Asking previous advisor for a better letter of reference
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
up vote
11
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I recently applied for a national scholarship at my university. My application was accepted internally as one of few to be sent to the organization hosting the scholarship. However, the people screening applications at my university were slightly concerned about one of my reference letters from my last advisor, and sent it to me to show me what he wrote (I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). A brief summary of the letter is that I'm only slightly above average, and 1/4 of the letter is about his previous research accomplishments. I can't change referees since my application has already been screened. My question is, can I ask my previous advisor to improve his letter of recommendation?
funding recommendation-letter
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
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up vote
11
down vote
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I recently applied for a national scholarship at my university. My application was accepted internally as one of few to be sent to the organization hosting the scholarship. However, the people screening applications at my university were slightly concerned about one of my reference letters from my last advisor, and sent it to me to show me what he wrote (I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). A brief summary of the letter is that I'm only slightly above average, and 1/4 of the letter is about his previous research accomplishments. I can't change referees since my application has already been screened. My question is, can I ask my previous advisor to improve his letter of recommendation?
funding recommendation-letter
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
17
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
4
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
8
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
up vote
11
down vote
favorite
up vote
11
down vote
favorite
I recently applied for a national scholarship at my university. My application was accepted internally as one of few to be sent to the organization hosting the scholarship. However, the people screening applications at my university were slightly concerned about one of my reference letters from my last advisor, and sent it to me to show me what he wrote (I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). A brief summary of the letter is that I'm only slightly above average, and 1/4 of the letter is about his previous research accomplishments. I can't change referees since my application has already been screened. My question is, can I ask my previous advisor to improve his letter of recommendation?
funding recommendation-letter
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I recently applied for a national scholarship at my university. My application was accepted internally as one of few to be sent to the organization hosting the scholarship. However, the people screening applications at my university were slightly concerned about one of my reference letters from my last advisor, and sent it to me to show me what he wrote (I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). A brief summary of the letter is that I'm only slightly above average, and 1/4 of the letter is about his previous research accomplishments. I can't change referees since my application has already been screened. My question is, can I ask my previous advisor to improve his letter of recommendation?
funding recommendation-letter
funding recommendation-letter
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
asked yesterday
Phys Mate
5613
5613
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Phys Mate is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
17
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
4
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
8
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
17
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
4
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
8
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago
17
17
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
4
4
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
8
8
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
2
2
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
3
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
36
down vote
You can certainly ask, and might be successful, or not. It is impossible to say. But a better approach might be for the scholarship people to ask the professor for a better letter on your behalf, explaining the reasoning and perhaps the fact that his is an outlier.
Having an advocate may be more effective in a situation like this. Another professor might also prevail upon your advisor, but it would be impossible to hide the fact that you'd seen the letter.
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
(I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). ...
Actually, it is not. You may have signed a waiver when you applied for the position. If so, you have absolutely no recourse to ask for anything. If so, the person who sent the recommendation to you may be in violation of privacy guidelines that were been established for your previous advisor as part of his/her submission process.
When I would be the advisor whose letter was submitted under a waiver of right to see by the student and I discovered that letter had been disclosed back to the student, I would be raising holy heck to the Chair of the Committee if not the Chair of the Department if not further up the chain.
As noted, your first call was to refuse to review the letter until you had the "pretty clear" part clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, you best not be asking anyone anything about changing the letter.
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
36
down vote
You can certainly ask, and might be successful, or not. It is impossible to say. But a better approach might be for the scholarship people to ask the professor for a better letter on your behalf, explaining the reasoning and perhaps the fact that his is an outlier.
Having an advocate may be more effective in a situation like this. Another professor might also prevail upon your advisor, but it would be impossible to hide the fact that you'd seen the letter.
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
36
down vote
You can certainly ask, and might be successful, or not. It is impossible to say. But a better approach might be for the scholarship people to ask the professor for a better letter on your behalf, explaining the reasoning and perhaps the fact that his is an outlier.
Having an advocate may be more effective in a situation like this. Another professor might also prevail upon your advisor, but it would be impossible to hide the fact that you'd seen the letter.
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
36
down vote
up vote
36
down vote
You can certainly ask, and might be successful, or not. It is impossible to say. But a better approach might be for the scholarship people to ask the professor for a better letter on your behalf, explaining the reasoning and perhaps the fact that his is an outlier.
Having an advocate may be more effective in a situation like this. Another professor might also prevail upon your advisor, but it would be impossible to hide the fact that you'd seen the letter.
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
You can certainly ask, and might be successful, or not. It is impossible to say. But a better approach might be for the scholarship people to ask the professor for a better letter on your behalf, explaining the reasoning and perhaps the fact that his is an outlier.
