experience. A lot of professors will try to talk about things you mention in your personal statement, so the letters strongly support the personal statement. You can also tell different profs to talk about different things in their letters (one focuses on you being an independent worker and one focus on your ability to work in groups for ex). Most of my profs ask for the following in exchange for a rec:

Transcripted with classes from prof highlighted
all personal statements
info about the program (taken from website)
resume/cv
envelopes addressed and ready to be sent (if applicable)

 

[gujuDoc]

All the above suggestions are good, but hopefully at least one or two of your writers know you well enough that they don't really need anything from you. I gave my recommenders a transcript and a resume even though they said they didn't need it. One of my recommenders had me talk to her for 15-20 minutes about my motivations for going into medicine, so that's another thing that you should consider.
One more thing, when you are asking people for recommendations, keep in mind that a personal recommendation from a new/young faculty member is a lot better than a cliche recommendation from a hot shot, well known professor.

I DISAGREE!!!!


I don't think it really matters whether the professor is someone who's a hot shot older faculty or a newer faculty as long as they write a strong letter for you.

 

[notdeadyet]

If a professor really knows you well enough to write a strong LOR, then you probably don't need to give them more than a resume at most.

Not true. If you give your prof all the other info previous posters have described, your LOR writer can give you a more targeted letter to help strengthen your application.

A prof may know you well enough to write a strong LOR, but the more information you give them, the more complementary they can make it to your app.

 

[gujuDoc]

Not true. If you give your prof all the other info previous posters have described, your LOR writer can give you a more targeted letter to help strengthen your application.

A prof may know you well enough to write a strong LOR, but the more information you give them, the more complementary they can make it to your app.

At my institution there are several professors who will ask for all of the above mentioned things even if they know you well.

When my friend was getting her LORs this past year, two professors asked for her personal statement, transcripts, and copy of her resume on which she put her MCAT score and work/activities/other experiences.

 

[Soccer885]

I gave transcript, personal statement, a list/description of my EC's. No mention of MCAT score.

I gave them the same stuff. I also added a little letter to them describing what I learned in their class or found memorable (couldn't hurt right?). I never mentioned MCAT and don't think you need to or should. Like someone else said, most wont even know what it means or care.

 

[pennybridge]

the same thing you give any professional who can help you get ahead:

a picture of you holding their pet dog hostage, just to let them know you mean business.

 

[Soccer885]

Not true. If you give your prof all the other info previous posters have described, your LOR writer can give you a more targeted letter to help strengthen your application.

A prof may know you well enough to write a strong LOR, but the more information you give them, the more complementary they can make it to your app.

I agree strongly. The more information you give, the better, even if you know the professor well. The extra information will help the professor and make it easier for them to write you a LOR.

 

[jlq3d3]

Actually, the prestige of the letter writer does matter. According to a representitive from Baylor, recs usually dont help or hurt you unless the writer is famous/powerful in which case it helps or if the letter is bad in which case it hurts.

 

[SupergreenMnM]

A very nice bottle of wine. 1) its a nice bribe and 2) it won't hurt to have them all liquered up when they're writing your letter...

 

[happy snake]

Mine wanted a copy of my AMCAS personal statement, a vita, and the dates when I worked with him.

 

[ggman]

I DISAGREE!!!!


I don't think it really matters whether the professor is someone who's a hot shot older faculty or a newer faculty as long as they write a strong letter for you.

How is this different from what I said?!?

 

[ggman]

Actually, the prestige of the letter writer does matter. According to a representitive from Baylor, recs usually dont help or hurt you unless the writer is famous/powerful in which case it helps or if the letter is bad in which case it hurts.

Well, it is true that it is helpful to have a prestigious person write you a personal LOR specifically for you, but it doesn't mean much if it is a pre-written LOR in which he just inserts your name. And by the way, that's basically what professors do often if they don't know you well enough to write a personal rec, so to the OP, make sure your recommenders know you pretty well