Writing your own Letter

[ranmyaku]

I am a second year med student. I am applying for a research position and need two letters of recommendation. I have asked one of my professors I have worked with in my first year. The problem is that he wants me to write my own letter and then give it to him so he can add his own "personal" touches i guess.

How the hell do I write my own letter? I have no idea what to say.. Anyone have to do this themselves? if so, guidance would be greatly appreciated.

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[deleted109597]

Find someone else to do it. People that do this are pricks.

 

[OncoCaP]

I am a second year med student. I am applying for a research position and need two letters of recommendation. I have asked one of my professors I have worked with in my first year. The problem is that he wants me to write my own letter and then give it to him so he can add his own "personal" touches i guess.

How the hell do I write my own letter? I have no idea what to say.. Anyone have to do this themselves? if so, guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I had a prof do that to me one time ... then she sat on the letter for 6mos and I finally gave up and had someone else write a letter -- the best decision I ever made about that kind of thing (I winded up getting a much better recommendation from a more respected prof). I agree with the other poster -- find someone else.

 

[Rugby MD]

look up some samples online. Monster.com might work or just google it!
good luck

 

[deuist]

To write your own letter, make a list of stories that demonstrate how the prof knows you. Maybe you did something in the lab that caught his/her eye. Next, formulate why those stories are important (e.g., they show that you are ethical, creative, hard working, etc...). Finally, write your letter in the following style:

Paragraph 1: "I recommend ________ for this position because s/he is ethical, creative, and a hard worker."

Paragraph 2: Story #1 of how you came up with a process that will save the lab one hour on every cell line it examines.

Paragraph 3: Story #2 of how you recognized your limitations and looked up articles to solve a problem.

... continue for the rest of the page...

Last paragraph: "Again, I can think of no other person than _________ who will fit well with the culture at lab/company X. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me."


Some parting tips: use as many verbs as possible, and as few adjectives. Any rec letter will say, "this person is smart," but a letter that gives an example of how the professor knows that the student is smart shows that the professor has had a working relationship with the student and can comment on his/her abilities.

 

[MystikBliss]

Pleaseeeeeeee find someone else to do it! Everyone else is right. Having you do it yourself means that they don't want to take the time to do it. Find someone who knows how important letters are and WANTS to help you or you could find yourself waiting and waiting and waiting...

 

[vtucci]

Writing your own letter is a tremendous opportunity. The professor may not be lazy and just really wants to hear what you think of yourself.

I had to write two LORs to get into medical school so I know it can be an interesting exercise but well worth the time.

 

[dr1day]

Writing your own letter is a tremendous opportunity. The professor may not be lazy and just really wants to hear what you think of yourself.

I had to write two LORs to get into medical school so I know it can be an interesting exercise but well worth the time.

I kind of agree with you on this. The professor could just be lazy or he could want to see what you have to say. Think about it. If you can't think of any reasons (with evidence to back it up) why you should get the position, why should he/she spend time trying to come up with them? He/she may look at your letter and say, "OK, now I feel comfortable writing the letter" and write it without using any of what you wrote or he/she could use your examples, but add some personal touches. Either way, I think it'd be an interesting activity.

 

[deleted109597]

Or it could be a test by the professor to see exactly how pretentious you are. Some professors do this, and then don't use the letter but write their own.

 

[QofQuimica]

Writing your own letter is a tremendous opportunity. The professor may not be lazy and just really wants to hear what you think of yourself.

I had to write two LORs to get into medical school so I know it can be an interesting exercise but well worth the time.

I agree. I really don't think this is nearly as big of a deal as so many people make it out to be. It's one thing if you write your own letter, sign your prof's name to it, and send it out without his or her knowledge. I hope we can all agree that doing something like that is completely unethical. But if the prof asks you to write a draft for him, which he can then read, edit, or throw away altogether, that is his prerogative. What I don't get is, how is doing this different than handing your prof your CV and some bullet points about what you'd like him to include in the letter? No one has ever been able to give me a good answer on that, and at the same time, no one has ever seriously argued that it was unethical for me to give my profs copies of my CV when I asked them to write LORs for me, either.

