Professor asked me to draft the LoR in my own words... Forum

[BeanTownBee]

My Professor says its a great experience to write my own letter of recommendation, which he will edit accordingly.

So anybody have any advice on good general things to write in a LoR? It's a weird position to be in...

Thanks.

[im_blue]

Your professor is just too lazy or does not think enough of you to write a LOR. You should find someone else.

[kazu]

Your professor is just too lazy or does not think enough of you to write a LOR. You should find someone else.

im_blue why don't you have a tar?

[2011Law]

Your professor is just too lazy or does not think enough of you to write a LOR. You should find someone else.

lol, that's pretty much what I think as well, but if you don't really have any other profs to write it, then doing it yourself isn't the end of the world. Just write what you think he'd write if he weren't lazy / cared one iota about you.

[ahduth]

Your professor is just too lazy or does not think enough of you to write a LOR. You should find someone else.

lol, that's pretty much what I think as well, but if you don't really have any other profs to write it, then doing it yourself isn't the end of the world. Just write what you think he'd write if he weren't lazy / cared one iota about you.

Actually, it could be. If the deans read the LOR and decide the applicant might have written it themselves... they'll decide a) the LOR is worthless and b) the applicant might be vaguely dishonest. They compare the writing in the LSAT writing sample and the personal statement, I'd have to think it'd be pretty obvious if the LOR was written in the same style.

The upshot is the obviously don't care enough to write you an LOR - find someone else.

[BeanTownBee]

Your professor is just too lazy or does not think enough of you to write a LOR. You should find someone else.

lol, that's pretty much what I think as well, but if you don't really have any other profs to write it, then doing it yourself isn't the end of the world. Just write what you think he'd write if he weren't lazy / cared one iota about you.

Actually, it could be. If the deans read the LOR and decide the applicant might have written it themselves... they'll decide a) the LOR is worthless and b) the applicant might be vaguely dishonest. They compare the writing in the LSAT writing sample and the personal statement, I'd have to think it'd be pretty obvious if the LOR was written in the same style.

The upshot is the obviously don't care enough to write you an LOR - find someone else.

That's a good point, I never thought of the possible comparison...
Luckily I have a few other strong recommendations on the way.

I have the prof for a class now and it may be a bit awkward to turn down his offer to write one now, even though I may be doing all the writing.

I may just play dumb and write something really bland and cookie cutter in the hopes that he would just rewrite the whole thing.
I didn't know if there were particular things that admissions looks for to stand out in LoRs?

[vanwinkle]

This is actually somewhat common, and I had it happen to me. The impression I got was that the "writer" is still staking his reputation on you by signing something positive about you, so it's still not a bad thing.