Writing your own LOE

[Turtle0223]

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Hi,

After quarter ended, I went to see my professor to pick up my final exam.
He saw my score and said he would like to write me a LOE, but
he said I will have to write a rough draft for him (he said that's his policy).
I'm not sure if I feel confident to write my own letter and embarrassed to recommend myself.
Should I ask another professor?

 

[Nontradunderdog]

I had to write 3 of my own letters, and it preyed in all of my personal insecurities.

 

[Hospitalized]

You don't have enough self-confidence to write a letter about yourself? Sigh.

 

[Turtle0223]

I just feel weird to recommend myself and wonder if it is ethical.

 

[jesie]

You've got to do what you've got to do at a certain point.

You know what kinds of things the letter 'needs' to say, so start there. Look up examples that people have posted and bring in some stories from your interactions with this professor.

 

[Turtle0223]

Will do. Thank you!

 

[aldol16]

Is this guy your last/only option? If so, you don't have a choice. But if you have another option who you believe will write you an equally good letter, then ask the other person. While it's doable to write your own letter (with the assumption that the professor will edit it a little bit to add a few anecdotes), you generally want somebody else's perspective because they usually see you in a different light than you see you. In other words, you're going to be selling yourself in your personal statement, secondaries, and interviews. You don't want to re-emphasize the same things that those things emphasize in your LORs - your LORs should add something new and strong.

 

[Turtle0223]

Thank you so much!

 

[CastleWolfenstein]

I ended up writing all four of my letters because no one emailed me back, even though 3/4 had already told me they were willing and able to do so. I got frustrated with trying to contact them, so I ended up writing and sending them out hoping they would just glance at it, make any edits as necessary, and upload them. 4/4 came back within a week.