Write your own rec... I'll sign it

[fly1346]

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Got an A in my biochemistry class (was actually ranked 1), Professor knows me quite well! I went to all office hours, participated daily in class, he also knows me through my research and in in-charged of a program where high school students work in a lab for a summer (intel/westinghouse) and he has placed 2 high schoolers in my lab whom i mentored this past summer

I asked him to write a rec, and he said write one for yourself and I'll sign it

What do I do? It's hard to brag about yourself, especially to the med school admission committee

However this is a chance for me to really help me get a foot in the door by 'writing a strong letter'

Any suggestions?

 

[FlowRate]

I made a thread like this the other day.

It boils down to: have someone help you write a letter for yourself. Tell them what to include in the letter, have them write it. Edit it yourself, but not too heavily. Get group participation if you can. Possibly, get someone you've worked with under this prof. to help give you ideas. Make the letter awesome.

 

[NeuroLove]

Personally, I think this is very dishonest, and I am surprised that a professor would actually be ok with this. AMCAS has letters submitted by the letter-writer for a reason. Although this is an awesome opportunity to toot your own horn, I would think carefully before writing your own letter.

On the other hand, if I had the same chance, I would probably do it.

Are you sure the prof just doesn't want to see what you write then base his letter off of what you think/say about yourself?

 

[dingyibvs]

this happens all the time, just write a letter as glowing as possible for yourself. someone has already suggested specific ways of making it happen, so just go ahead and do that.

 

[Evergrey]

I'm really glad none of my professors gave me that option. I think having the creative freedom to write your own LOR would be far more anxiety-inducing than having to worry about someone's nondisclosable opinions about you.

 

[CoolWhipp]

Write about what you think your other writers are not going to be able to write about.

 

[apumic]

A letter written by you will be obviously by you (that is, you are likely to be "found out" in that regard) and will not have the "shine" of a good LOR. Go find someone else to write one for you as you, being an UG, don't know what a good LOR looks like. You haven't written hundreds of them nor do you have the outside perspective on yourself to write an effective letter so go find someone who does!

 

[biophysicianai]

figure out what you your strengths are
then, figure out which of them don't show through elsewhere
then, talk about those ones
lastly, talk about all your other strengths again for good measure 😀



btw: I really wish I had your problem.

 

[CoolWhipp]

It's better to write it and have an LOR you can use, rather then discard this opportunity which can be really advantageous, or at least a "life-saver." Many people on these forums get stuck without enough LORs to apply.

 

[Tattersall]

This sounds like a tricky situation to be in. If you are really uncomfortable writing about yourself, you might want to consider going back to the professor and saying something like: "I was just drafting a letter of recommendation and I guess I was finding it a bit tough to focus on exactly what would be appropriate for the letter. What do you think are some of the important strengths or experiences that should be conveyed?"

If you can't go on this sort of fishing expedition with the professor, consider running the situation past a friend who knows you. I'm sure the letter will sound more convincing if it paints a picture of you that develops or broadens what can be garnered from your application. Getting an outside perspective will help do that.

 

[sgtbrushes]

I would agree with the above poster who said go ahead and roll with it. Write it, have him sign it, and just hold on to it. You can decide later whether you want to submit it or not.

 

[tulli]

I had 2 letter writers say this, and so a 3rd letter writer agreed to pass along his letter to those two. That way they had a starting point, but there was no way I felt I could write my own.

 

[RandomAttending]

I have a few colleagues who do this on a regular basis. They don't have the time. As an applicant, be sure to MAKE IT EXCELLENT!

 

[locus000]

OP if you feel bad writing your own LOR then get some one else that you know whose possibly is good at writing to write it for you.

But take advantage of this situation and get yourself a good letter

 

[dw2158]

Personally, I think this is very dishonest, and I am surprised that a professor would actually be ok with this. AMCAS has letters submitted by the letter-writer for a reason. Although this is an awesome opportunity to toot your own horn, I would think carefully before writing your own letter.

On the other hand, if I had the same chance, I would probably do it.

Are you sure the prof just doesn't want to see what you write then base his letter off of what you think/say about yourself?

how is it dishonest if the prof signs it? as my boss told me when he made me write my LOR in may, this is the way the real world works.

this happens all the time, just write a letter as glowing as possible for yourself. someone has already suggested specific ways of making it happen, so just go ahead and do that.

👍 consider this a gift-- you are getting to control a bit of the one part of the application that you usually don't have control over!

Write about what you think your other writers are not going to be able to write about.

good advice.

 

[mmmcdowe]

This completely misses the point of what a recommendation letter is. The time for you to talk about yourself is your PS, AMCAS, secondaries and interviews. Your application needs input from outside of yourself in order to be a more complete representation of yourself.

