Writing your own LOR

[cfx]

How common is this? Has anyone here been asked to do this? What did you write?

It makes me somewhat uncomfortable, as something about it seems cheap and dishonest...I'm also not someone who has an easy time talking about myself in a less-than-humble way ("get over it," I know).

I feel like, if I do this, I will drive myself nuts trying to concoct my ideal letter that I would normally dream of getting. What to do...what to do...

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[klmnop]

How common is this? Has anyone here been asked to do this? What did you write?

It makes me somewhat uncomfortable, as something about it seems cheap and dishonest...I'm also not someone who has an easy time talking about myself in a less-than-humble way ("get over it," I know).

I feel like, if I do this, I will drive myself nuts trying to concoct my ideal letter that I would normally dream of getting. What to do...what to do...

i've done this. its usually someone that wants to help but knows they will not be able to write a good letter based on time constraints or not enough information. is it lazy, yes, but it is also a golden opportunity.

don't aim for an ideal letter because it will sound bs-ed. the key is to make a few compliments, and back them up with specific evidence. this is what adcoms like to see. they don't like empty statements that have little value and don't set people apart.

think about your relationship with the letter writer, what they know about you, what they could easily know about you, and think about what is the best thing they could say. ex: "so and so has shown remarkable leadership skills in our lab by designing his own X project" "he has definitely been one of my top five most knowledgeable and effective students"

these are examples, depends on your relationship. this is very common because a lot of profs, employers, etc. get asked to do this a lot, and in all honesty this is a lot better than having them put your name in a 'mail merge' form document (which i have also had) that tells nothing of your individual accomplishments and qualities.

if you are not comfortable, perhaps you could express this to the writer, but you should probably just do it and not use it, but instead find someone else who can put aside the time to write a meaningful letter.

 

[dancingdoctor13]

i was asked to do the same thing, but it was waaay to awkward for me and i passed. But to be honest, I feel teachers who ask you to do that simply cannot be bothered to write a letter and therefore are not obviously in your corner (just my 2 cents)...I feel if the professor didn't take the time to re-read or re-word my letter in any case, the writing style would be eerily similar to perhaps my personal statement or other essays within the application and i didn't want to have that on my shoulders to bear. But it is really a matter of preference whether or not you want to go through with it.

 

[cfx]

Thanks for the responses, so far.

kmnop-did you write just about your experiences within the specific context that the supposed letter writer knew you, or did you delve in your ECs, etc.?

I see what you're saying, dancingdoctor, this is how I feel as well. However, I can also recognize that it is an opportunity to ensure that I get a strong a letter...but perhaps I would write a weaker letter than someone else would from the outside.

 

[klmnop]

kmnop-did you write just about your experiences within the specific context that the supposed letter writer knew you, or did you delve in your ECs, etc.?

i did this twice actually but ended up only using one. one was shadowing and the other was non-clinical volunteering in a clinical setting, so neither of which really knew about my strengths as they pertained to medical school. instead, i mentioned a few general things that set me apart from other volunteers, students, and then delved into what else i have done extracellularly. most of which either the letter writer already knew briefly, or could have easily known in a quick conversation. also, both of these writers looked over what i had written and approved it, saying it met their standards and was not too over-the-top. in fact, i feel the only way they would not approve would be if you either lied or undersold yourself, which is not helpful.

 

[cfx]

What seems especially awkward is writing something as if you were the instructor (e.g., "I had the pleasure of having cfx in my class...") and giving yourself accolades from their perspective that you have no clue if they are true ("cfx was one of the best students I have ever had!!!!"). Do you just leave this crap out, and let them fill it in if they want? She told me that she would "edit" it, but I assume she will do so as minimally as possible.

 

[klmnop]

its up to you man, i can tell you though that a mediocre letter (ie. one that does not praise the students) is just as bad as a negative letter, because 99% of letters are at least slightly positive, and the most important thing is to have one that distinguishes you from 4,000 other applicants

 

[Guile]

Your letter writer isn't expecting you to be humble in this letter. Just write it as if you were a LOR writer, and that includes the "I had the pleasure of having cfx in my class..." They just want you to do this to save them some time. They will just use it as an outline and modify it as they see fit. It's not very uncommon.

 

[GlamDoc]

Make it awesome! You don't have to worry about what their intentions were when they told you to write it. You are writing your own rec letter...make it golden.

 

[Xcited392]

To appease your conscience, try to mention your weaknesses--it'll seem more honest.

Of course, don't use the letter to talk only about your weaknesses. . .

Like others have said, mention your strengths and back them up with examples, and then couple that with some flaws. Make sure you talk about how you've overcome or improved those weaknesses.

 

[Guile]

To appease your conscience, try to mention your weaknesses--it'll seem more honest.

Of course, don't use the letter to talk only about your weaknesses. . .

Like others have said, mention your strengths and back them up with examples, and then couple that with some flaws. Make sure you talk about how you've overcome or improved those weaknesses.

I don't think LORs discuss flaws in people. They have to be very positive....

 

[PanicAttack]

This feels wrong at first but it's a great opportunity. I wrote 2 of my own letters and I didn't like the idea at first but thinking about the following is how I "got over it."

--it feels like an unfair advantage at first, but then consider that it's pretty common for this to happen to other applicants (the competition)
--the letter writer might be motivated by laziness, but it's also likely that they just want you to be successful, and recognize that you can do a better job of highlighting the right things than they can. They don't know as much about the application process and what traits are the most important, you do, so they defer to you.
--if you really overshoot on selling yourself, they'll be reading over it anyway and have the final edit, so it's not like it's lying or anything.

One of the LOR "writers" who did this for me said: "Sell yourself as well as you can. If it's overkill, I'll take it down a notch."

 

[premed67783]

I have a professor that asked me to write a "draft" letter, which is a base for her to start from. I dont think it's because she is lazy, she explained that it just helps her to write the best letter possible, which makes perfect sense. She also told me not to be humble, and make it sound as great as I want. My guess is that she'll go through and filter out the bs before finalizing and signing it.

I'm in the process of writing my draft letter right now, and I was wondering how long letters of recommendation typically are. Does anyone know a word count/character count/page count to shoot for?

 

[addo]

sub-subcontract it- ask someone with good writing abilities to write the letter, then give it to your professor.

 

[OneMCATAway]

on my days letters were confidential, you guys are so lucky to even read your LORs let alone write your own

 

[Guile]

on my days letters were confidential, you guys are so lucky to even read your LORs let alone write your own

You don't get to read the final draft. Do you think the professor just prints what you send him and signs it? No they make adjustments as they see fit. It's just a time-saving idea, and while I personally wouldn't do it if I were writing a LOR, I don't blame them.

 

[klmnop]

I don't think LORs discuss flaws in people. They have to be very positive....

no flaws. unfortunately only glowing letters are considered positive by adcoms

 

[klmnop]

You don't get to read the final draft. Do you think the professor just prints what you send him and signs it? No they make adjustments as they see fit. It's just a time-saving idea, and while I personally wouldn't do it if I were writing a LOR, I don't blame them.

i applied to a school where the letter could be mailed (not amcas, interfolio or whatever) thus i was asked to write it myself, and i ended up mailing it myself with an envelope from the place. they just signed it and asked me to send it in cause they were too lazy to use the online system. weird, but amazing.

 

[Guile]

i applied to a school where the letter could be mailed (not amcas, interfolio or whatever) thus i was asked to write it myself, and i ended up mailing it myself with an envelope from the place. they just signed it and asked me to send it in cause they were too lazy to use the online system. weird, but amazing.

Wow. You're an exception. That doesn't happen very often.