Letter of Intent for Recommender

[ridofme]

Hi All,

One of my referees asked for my letter of intent in order to craft a letter of recommendation. This is obviously a legit request, especially considering it's an undergrad prof whom I haven't spoken to in years, not to mention the fact that I've slightly switched paths since then. That said, my statement of purpose is in an early draft stage! (I assume that by asking for a letter of intent, this is what she would be looking for). I have three different versions going, none of which I am satisfied with, and I certainly wouldn't want to pass along any of them to someone meant to assess my academic merit. But my first deadlines are approaching in a number of weeks, so I don't want wait to have a final draft before I send her something.

A friend suggested that I write a more straightforward explanation of my goals and the programs to which I am applying to get her something more quickly. But he is currently finishing up an MBA, so I wonder if his perspective isn't appropriate for public policy/affairs applications, where most adcoms with whom I've spoken emphasize creating a narrative, demonstrating your commitment to public service, and showing that you understand what such a degree entails and what it can do for you/your career. The statement of purpose that I am developing goes into a lot of detail about my work in the area of policy that I want to pursue, and I am struggling to get it just right, whereas this information might not be so relevant to this particular referee who is supposed to be judging my general academic abilities.

So do you think it's wise to get her something very straightforward more quickly? How much time before my first deadline should she expect to have all relevant materials?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[iowaguy]

Ideally you would give your LOR writers at least a month. All 3 of mine requested that I sent them my letter of intent.

Think of it as good motivation to work on your SOP

[TakeruK]

Sometimes my LOR writers have asked for the entire application package, and this was for a prof that knew me well and supervised my research. It's definitely motivation to get things done earlier. However, I'm not too sure that you need to have a fully polished SOP for your LORs. If you are giving them the SOP a month in advance, you can let them know that it's still a work in progress. I suspect that they might care more about the content than the style of writing. For example, they would want to know that you are interested in Topic X so that they can write about how you will be great at studying Topic X. Although it's not impossible, I doubt that they will be "grading" your SOP and writing a letter based on that! Of course, you always want to present quality work, but they should understand that the SOP may go through a few more "polishing up" drafts between their version and the final submission.