I think your application will be stronger with a letter written by an actual professor. You do not have the perspective of yourself that a professor has, and having that perspective in your application will strengthen it. If he won't write the letter, consider finding someone else. He clearly does not understand the purpose of a recommendation letter.

Exactly.

 

[ChiDO]

Exactly.

Wrong.

I have one friend who wrote ALL his own LORs and brought them to people to sign and send in. At EVERY INTERVIEW (10 of them to be exact), they commented on how his LORs were the best they had seen ever...and this isn't one of those generic comments from the interviewers.

I have had the opportunity to read a bunch of LORs and they are all pretty ****ty and generic...you would be surprised. Nothing stands out and they all sound the same.

If you have the chance to write your own LOR, you better make it the best f'ing letter you ever wrote. Take this opportunity and run with it..it's the best way to get great LORs.

 

[JonSwan]

I don't think this is the case of a prof who doesn't understand the purpose of a LOR; on the contrary, I think this is a reward from a prof who has a great impression of you and is giving you the gift of an amazing LOR. This is absolutely not the time to be modest nor is it "cheating" or "dishonest". A write-your-own-rec is a golden opportunity and I'm sure most profs who do this are well-aware of its "golden opportunitiness" and are not simply being lazy.

 

[nabeel76]

If your going to write the letter yourself, make sure you get it proofread by the professor before submitting it to him. Not only will this give you an opportunity to get some additional comments from him -thereby making your letter even stronger by emphasizing things that you hadn't thought about - but also the letter will begin to sound like it was written in his words, as opposed to your own. I have been told that admissions committee's are pretty good at spoting letters that sound like they were written by the applicant himself/herself.

If your letter sounds like it was written by you, admissions committees will place less weight on that letter and place more emphasis on your other letters. In your case, since you know this professor so well and he thinks highly of you, you'd ruin an otherwise great opportunity for an excellent letter.

 

[sleepy425]

Personally, I think this is very dishonest, and I am surprised that a professor would actually be ok with this. AMCAS has letters submitted by the letter-writer for a reason. Although this is an awesome opportunity to toot your own horn, I would think carefully before writing your own letter.

On the other hand, if I had the same chance, I would probably do it.

Are you sure the prof just doesn't want to see what you write then base his letter off of what you think/say about yourself?

This definitely is not dishonest. It's a very common practice (that's not to say that most LORs are self-written, but it's definitely not rare) and only gets more common as you move down the career path.

AMCAS has letters submitted by the letter-writer because, in many cases, letter writers will not agree to write a letter unless you waive your right so see the letter. So AMCAS has this direct submission pathway to accommodate letter-writers who don't want the student to read the letter.

Ultimately, if the letter is signed by the professor, it's as if they wrote the thing themselves, and the fact that you wrote it is unimportant.

 

[dw2158]

Wrong.

I have one friend who wrote ALL his own LORs and brought them to people to sign and send in. At EVERY INTERVIEW (10 of them to be exact), they commented on how his LORs were the best they had seen ever...and this isn't one of those generic comments from the interviewers.

I have had the opportunity to read a bunch of LORs and they are all pretty ****ty and generic...you would be surprised. Nothing stands out and they all sound the same.

If you have the chance to write your own LOR, you better make it the best f'ing letter you ever wrote. Take this opportunity and run with it..it's the best way to get great LORs.

i agree with this. i had so much fun writing my letter. it was the first time i had gone all out and bragged hardcore about how awesome i am. (obviously the goal of your PS, etc. is to do this, but you can't be as explicit about it!) take this as a gift and run with it, buddy.

 

[NeuroLove]

I guess I just didn't realize how common that was--it is unheard of at my undergrad. (EDIT: I went to a very small private undergrad with only about 40 premeds)

As I said, I would probably write my own letter if I had the chance. I guess my first response was based on my (apparently inaccurate) belief that this was uncommon. 🙄

 

[Steeler7588]

Write about what you think your other writers are not going to be able to write about.

Exactly. The best letters reveal something useful about you, they're not recapping your achievements like I'm sure mine were, so this is a special opportunity to let committees know something specific about you. Go all out!

And it's not dishonest at all if the professor signs it.

 

[dingyibvs]

Exactly.

no, that's so wrong. most professors have stacks upon stacks of LORs to write and you think they have the time to offer unique perspectives on all of them? No. Most of them have a rubric like "this is for A", this is for "B+," etc. and just plug and chug a few details from your CV.

 

[sleepy425]

no, that's so wrong. most professors have stacks upon stacks of LORs to write and you think they have the time to offer unique perspectives on all of them? No. Most of them have a rubric like "this is for A", this is for "B+," etc. and just plug and chug a few details from your CV.

yep, my undergrad PI did this with his students. I believe As got the word "extremely" used in their letter, Bs got the word "very" used in the letter, and Cs had no adverbs, just adjectives.