<p>Everyone talks about how they have great Recs, can anyone(crossing out all the personal names and numbers and such) put an example of what there truly great REC was if they had the opportunity to read it? thanks, i think it would be interesting to see and compare and perhaps find out it wasn't that great</p>
<p>I know some colleges let you review your materials such as recommendation after you have been accepted, do you know if Cornell does the same?</p>
<p>^ yes but only if you did not waive your rights to see it. which you probably should have.</p>
<p>I think I have one great recommendation, and one okay recommendation. I also have a great optional recommendation from my "mentor" from my internship...I know because he let me read it. The thing that makes it great is the fact that he talked about how I impacted his business and how I exceeded all of his expectations, etc. In other words, he made me really stick out, in my opinion, and I am very thankful for it.</p>
<p>yea I thought I had a great one, but after reading everyone say they have a great one...I wonder if its just like the others...it goes on just about character and integrity and highly recommend this student so and so</p>
<p>I dont remember the exact words used by my associate but i do remember this excerpt from the rec...
somthing like </p>
<p>In short, I recommend (blank) to you strongly without reservation and with a great deal of enthusiasm.. I am confident that you will find this remarkable young man to be as much of an asset to Cornell University as he was to our busy office. </p>
<p>...thought it was nice of him to write.</p>
<p>However my prof rec makes me nervous i hope he did a good job (crosses fingers)</p>
<p>I wonder if a perfect rec detracts from its credibility to some extent. This is just how I see it, but I'd rather have a teacher/professor provide a balanced view of the strengths AND the weaknesses of an individual as opposed to saying something like, "Oh, this kid was probably one of the best that I've ever had the pleasure to teach, I wholeheartedly recommend him without any reservations whatsoever", etc. etc. etc...</p>
<p>Obviously it wouldn't help if the writer of the rec mentioned that you have a number of glaring undesirable qualities or deficiences but as long as he/she presents you as a thoughtful and unique individual, one that would contribute to the university in a relatively positive way, there is a possibility that such a recommendation may ultimately look more "sincere" in the eyes of an admissions officer.</p>
<p>i think your being a little naive...adcoms don't have time to sit and read through each rec for sincerity...point blank ( good things will stick out...and anything negative will raise a red flag)....they are only going to scan it for anything good or anything that will contribute to the overall character of the applicant.</p>
<p>Seriously they receive about 30k apps (fall transfer+freshman) all of which i think require recs and each kid sends at least 2 or 3...do the math....</p>
<p>trans and fresh apps read by same people in each school?</p>
<p>"i think your being a little naive"</p>
<p>...Since when was overanalyzing a situation classified as being naive? Do you work for the admissions committee? Do you know how much time they spend on recs? I was only speculating, not stating what I thought was a fact. But in the end, doesn't it make sense that they'd take a rec more seriously if it gave a more rounded view of an applicant, as opposed to one that depicts the individual as being, for lack of a better word, "perfect"?</p>
<p>By the way, I did the math, and the number that I got was more than reasonable. If you want the details of my thought process, I'd be more than willing to post them. </p>
<p>Anyway, I don't want to start a flame war, but I get the feeling that it's more "wishful thinking" on your part than na</p>
<p>I think Kentric is correct in his thoughts on a perfect recommendation. The teachers who write the recommendations should delineate both strengths and weaknesses, since no one is perfect.</p>
<p>something along the lines of:</p>
<p>"one of the top 3 students i've taught in my career"</p>
<p>blahblabh...</p>