What to write: LOR for MSW admission?

[MSWintended]

My work supervisor is an incredibly busy services manager (I am a direct care worker).  When I requested a letter of recommendation, she asked me to write my own, which she says she'll read over and sign.

 

Of course, I want to make sure I focus on my most important qualities in terms of MSW admission.  While I am quite self-aware, I am not certain which qualities will be most important in the eyes of MSW programs.

 

Any advice at all?! (Thank you!)

[HKsai]

I think that's actually illegal?

[themmases]

One of my references asked me to do this, and I declined but offered to write her some extra information on what my field is and what they're looking for. (This reference is a medical physicist; I'm interested in epidemiology. Also, English is not her first language.)

 

Personally I don't think I'd agree to do this in the future, either. Any normal person will be editing the letter themselves and just using it as an outline of your strong points and what the program cares about, so I don't really see it as unethical. However, I just don't really feel comfortable writing about myself in those terms. I think a lot of people wouldn't.

 

IMO it's fine to say you don't feel comfortable doing that-- because it's awkward and you don't know how to write a recommendation letter since you're just starting your career, not because you're questioning your reference's ethics-- and offer them more details about yourself and the program. If you have a draft SOP, that would be a great thing to include. So would a summary of what programs in your field want, and anything special about this program's focus.

[HKsai]

One of my references asked me to do this, and I declined but offered to write her some extra information on what my field is and what they're looking for. (This reference is a medical physicist; I'm interested in epidemiology. Also, English is not her first language.)

 

Personally I don't think I'd agree to do this in the future, either. Any normal person will be editing the letter themselves and just using it as an outline of your strong points and what the program cares about, so I don't really see it as unethical. However, I just don't really feel comfortable writing about myself in those terms. I think a lot of people wouldn't.

 

IMO it's fine to say you don't feel comfortable doing that-- because it's awkward and you don't know how to write a recommendation letter since you're just starting your career, not because you're questioning your reference's ethics-- and offer them more details about yourself and the program. If you have a draft SOP, that would be a great thing to include. So would a summary of what programs in your field want, and anything special about this program's focus.

I just thought that whenever you turn in a LOR you have to waive your right to look at the LOR. Also when you sign something, aren't you implicitly say that you are the writer of that specific letter? Tbh, I don't i've ever heard of anyone editing their LOR when most of the time the recommenders are supposed to upload the LOR directly to the engine to avoid situation like this. Again, this is bounderline unethical to me. The whole point of LOR is to let the committee hear what your professors have to say for you, not another SOP with your professor's signature.

[themmases]

It's actually not illegal or unethical to sign something written by someone else on your behalf, and a lot of jobs (including mine, where I speak for a committee and write letters that get signed by the chair) wouldn't exist if that were the case. Most LORs aren't totally origina compositions anyway-- they pull from past letters the reference has written and the applicant's materials.

 

Recommendation letters are a gray area because, of course, admissions committees want the honest opinion of the recommender. This is one reason application systems ask applicants to waive their right to view letters-- but applicants actually don't have to do that (otherwise it wouldn't be a right that has to be waived). It's a social and professional norm to waive that right, and many online application systems have the ability to tell your references whether you waived or not-- SOPHAS, for example, does warn you that it's normal to do and could affect whether your references feel comfortable being honest. But that doesn't make it unethical not to. Many people, including me, have been given a copy of their letters outside the system by references they were particularly close to, who wrote something glowing and wanted them to know.

 

It is unethical for a reference to submit a an unedited or barely edited letter written entirely by the applicant, and it's unethical for an applicant to write the letter if they know that might happen or to try to take advantage of the situation and write something glowing. Both of those situations would dishonestly represent the applicant's self-assessment as the reference's. But it's not wrong to give a reference an outline of what you need a good LOR to convey, if they do plan to write you a good one. I think this is what most references are getting at when they ask for this, because they may not be experts in your field or the requirements of your degree. Applicants should do what's smart to do anyway, by asking if references would feel comfortable writing a strong LOR and giving them a lot of information to help them do that themselves.