Writing your own LORs

[Guest bianca]

I was just wondering... did any of you have to write their own LORs?

you see, where I come from, professors are not very used to writing LORs because not many organizations require them. so when I approached all 3 of them to ask a LOR, they said: Sure, you know I'll sign it, just right it and send it to me!

does that ever happen with the US professors?

thanks

[Guest evelyn]

i don't think that happens here...that would be hard! i guess it could be good too because you know yourself and your strengths better than anyone.

[meridionale]

I've noticed it's more international students who write their own recommendations. I've seen a few people in applyingtograd say their professors asked them to write their own recs, but I'd just feel weird about it. I mean, it kind of goes against the idea of you being reviewed by professors/people you've worked with and turns into another personal statement. If I could write my own recommendation, it would sound like I came from grad applicant heaven! Hahah.

"This student is the best student I have ever had. She embodies every trait an academic and future professional should have, and you'd be stupid not to let her in your program. STUPID. Sincerely yours, Professor X."

[Guest]

Everything has its down side, right? The adcom is fully aware of this, so they don't really respect foreign LoRs unless the recommender is well-known or works in a well-known, qualified institution.

[Guest Bella]

really?

so they decide on gforeign applicants without taking into consideration the recommendations?

[Guest]

Bella, I'm not sure to what extent the adcom appreciate foreign LoRs from professors they will never heard of. But in developing Asian countries, professors usually do not have the practive of writing LoRs. A student can ask a professor's permission to write his/her own LoR (kind of self-description ) and then have the professor read and sign it. Of course, she/he must have good relationship with the professor.

[Guest Bella]

yeah, we do the same thing in South East Europe . I just hoped that those 10 days or so that I spent trying to write 3 different and realistic LORs for myself would at least pay off. oh well...

[gradgirl]

I don't know, I think it happens here sometimes too. Before I was given my own class as a TA, I had to 'team-teach' a class with an established faculty member for a semester. This guy would never write recommendations for his students--he always told them to write their own, and he'd read it and sign it. I think it was related to being too busy, having too high of a paperwork load, and possibly (gasp) being lazy. I mean, if you think about it, as a professor you probably get a lot of students wanting LORs, and telling them to write their own liberates you of those demands on your time. Also, in some cases the guy wouldn't know and/or would barely remember who the student asking for an LOR was, so he'd rationalize having them write their own by concluding that they know themselves better than he knows them.

On a related note, I've had to write a couple of LORs for my students already. I felt weird about it since I'm not even done with my MA yet, and I checked with my department chair about the propriety of me writing them, and she basically said if I wasn't qualified to judge student abilities I wouldn't be in charge of a class...but I think the bigger problem is that even if I write a fiercely good LOR for someone, how much credibility is an adcom going to give a letter from a TA? Both times I just signed my name with the department and univeristy name, making no mention of my actual status, but I sat down and talked to my students about it.

[Guest I'm the 2 previous guests]

Gradgirl, this is what I've just read in the book "Perfect Personal Statement" (ARCO).

Comments from an admission director, UCB School of Law:

The best kinds of letters come from academic sources - professors, T.As. Sometimes a T.A will write a much more helpful letter than the professor will, simply because the T.A has had more one-to-one contact with the invidual.

From an admission director, Texas Austin School of Law:

Letters from faculty members who have worked closely with the applicant are generally most helpful... [omitted] On the other hand, students applying from very large universities have limited opportunities to get well acquainted with their professors. Those students may be better off obtaining a letter from an employer, co-worker, or perhaps a teaching assistant - somebody who knows them well, rather than a faculty member who can only say that the applicant "got an A in my class".

So I think if you can write a strong LoR which evaluates the applicant in details, it's quite well.

[pace327]

IMHO you should always offer to draft a LOR for your recommender because they are doing a favor for you (US or international). Then they can make changes as they see fit, or just say no thanks I'll go ahead and write it. I did this and ended up writing 2 LOR (I had 5 total). One word of caution: the 2 LOR I wrote had similar wording in some parts. Then neither recommender changed the letter much b/c each was pleased with it. So then I had to make some adjustments so it wasn't obvious that the same person had written both letters.