Having an advocate may be more effective in a situation like this. Another professor might also prevail upon your advisor, but it would be impossible to hide the fact that you'd seen the letter.
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
answered yesterday
Buffy
28.4k688150
28.4k688150
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
add a comment |
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
3
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
That's a great suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the scholarship people, thanks!
– Phys Mate
yesterday
1
1
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
It is not unknown to be phoned by HR to elicit more, private, detail about the candidate that is not in the reference letter... Especially interesting when the HR person phoning is also an ex-student who remembers their lecturer and the course!
– Solar Mike
yesterday
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
(I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). ...
Actually, it is not. You may have signed a waiver when you applied for the position. If so, you have absolutely no recourse to ask for anything. If so, the person who sent the recommendation to you may be in violation of privacy guidelines that were been established for your previous advisor as part of his/her submission process.
When I would be the advisor whose letter was submitted under a waiver of right to see by the student and I discovered that letter had been disclosed back to the student, I would be raising holy heck to the Chair of the Committee if not the Chair of the Department if not further up the chain.
As noted, your first call was to refuse to review the letter until you had the "pretty clear" part clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, you best not be asking anyone anything about changing the letter.
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
(I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). ...
Actually, it is not. You may have signed a waiver when you applied for the position. If so, you have absolutely no recourse to ask for anything. If so, the person who sent the recommendation to you may be in violation of privacy guidelines that were been established for your previous advisor as part of his/her submission process.
When I would be the advisor whose letter was submitted under a waiver of right to see by the student and I discovered that letter had been disclosed back to the student, I would be raising holy heck to the Chair of the Committee if not the Chair of the Department if not further up the chain.
As noted, your first call was to refuse to review the letter until you had the "pretty clear" part clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, you best not be asking anyone anything about changing the letter.
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
8
down vote
up vote
8
down vote
(I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). ...
Actually, it is not. You may have signed a waiver when you applied for the position. If so, you have absolutely no recourse to ask for anything. If so, the person who sent the recommendation to you may be in violation of privacy guidelines that were been established for your previous advisor as part of his/her submission process.
When I would be the advisor whose letter was submitted under a waiver of right to see by the student and I discovered that letter had been disclosed back to the student, I would be raising holy heck to the Chair of the Committee if not the Chair of the Department if not further up the chain.
As noted, your first call was to refuse to review the letter until you had the "pretty clear" part clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, you best not be asking anyone anything about changing the letter.
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
(I'm pretty sure those letters are supposed to be confidential, but that's beside the point). ...
Actually, it is not. You may have signed a waiver when you applied for the position. If so, you have absolutely no recourse to ask for anything. If so, the person who sent the recommendation to you may be in violation of privacy guidelines that were been established for your previous advisor as part of his/her submission process.
When I would be the advisor whose letter was submitted under a waiver of right to see by the student and I discovered that letter had been disclosed back to the student, I would be raising holy heck to the Chair of the Committee if not the Chair of the Department if not further up the chain.
As noted, your first call was to refuse to review the letter until you had the "pretty clear" part clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. Until such a time, you best not be asking anyone anything about changing the letter.
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
edited 21 hours ago
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
answered 21 hours ago
Jeffrey J Weimer
94518
94518
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
add a comment |
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
2
2
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
It would have been best to not read the letter, unless you had the writer's consent to let you read it. Second best is to act as far as possible as though you had not read it.
– Patricia Shanahan
19 hours ago
add a comment |
Phys Mate is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Phys Mate is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Phys Mate is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Phys Mate is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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17
If the letter was supposed to be confidential, you should had refused to read it even if the people at the Uni sent it to you...
– Nick S
yesterday
4
Are you asking him to lie? will a replacement remove the previous letter? Did he have justification for what he wrote? Grades?: Attendance? Lateness? Attitude?
– Solar Mike
yesterday
8
@SolarMike, I have experience that it is more complex than that. Some people don't understand very well how their words will be interpreted. This can be true in general, but especially so if it happens to be the case that the prof came from a different culture. Sometimes what seems like praise to a writer, may not seem that way to a reader.
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@Buffy you are not the only one, some letters are written - in some places, that what is not mentioned is of concern, so not mentioning timekeeping is taken as "often late", not mentioning teamwork or "prefers working alone"... etc "Attended my class" compared to "always an active participant, contributing regularly, homework always completed"...
– Solar Mike
yesterday
3
I'm afraid that asking for the facts to be better than they are is doomed...
– paul garrett
22 hours ago