Writing Own Recommendation Letter?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello there everyone!
I asked my physics teacher (who I had another year for a different science) to write a recommendation letter for me. He agreed and requested that I send him a rough draft of the recommendation letter I want him to send. </p>

<p>How exactly would I go about writing my own recommendation letter for myself? Is there a certain format I should use? I know I should talk about achievements/extracurriculars and personality traits and stuff like that, but how much should I talk about, and what else should I talk about? Also, how long are letters of rec supposed to be 1 page? 2? </p>

<p>I just don't really know where or how to start. So any tips at all would be useful, thank you!</p>

2

<p>Wow that is really not very nice of him. That just isn’t done. He should know what is required and sounds like he should know you enough to write a good one. I saw you are applying to Stanford so you need a very good one, I hope he felt like he could give you that. The letter should be one page only.</p>

<p>The teacher isn’t expected to know all your EC’s and write about those. That is more of the sort of thing the GC would do. The teacher should write about how you did in class, what type of student you are, and any character traits that are positive they can speak to. They can write about EC’s if they also mentor a club or something.</p>

<p>Here’s what I would do. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Print out this guide from MIT.
[A+</a> Schools for B Students | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus]A+”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus)</p></li>
<li><p>Write out some of these questions and provide suggested answers where you can, like what you think stands out about you, as a reminder for him. I’d do this instead of a draft.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Give him those materials, including the MIT printout and maybe a one page resume. Ask/beg him if that is sufficient to make writing a positive letter for you convenient for him.</p>

<p>Oh, and don’t be modest. He left the door open, so in your notes set the tone for a stellar letter :)</p>

3

<p>Make a bullet point list of things you did in his class, especially those that show you’re exceptional/outstanding.
As BrownParent said, it’s really not nice of him, although he may be too busy at this time of year and it’s really short notice on your part (rec letters should be requested at least a month, if not 2, before they’re due. Most students ask in October at the latest, some even ask in the Spring previous, so he may have reached his quota of letters already!)</p>

4

<p>I actually asked him mid October, but I had trouble writing the draft so I came here. Thanks to both of you, those seem like great ideas!</p>

5

<p>Ask a teacher that gives more of a ****.</p>

6

<p>

On the contrary, this occurs in academia all the time.
It’s happened to me (and many of my peers, anecdotally) at the undergraduate, med school, and graduate school levels. Professors are busy people, so some will ask a student requesting a recommendation later for a “rough draft” of the document. It’s an ideal opportunity for the student to communicate to the professor/instructor/teacher those things that he/she would like to be part of the recommendation letter. </p>

<p>You should know that…
The professor reserves the right to modify the draft to bring it more in line with his/her thoughts about the student, since the professor’s reputation as a recommender is at stake. The final draft of the recommendation later may be identical to rough draft, not resemble it at all, or be somewhere in-between.</p>

<p>I would advise any student in such a situation to write a recommendation letter “rough draft” that is detailed and accurate, while at the same time, makes a compelling case for the future employer/college/academic institution to hire/accept the student. Avoid overly flattering, hyperbolic language.</p>

<p>That being said, it is rather unusual for this sort of thing to occur at the high school level. High school students typically lack the experience and maturity for the “rough draft” to contain enough usable information for the recommender.</p>

<p>Good luck with the college apps!</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I actually think this is great of the teacher, though he really should have asked for areas to cover (bullets as someone mentioned above). My son is a really strong student in his computer classes, but he was worried the teacher would only talk about his technical skills. He wanted him to discuss how he helped the other kids in the class and worked well with others on team projects. I told him to send the ideas to the teacher, but he wouldn’t (he was also worried about the teacher’s writing skills). He ended up not even getting a letter from the guy (who also wasn’t a true academic teacher, so in some cases wasn’t ideal anyway), and had the counselor instead incorporate the teacher’s feedback into her letter. Oh well …</p>