<p>My D's GC gave me a copy of what she wrote for the Questbridge and National Achievement applications. The content is fantastic. She touches on all the important things (academics, leadership, personality, life skills, awards, contribution) and quotes teachers who all have great things to say.<br>
The letter is obviously spellchecked, but not edited. There are words missing , improper punctuation and run on sentences. Since I assume she will be using this as a "template" for D's college application School Reports, and since she gave me a copy, I'm thinking of jumping in and creating a "better" template for her to use going forward.<br>
I have a meeting with GC next week to go over action items and deadlines. I'm planning to deliver a nice basket of homemade jams as a "Thank You" and also to ask her permission to "mark up" her recommendation letter.<br>
The letter in it's current form is very authentic. I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone. What do you all think?</p>
<p>I would not make corrections. It contains the points that you are interested in including. I think that is what is important. I would thank the gc, and give the basket of jams.</p>
<p>It depends on how well you know the GC and whether the GC would view your suggestions kindly. My son and I saw one of his college recommendations, which was written by someone he has known well for years. It contained a misspelling. Knowing the author would be horrified if the letter went out that way, I suggested my son give her a call. She was most grateful and corrected the problem straight-away. </p>
<p>We probably won't see any of the other recommendations, but fully expect one to contain grammatical errors. The author is dyslexic and has difficulty writing, although the recommendation should be excellent, from the heart, and provide a perspective on my son that other recommendations will not. She's a truly lovely person whom we've also known for several years, but not for the world would I suggest my son call her even if we did see the recommendation and found errors. Compassion for her struggles with her disability would dictate otherwise.</p>
<p>Generally, if you are not sure whether you should make editing suggestions, you probably don't know the person well enough to do so.</p>
<p>BTW, a key is to let your <em>child</em> make any suggestions. If he/she doesn't know the recommender well enough to do so, or feels uncomfortable suggesting changes, let matters lie. Also, I suggest you let your child deliver that basket of jams, along with a nice handwritten thank-you note.</p>
<p>If you've been given the letter in advance, I see nothing wrong with asking if they'd like you to proofread it as well. (I'm a professional proofreader and can't help offering, and haven't offended anyone yet; they're usually grateful.) If the letter has already gone out, say thank you.</p>
<p>"BTW, a key is to let your <em>child</em> make any suggestions. If he/she doesn't know the recommender well enough to do so, or feels uncomfortable suggesting changes, let matters lie. Also, I suggest you let your child deliver that basket of jams, along with a nice handwritten thank-you note."</p>
<p>EllenF, that is a wonderul suggestion.</p>
<p>Not sure how to handle evidence of less than stellar writing by a recommender, but we (HS senior parents) were advised last year, by my S's amazing GC, that the kids should choose who they ask for recs with great care, because poorly-written recommendations can hurt. The GC specified that some teachers just don't "do" grammar and spelling and good writing at all well, and said this type of rec can hurt, especially at the more selective schools where even tiny negatives can make a difference in the outcome. She said content matters most, but the quality of the writing is also a factor that should not be ignored.</p>
<p>This was particularly "scary" in light of my S's choices of science and math teachers as rec-writers. I don't know what those recs looked like--but S got into 4 of 5 selective schools (rejected from Stanford). He's currently at Cornell (and loving it).</p>
<p>I, too, edit professionally and consulted a number of teachers at my S's HS about whether I should offer my editing services--whether to my S's rec writers or in general. I was advised not to. At this HS, the confidentiality of recs is a huge issue; to my knowledge, essentially no one sees the rec letters the GCs and teachers send out.</p>
<p>Anyway, our trusted GC's advice was to choose rec-writers keeping in mind the harm that could come from poorly-written (or even less than perfectly written) recs. Whether the contents of the rec would ever be strong enough to outweigh grammar-spelling-construction issues I don't know. Nor do I know how to determine which teachers write well and which don't. I raised that issue w/the GC, who said to trust my S's choices, that he would know who to choose.</p>
<p>These GC comments stuck with me, big-time. I have written several recs--6, so far--and I also keep them totally confidential (I am happy to report that all of the kids for whom I've written recs have been accepted to the schools to which I sent the recs). I also take extreme care with the "writing product" after I've drafted the content.</p>
<p>Don't know if this is helpful; it doesn't leave the parent (or even the student) much "room" to take action after the request has been made. But it seems important enough to pass on.</p>
<p>My gut reaction is "DON'T!" Don't say anything. Drop off the jams, Smile and say "Thank you!" Adcoms scan the recs looking for words and phrases that jump out. My guess is that they don't even notice a missing word or runon sentence. They read thousands of letters a day - and I'm sure they have "skim and scan" down to an art. Editing a letter that you have not been asked to edit can be a major affront to the writer, and could negatively impact your child's chance of being nominated for future awards. (esp. if your child is the one who brings up the editing issue to the recommender.)</p>
<p>Thanks to alll for the input. I think I will leave this one alone.
I have volunteered to help the school develop their ability to support students who apply outside the UC and CSU systems. I have learned so much in this process (thanks in great part to CC) and, since this time next year my nest will be empty, I plan to help them improve. They are excited to have the help and I think in the future, I can offer to edit the rec letters (for other people's kids). Thanks again.</p>