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I already have two letters of rec which are both excellent and have been submitted to all my schools.

I recently got a third professor to write me a LOR and figured that this third letter might act as a makeshift LOCI when i send it in. So if I'm wait listed it might seal the deal... etc.

Problem is, i had a chance to read what my professor wrote, and although she was extremely generous in her praise, the letter just seemed poorly written. Almost like she forgot about the appointment and wrote it too quickly or something. Sentences finished abruptly and some thoughts seemed incomplete.

Will this LOR work against me if i send it in?

I mean it's not the worst letter in the world, but it's certainly not something that Hemingway will be plagiarizing anytime soon.

And at least I can be sure that she's not advising against me or anything...

What do you think?

NUMB3RFIFTY wrote:I already have two letters of rec which are both excellent and have been submitted to all my schools.

I recently got a third professor to write me a LOR and figured that this third letter might act as a makeshift LOCI when i send it in. So if I'm wait listed it might seal the deal... etc.

Problem is, i had a chance to read what my professor wrote, and although she was extremely generous in her praise, the letter just seemed poorly written. Almost like she forgot about the appointment and wrote it too quickly or something. Sentences finished abruptly and some thoughts seemed incomplete.

Will this LOR work against me if i send it in?

I mean it's not the worst letter in the world, but it's certainly not something that Hemingway will be plagiarizing anytime soon.

And at least I can be sure that she's not advising against me or anything...

What do you think?

It may hurt, what you may want to do if you know the letter was just rushed ask the professor if they would be willing to tailor LOR's to specific schools that may waitlist you during the cycle. That way it gives him more time to prepare a letter for each school which will be better written. Just an idea.

FYI Hemingway broke all the grammatical rules..

Is the LOR from a hard science or research professor? If the LOR focuses on praising your technical abilities, I would not worry about it. The LOR may reflect poorly on the writer, but recommendation of your abilities should not be affected.

If the LOR is from a professor from a social science or writing background-e.g. English or literature-I would not use it. The perspective of the writer may be called into question based on their writing style. I would agree with Unitas in asking for a "tailored" letter in the hopes of getting a refined LOR.

But that's just me.

Unitas wrote:
It may hurt, what you may want to do if you know the letter was just rushed ask the professor if they would be willing to tailor LOR's to specific schools that may waitlist you during the cycle. That way it gives him more time to prepare a letter for each school which will be better written. Just an idea.

FYI Hemingway broke all the grammatical rules..

Thats a good idea but she already printed, signed and sealed them.

Which is why i'm torn.

ApexChaser wrote:Is the LOR from a hard science or research professor? If the LOR focuses on praising your technical abilities, I would not worry about it. The LOR may reflect poorly on the writer, but recommendation of your abilities should not be affected.

If the LOR is from a professor from a social science or writing background-e.g. English or literature-I would not use it. The perspective of the writer may be called into question based on their writing style. I would agree with Unitas in asking for a "tailored" letter in the hopes of getting a refined LOR.

But that's just me.

It's from a college counselor who was also my professor. (Sociology)

NUMB3RFIFTY wrote:

Unitas wrote:
It may hurt, what you may want to do if you know the letter was just rushed ask the professor if they would be willing to tailor LOR's to specific schools that may waitlist you during the cycle. That way it gives him more time to prepare a letter for each school which will be better written. Just an idea.

FYI Hemingway broke all the grammatical rules..

Thats a good idea but she already printed, signed and sealed them.

Which is why i'm torn.

That is fine. Tell her you learned that when WLed schools prefer to get tailored LORs for each school. Ask if she is willing to write a few of them if needed. Say you are WLed at three schools.

Unitas wrote:

NUMB3RFIFTY wrote:I already have two letters of rec which are both excellent and have been submitted to all my schools.

I recently got a third professor to write me a LOR and figured that this third letter might act as a makeshift LOCI when i send it in. So if I'm wait listed it might seal the deal... etc.

Problem is, i had a chance to read what my professor wrote, and although she was extremely generous in her praise, the letter just seemed poorly written. Almost like she forgot about the appointment and wrote it too quickly or something. Sentences finished abruptly and some thoughts seemed incomplete.

Will this LOR work against me if i send it in?

I mean it's not the worst letter in the world, but it's certainly not something that Hemingway will be plagiarizing anytime soon.

And at least I can be sure that she's not advising against me or anything...

What do you think?

It may hurt

I'm curious about your evidence for this.

BaiAilian2013 wrote:

Unitas wrote:

NUMB3RFIFTY wrote:I already have two letters of rec which are both excellent and have been submitted to all my schools.

I recently got a third professor to write me a LOR and figured that this third letter might act as a makeshift LOCI when i send it in. So if I'm wait listed it might seal the deal... etc.

Problem is, i had a chance to read what my professor wrote, and although she was extremely generous in her praise, the letter just seemed poorly written. Almost like she forgot about the appointment and wrote it too quickly or something. Sentences finished abruptly and some thoughts seemed incomplete.

Will this LOR work against me if i send it in?

I mean it's not the worst letter in the world, but it's certainly not something that Hemingway will be plagiarizing anytime soon.

And at least I can be sure that she's not advising against me or anything...

What do you think?

It may hurt

I'm curious about your evidence for this.

He doesn't really say how bad it is, but if it is bad to adcomm's standards and attesting to the students great writing skills or something of the sort you can imagine an adcomm saying how would this writer know? or they could think this person wrote this in a few minutes and this is a first draft, also looks bad. Like the writer didn't care.

I prefaced it by it may hurt, being as I am not sure.

It just had a few typos and some structural weaknesses...

If you'd like to see the actual Body, you can PM me

.

The typos are not terrible, but they do detract a bit. More importantly, it is hard to believe that this letter includes anything of substance that your other letter-writers did not say. Wish I had more helpful things to say!

I am not sure what to do about the LOR, as you know some schools care more about grammar then others. Also do you think your other two LOR's said good things about you? If so this one doesn't add that much. I don't know what kind of professors or relationships you have at the school, but you may be able to get a better one.

Unitas wrote: I am not sure what to do about the LOR, as you know some schools care more about grammar then others.

I was struck by the irony of this considering the context of the sentence.

silly armenians