Familiarity in LoR's

[Happington]

I've tried looking through the forums for similar questions, however was unable to find one.

I recently had to replace one of my letter writers as my ideal writer was unable to complete a letter in time, and the school I was applying to was getting impatient.  The letter I received to replace it was extremely positive, hitting on everything that I'd done at the school, as well as my work with the prof.  However they never once used my full formal name.

This isn't really a case of my preferred name being extremely different from my formal one.  It's a simple substitution of "Nick" vs "Nicholas", which all the profs I work closely with know is preferred.  I'm not worried about recognition, as this is likely the most common name substitution around, and I'm applying to an American school, where I'm sure they'd know it.  I was wondering if this level of familiarity between a letter writer and the student they're writing for damages or helps the credibility of the letter.

It seems that this is actually the case for two of my three writers (the third referring to me as Mr. X.)  Two of the three writers gave me copies of their letters (unsolicited, I almost wish they hadn't, I don't need this stress) and a faculty member of the school to which I applied to sent me an interview request using the shortened version of my name, rather than the full one, leading me to believe the letter he had already seen likely referred to me as "Nick", as none of the other material I submitted did.

My questions:  Does this level of familiarity between writer and student damage, or help the credibility of the letter?  If I require the letter to be sent for new applications, I'll obviously ask the professor to spell my last name correctly, however should I also ask for them to change references of me to my full name?  If yes for the previous question, should I contact the letter writer  who I ASSUME used the short version, and ask them to abstain from using the shortened version, if they did?

[TakeruK]

Maybe this is just a cultural difference between the letter writers. In North America, I would expect my letter writers to use "Nicohlas" but never "Mr. X". I would even say that if I had a choice in how the letter reads, I would prefer it say "Nicohlas" because "Mr. X" is so formal, it sounds like the letter writer doesn't even know me well enough to call me by my preferred name.

However, as I said, this is a cultural difference, and most letter readers are wise enough to understand that in some cultures/writing styles, "Mr. X" is the way one would write while "Nick" is the way another person would write. They would understand that there is no need to deeply analyze the choice of name used by the letter writer, so I would not worry about it as they would evaluate the letter on its content about you, not the name.

----

With all that said, you should be addressed by the name you prefer. In North America, it's common for people to mistakenly assume that people named "Nicholas" or "Johnathan" or "Benjamin" to want to be called "Nick" or "Jon" or "Ben" instead. However, if you want to be called "Nicholas" instead of "Nick", it's fine to correct the other person and say that you prefer Nicholas. There are several ways you can accomplish this:

1. Sign your next email to the professor as "Nicholas" and see if they catch on. 

2. In your email response to the professor that called you "Nick", you can just add a sentence that indicates that you prefer to be called "Nicholas". Sometimes this can be viewed as being overly stuffy/formal, so I would try to phrase it in a friendly way and sandwich it between other lighter comments.

3. You could wait until your next in-person interaction to correct the other person as in-person corrections like this are less formal than an email. But, you might not see this person for awhile and by then, it might be harder to make the correction.

Unfortunately, it's going to be a little awkward to correct a professor on your name, but it's your right to be called by your preferred name. They should not have assumed in the first place. If you just simply and politely ask them to use "Nicholas" then it should not be a problem at all. They would understand!

[Happington]

Ah, maybe I was a bit unclear.

I prefer Nick, I just was worried that the admitting department may feel that the friendliness between myself and my letter writers damages their ability to objectively recommend me.  You give me the impression that this is not the case, and I appreciate it.

[TakeruK]

Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding (i had thought you meant you preferred Nick but then the later sentence about wondering how the other prof used Nick instead of Nicholas made me doubt myself).

In addition to what I said above, I also think the purpose of the LOR is to get a (professionally**) subjective recommendation from someone who knows your work well. Every LOR should say great glowing things about the candidate, the committee isn't looking for an unbiased opinion. 

(** I say professionally subjective to distinguish it from getting a letter from someone like, an uncle who is a prof is a different field and would write great things about you because you are their relative!)

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, this is nothing to worry about. And is yet another reason why students should not view their LORs -- so much unnecessary drama and speculation is read into a situation that warrants none of it.