writing your own recommendation letter?

[TurkTurkleton]

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One of my professors wants me to write my own LOR, and I have no idea where to start. He says he'll revise it later, so I'm hoping he won't just send exactly what I write. I googled some tips but it says the writer should include stuff that I wouldn't know. Also, am I supposed to talk about my other activities outside of class that I didn't tell my professor about (until I gave him my resume)? How vague or specific are examples supposed to be? How long is it supposed to be? How much am I supposed to talk about my performance in his class (non-science)? He told me to write it in 3rd person, so I guess I should use first person when I'm talking about my professor since it's supposed to be his point of view?

Ah I'm just a little lost. I've googled some samples, but some of them seem pretty cheesy and corny, so I'm not sure if those are templates I should really follow. Does anyone have a sample LOR from a professor's point of view I could look at?

 

[solstice]

Does your professor speak ENGLISH??!! I have heard dentist or doctors revise a recommendation supplied by student, but NEVER a professor. This is wired to be honest.
In any rate, now that you have this issue do not be shy and write every positive quality you think you have, yes do include activities outside class that are relevant such as helping other students, if you had done any tutoring, etc...
Also supply your personal statement (does not have to be your perfect draft, just whatever you have ready) with it, so he can revise it accordingly.

Still this is wired...

 

[spud daddy]

Do you mean weird? I had a professor ask me to write a letter of recommendation for myself and it was no big deal. He just explained that he wanted an idea of what I thought I wanted in a letter so he knew what strengths I wanted him to focus on. I believe it was a good letter and I just wrote some things that I thought I was good at and some positive aspects that I brought to the class.

 

[TurkTurkleton]

I had a professor ask me to write a letter of recommendation for myself and it was no big deal. He just explained that he wanted an idea of what I thought I wanted in a letter so he knew what strengths I wanted him to focus on.

That's what my professor said. I go to a big state school, and my professor teaches one of the required classes for the school's most popular major. He's had tons and tons of students just in the years I've been at the university. It's almost impossible for professors to get to know students well on an individual basis or remember details about conversations they've had with each student. My professor told me to write a strong LOR for myself so he knows what qualities are important to me so that he doesn't end up writing about something superficial.

At first I thought I should write an LOR in 1st person from his point of view, but just from reading the responses here and some stuff online, I think I should just write about myself in the 3rd person and he can add his own opinions in afterwards.

Any idea how long it should be?

 

[spud daddy]

That sounds perfect. I think anywhere between 2/3 of a page to a page is the perfect length. Mine was only a half a page because it is hard to "brag" about yourself. By the way I think scrubs is hilarious.

 

[HopefulDDStobe]

ahh..didn't think of that, my professor never asked me to do that, but thats a good idea, to give them a general idea on what I want.I did give them my personal statement as well.
my dentist did ask me to write myself my LOR, though..I was like..ughh..is that allowed? and he said if he has to do LOR by himself he would be doing it every month. lol. I have never done this before but I guess its common, i just thought its kinda weird.

 

[schen140]

letters of rec's are a pain


is there any instructions or format we should advise our writers to write the letters in...or is it basically whatever they want to write about, in whatever style they wish?

 

[icedspice]

some warnings for the people who had to write a rough copy of a recc letter ---

1. don't sound too much like your personal statement -- if the professor doesn't email you a final copy before he sends it out, he might send it with the same lingo. So... if you mentioned Activity A using the same words, the prof might not totally change it up.

2. talk about activities that have come up in a conversation with the professor. Even though some professors dont have enough time to know eveeery single detail about you, you should have at least talked to him (and hopefully gotten him interested) in one of your activities.

3. once you mention an activity, its not the end. you have already talked about the activity in your application. What you would need to include is a personality trait that you believe is strong in you and a trait that stands out from others. Something that the professor noticed in you --- your hard work, your compassion, ability to connect with others, multi-tasking, --- and how that trait is helpful in doing well in dental school.

hope that helps. i know its a lil vague... but its about yooou 🙂 so think of it as another personal statement.. in 3rd person 😀 and not aaaas detailed.