Ideal letter of recommendation

[speyeder]

I have a friend who's applying for radiology & he told me this radiologist he worked with said my friend could write his own letter of recommendation & he would sign it.

Intrigued by the idea of a student having this kind of latitude, and because I'll be applying for ophthalmology this year, I began wondering what the ideal letter of recommendation for ophtho would be. Better put, what makes a great letter from an ophthalmologist? If you could draft your own letter, what would it say?

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[Andrew_Doan]

Please refer to this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=100537

The best letters are the ones that state the student is the best ever or top 5% of all students. This statement is supported by specific examples.

 

[GeddyLee]

Geez...students writing their own letters of recommendation? So much for objectivity in this process. I assumed the entire purpose of LOR's was to provide confidential insight of the student from people they worked with. Obviously no one would write themself a truthful LOR. I mean, would you really state anything other than that you are in the top 5%? In competitive matches, I would guess that no applicant writing their own letter would be be completely honest, unless they truly were magnificent. It seems an unfair advantage to me.

In my opinion, writing your own LOR is unethical. Besides, if the person you ask to write the letter doesn't care enough to take the time to write it themself, maybe they aren't all that thrilled with you performance to begin with.

 

[prominence]

Geez...students writing their own letters of recommendation? So much for objectivity in this process. I assumed the entire purpose of LOR's was to provide confidential insight of the student from people they worked with. Obviously no one would write themself a truthful LOR. I mean, would you really state anything other than that you are in the top 5%? In competitive matches, I would guess that no applicant writing their own letter would be be completely honest, unless they truly were magnificent. It seems an unfair advantage to me.

In my opinion, writing your own LOR is unethical. Besides, if the person you ask to write the letter doesn't care enough to take the time to write it themself, maybe they aren't all that thrilled with you performance to begin with.

you would be the first person to do it if your attending gave you this same option.