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Asked to write own LOR


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I've been asked to write my own LORs by my professors; so I have a few doubts. Is there a prescribed length for a LOR?; I've come across 2 page long LORs as well as 5-line ones. Also must I mention some negative points about myself too? Any other tips on writing the LOR are also welcome.

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I've been asked to write my own LORs by my professors; so I have a few doubts. Is there a prescribed length for a LOR?; I've come across 2 page long LORs as well as 5-line ones. Also must I mention some negative points about myself too? Any other tips on writing the LOR are also welcome.

Hmm.... why are they doing this? Because they don't want to write the letters themselves, or because they don't know you well enough, or some other reason? It's also odd that all of your professors want you to do this - is this standard at your university?

I wouldn't worry too much about length - probably about the same as a SOP.

As for content, I'd look to some of your potential schools' LOR forms. Several of mine have a series of questions with the generic range of questions (i.e. "Is this student ready for grad school?" "Totally; yes; kind of; meh; no"). I remember that Temple has a thorough one (gawd, they even have a form for the registrar!). Direct your LOR so that it preemptively answers these kinds of questions.

Focus on your achievements - generally, of course, but also specifically in each of your professors' course(s). Also talk about any other contact you may have had with them - did you serve on the same committee? Help with research? Mention papers and what your argument was. Of course, this means each LOR will be specific to each professor. Talk about how you're prepared to address your proposed research plan and graduate school in general.

Good luck - what an odd assignment!

Edited by Chumlee
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I was just asked the same thing by my 2nd recommender. (I'm currently in a PhD program but am looking to transfer.) Apparently it's not that uncommon, especially when the person doesn't feel as though they have a strong enough grasp of your character and abilities to write it themselves. Don't sweat it; look back a few pages on this forum and you'll find several threads on the topic.

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Im facing a similar problem .. they want you to draft it .. because I believe the professors mainly in India are not so used to writing them .. my professor really likes me she asked me to draft one and send it over and she will make the changes accordingly . I have a huge problem .. as I have to do it for all 3 writers and I fear the tone of writing will remain the same /

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I've been asked to write my own LORs by my professors; so I have a few doubts. Is there a prescribed length for a LOR?; I've come across 2 page long LORs as well as 5-line ones. Also must I mention some negative points about myself too? Any other tips on writing the LOR are also welcome.

i was asked by a PI whom i interned for. he is super busy, and therefore asked me to do it. having never written such a thing before, i googled sample letters and extracted ideas from them. by the end of the day, i wrote a pretty good letter. i think. then i sent that to him, which he edited slightly (perhaps) and turned in. it was about a page long, and i don't think he might have extended it. for all my stuff (SoP, LoR, resume), i set the golden bar at 1 page because.. well, dudes in admission committee have hundreds of these shoved at em, and they might not take kindly to those which are long and boring.

for the negative points, i could think of none. i mean, i do suck at o-chem, but that's trivial compared to my work, research and publications. so i didn't mention anything along that line. if you did horrible in a class directly related to your field, make sure you explain it like 'he was sick that semester' or 'he doesn't excel in certain type of test procedures, that class being the one' or.. you get the idea. and they'll think that the prof is vouching for you.

good luck!

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