<p>My mentor wants me to write a draft letter and have her edit it...
Should I try to be modest or go all out?</p>
<p>Go all out -- just be truthful and insert details and anecdotes. These stick in readers' minds.</p>
<p>Wow.......................</p>
<p>This is common, particularly for overburdened teachers who get lots of request. Usually they will edit it, but this way you get to make sure stuff is not missed.</p>
<p>I had to write a letter of recommendation for myself for an arts grant once. It's hard to write a braggy letter about yourself -- or at least it was very hard for me. The person who I asked to write it was just really busy and she gave me some letterhead with a signature on the bottom and told me to write whatever I wanted. I came up with a draft and a mutual friend of mine and hers read it and said it was terrible because it was too muted in its praise. So he wrote it instead. That was a long time ago... but I did end up getting the grant which was basically a year's salary to work in a theater.</p>
<p>Go all out but INCLUDE ANECDOTES -- such as specific performance on specific tasks/assignments. These details are what stand out amongst the jillions of praise-laden sentences.</p>