Strengths

[SRod2015]

I am in the process of typing a list of strengths that I possess for a professor who was kind enough to write a recommendation letter. She would like a list of my strengths.

This is what I have so far

1) Good time management

2) Strong interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills

3) Experience in problem solving

4) Awareness and competence in working with culturally and linguistically diverse client populations

5) Excellent analytical and reasoning skills

6) Empathy for populations with communication disorders and speech delays

7) Organized and detail oriented

Are these appropriate as strengths for a recommendation letter for a Speech Language Pathology grad school? Are they any I should delete or add?

 

[SouthernDrawl]

If I were you, I would use this as an opportunity to be specific. It will make the letter sound more boiler plate. List some experiences that have given you those transferable skills and competencies. Have you tutored? Worked in CLD settings? When, specifically, did you hone those communication skills? I would list those specifics so as to avoid the resulting competencies seeming vague.

[Jolie717]

Agreed.  One thing I tried to do in my SOP was to use my experiences/accomplishments to showcase my strengths, without having to even mention the strength directly by name if that makes sense.  

[Apogeee]

For each strength on your list, list 5 examples of specific times you used this strength. In other words, connect each strength on your list to at least 5 accomplishments. Weed out those items on your list for which it's harder to come up with concrete examples, or for which the examples are vague.

[SouthernDrawl]

1 hour ago, Apogeee said:

For each strength on your list, list 5 examples of specific times you used this strength. In other words, connect each strength on your list to at least 5 accomplishments. Weed out those items on your list for which it's harder to come up with concrete examples, or for which the examples are vague.

I think 5 is a bit much. Unless you are established in a relevant career or volunteering through multiple organizations, it would be a stretch for anyone. IMO, one concrete example should suffice. Professors are busy, adcoms are even busier, and emailing a wall of text can have an inhibitory effect. Be respectful of their time, cut the buzz-word jargon as much as possible, use bullets or numbering, and hone in on the three or four traits your experiences most clearly illustrate.

[Apogeee]

44 minutes ago, SouthernDrawl said:

I think 5 is a bit much.

You make a good point that I should have clarified. You are not giving all of these reasons to your writers of recommendations. You are using this to determine your actual strengths. If you don't have 5 concrete examples, it's not a strength so much as something you would like to see become a strength. As SouthernDrawl mentioned, you aren't going to send that list to your writers. One from each of those would be good.

Cura ut valeas.

Laura

[SRod2015]

Thank you everyone!