what makes a strong LOR

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CanadianHopefully

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Hi guys,

I am in the process of getting to refs from my science profs.

Before I commit to 2 profs I just want to know what you guys think makes a strong ref letter? And what is it that schools look for when reading them?

Thanks
 
kingofmedicine said:
Depends on the caliber of wordsmith you yourself are.

Don't you know? The student writes the LOR.
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Mhaha I am sure some of them do :S but science profs aren't exactly known for their poetics writting. I am sure people "guide" them.

Just trying to figure out how to have the strongest ref letters possible?
 
CanadianHopefully said:
Mhaha I am sure some of them do :S but science profs aren't exactly known for their poetics writting. I am sure people "guide" them.

Just trying to figure out how to have the strongest ref letters possible?
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Hire an English professor.
 
If they say "I want this person to be my doctor in the future" or something along those lines in a much more dramatic sense... then you got yourself an exceptionally strong LOR. Your letter probably won't say that though.
 
CanadianHopefully said:
Hi guys,

I am in the process of getting to refs from my science profs.

Before I commit to 2 profs I just want to know what you guys think makes a strong ref letter? And what is it that schools look for when reading them?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It's ONLY a strong LOR if the writer sprinkles whey powder on the actual letter before submitting! 😉

In all seriousness, if the letter is personal and shows substantial growth and reflects what you say in your secondaries than I believe it will help you applications. If it's genetic (he was in my class and did well, great personality) then it won't be that beneficial.

Hope this helps!
 
Lol thanks everyone!!

Yes that definitely helps. Im trying to avoid generic letters dont think they will help much. Would it be a good idea to menation specific things that DO programs look for, do they just see right through it? (I mean things like being well rounded, good in high stress situations..)
 
emagavin said:
It's ONLY a strong LOR if the writer sprinkles whey powder on the actual letter before submitting! 😉

In all seriousness, if the letter is personal and shows substantial growth and reflects what you say in your secondaries than I believe it will help you applications. If it's genetic (he was in my class and did well, great personality) then it won't be that beneficial.

Hope this helps!
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If it's GENETIC, you probably shouldn't get it.
If it's GENERIC, it won't be that beneficial but just get it.
 
Honestly your stats, ECs and interview are what matter. Stats and ECs mainly since people with strong ECs will likely do fairly well in the interview as well.
LORs, secondaries, and your PS can certainly ruin your app but will only help a little bit at most.

I find too many people obsess over things like their PS or LORs when these things are basically a pass or fail for the most part.
 
really? thats interesting. I suppose it makes sense since no one would get a LOR from someone that wasn't likely to write a glowing review. And the ECs shows what kind of person some is through their actions rather than their words


studentp0x said:
Honestly your stats, ECs and interview are what matter. Stats and ECs mainly since people with strong ECs will likely do fairly well in the interview as well.
LORs, secondaries, and your PS can certainly ruin your app but will only help a little bit at most.

I find too many people obsess over things like their PS or LORs when these things are basically a pass or fail for the most part.
Click to expand...
 
CanadianHopefully said:
really? thats interesting. I suppose it makes sense since no one would get a LOR from someone that wasn't likely to write a glowing review. And the ECs shows what kind of person some is through their actions rather than their words
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Well @Goro can confirm this, but stats and ECs are what mainly matter in the app and everything doesn't hold too much value in comparison. The point is to show that you can handle medical school through your academic performance which is viewed in context of your extracurricular activities and such. So having a good gpa/MCAT score whilst putting in tons of hours into ECs is a strong applicant will display.
Everything else is there to check for qualities that a physician should have.... and to make sure you aren't a lunatic.
 
I guess I will chime in on this one. I have seen threads like this one in the past and really it is tough to say what makes an LOR stellar. However, I have seen two common themes among strong LORs.
1) This person ranks you among the top students or people he or she has met in his or her life. Ex. "John was in the top 5% of the people I have ever taught."
2) You did something that really wowed them. Ex. "I remember when John was actually helping out two of his classmates with a very tough assignment and it made me see a different side of John..."

Well, I don't know of very specific examples of #2 off the top of my head. However, I believe a strong LOR will show something that makes it very unique.
 
Are there some DO schools that require a letter from a DO?
 
RWynd123 said:
Are there some DO schools that require a letter from a DO?
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If I can, I would smack the SHAT out of you (it's a figurative speech).
If you don't know the answer to this question, you obviously didn't do much research into DO schools and profession.
 
Forgot about that one!!!

1) This person ranks you among the top students or people he or she has met in his or her life. Ex. "John was in the top 5% of the people I have ever taught."

You'd be surprised how many LORs are lukewarm. I don't know if that's because the writers are poor at writing a LOR, or the applicant is overoptimistic at the chance that the prof will actually write a good one on behalf of the person, or pick a pick who barely knows them. There are a lot of clueless people out there.


really? thats interesting. I suppose it makes sense since no one would get a LOR from someone that wasn't likely to write a glowing review. And the ECs shows what kind of person some is through their actions rather than their words

The worst LOR I ever saw wasn't a red flag kind, it was something like a single sentence that stated the student's name, verified that he was a student of the prof, and that the student received a specific grade in the class. It was so bad that I was dying to tell the applicant "don't use this guy's LOR!" Alas, I'm not allowed to do that.
 
Goro said:
Forgot about that one!!!

1) This person ranks you among the top students or people he or she has met in his or her life. Ex. "John was in the top 5% of the people I have ever taught."

You'd be surprised how many LORs are lukewarm. I don't know if that's because the writers are poor at writing a LOR, or the applicant is overoptimistic at the chance that the prof will actually write a good one on behalf of the person, or pick a pick who barely knows them. There are a lot of clueless people out there.


really? thats interesting. I suppose it makes sense since no one would get a LOR from someone that wasn't likely to write a glowing review. And the ECs shows what kind of person some is through their actions rather than their words

The worst LOR I ever saw wasn't a red flag kind, it was something like a single sentence that stated the student's name, verified that he was a student of the prof, and that the student received a specific grade in the class. It was so bad that I was dying to tell the applicant "don't use this guy's LOR!" Alas, I'm not allowed to do that.
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What's the worst red flag you've ever seen in a LOR? 😀
 
studentp0x said:
What's the worst red flag you've ever seen in a LOR? 😀
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Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png
 
Goro said:
Something on the order that the the applicant was lazy and irresponsible, with examples to back it up.
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Seems like the student didn't ask his professor whether the letter would be good or bad. I think every applicant should do this before having a professor write a LOR.
 
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