 

[t33sg1rl]

Positive spin:
The guy does want to write a letter for you, but I bet you $100 that you did NOT give him a current CV with that stamped envelope, as courtesy requires... He just doesn't know the facts of your situation. I had letter writers in that position applying to medical school, so I gave them a copy of my AMCAS, personal statement and all. That way they had something to work with and they could comment on my specific experiences. Even with that, one prof admitted that she just didn't have time, and asked me to write a letter. I wrote it and gave it to her. She added a final glowing paragraph using a lot of words that I was too humble to include and sent it off. (She also gave me some extra signed originals so I could send them out as needed in the future-now that's what I call a cool prof).

Here's what you should do: Write a letter that's fairly biographical. Summarize your academic credentials and state that you are well prepared academically. Then summarize relevant experience, and repeat again how you're totally ready for this new project. I wouldn't put a lot of "spin" in your letter besides saying that you are 1) prepared 2) competent and 3) very excited about the project. Let your letter writer add his own personal opinion-don't write "I can't think of any other candidate more qualified" because you'll be putting words in the guy's mouth.
Anyway, this isn't a trick, your writer just needs some help, and you're better off giving it to him now-otherwise, he'll always remember you as the student who wanted a recommendation but was too lazy to put in 30 minutes to help him out.

 

[QofQuimica]

Pleaseeeeeeee find someone else to do it! Everyone else is right. Having you do it yourself means that they don't want to take the time to do it. Find someone who knows how important letters are and WANTS to help you or you could find yourself waiting and waiting and waiting...

Not necessarily. If you have ever been in a position where you had to write multiple LORs for your students in a short period of time, then you know that you are describing a simple law of supply and demand here. Consider that you, the student, are not asking for your LOR in a vacuum. In fact, there are probably dozens of students all needing letters at once, and only one professor. The letters are very important to the students, while they don't mean nearly as much to the prof. Now, based on who cares most about getting the letter done and whose time is more available, why shouldn't the student contribute the bulk of the time and effort into getting the letter drafted? It's the student who cares about getting the letter done, and the student's time is relatively more plentiful; he only has to draft one letter. And seriously, if you can't even explain in a page long draft why you think you should get to go to med school or why you deserve the scholarship or research position or whatever, then how on earth do you expect the prof to be able to do it? Again, think of it as being a personal statement. For some reason, no one ever objects to the idea of handing a prof their PS.

 

[ANCAdoc]

The ethics of the situation comes into question. Don't do it. Find someone else. Tell your other reference the situation and ask for their guidance.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

The ethics of the situation comes into question. Don't do it. Find someone else. Tell your other reference the situation and ask for their guidance.

The ethics violation is on the part of the writer who is duty bound to those who receive the letter to ensure it is an accurate reflection of his/her impressions of the applicant. This obligation is not related to the number of letters one writes or who drafts it or who reads it. I get asked to review manuscripts, write letters, etc, all the time, including when I am very busy with patient care and grant writing. I accept those I can do and decline those I can't.

It is best if the applicant not take up this offer due to the possibility that this will not be the case. Of course there is a a gray area, just as there is a gray area in many such things, but the likelihood that the faculty will sign without reading and editing is substantial. If one can be assured that the ghost-written letter will be edited substantially (always gray areas...), then certainly it is not an issue, but I don't know how an applicant can be certain of that in advance.

In practical terms, although I am certain I can be tricked by ghost-written letters since I am not perfect, I look for, and include things in letters that should not be written by the applicant. This includes comparisons with other applicants ("she is the best summer student I've had"), reflections on interpersonal interactions ("he related well to the research subjects"), etc. Were I to learn that such comments were ghost-written by the applicant, I would not be pleased.

By the way, although we disagree on this, I miss hearing from you Q...How is vacation going?

OBP

 

[vtucci]

I was also a professor and wrote several LORs for students applying to law school.

With regard to some of the comments regarding ethics.... there is nothing unethical about a student drafting a LOR when asked to do so by the professor. It is the professor's obligation to review the draft and make changes/corrections to it. For areas that the student cannot possibly know (i.e. how they compare to other students), you can leave it blank (i.e., Student X is in the Top ______% of students that I have had the opportunity to supervise) for the professor to fill out.

Another consideration, some faculty ask students to write their own LORs because the professor's first language is not english and they are not as articulate writing in english as their students can be.