Letters of Rec - Being asked to write them yourself
Hi there, I'm smuckerz, and I am applying to some Masters programs in television production this winter. Everything's due February 1st, but I've come to getting everything sorted a bit late. I did do the GRE and I think I did pretty well, but of the things I'll have to submit, the Statement of Purpose is the toughest to pin down, actually.
So I postponed contacting potential recommenders until now, because I didn't have a definite final list of schools to apply to. But I am happy to report that I've finally gotten the courage to contact two people (I have to find three), and one replied quite promptly and said yes!
But then I saw those words..."Please get me a draft of the letter..."
Yikes! My professor is from undergrad, and because I've not exactly been working in my intended field, by which I mean, at all, and because the schools I'm applying to would prefer at least one academic reference, I thought, "Why not? I haven't seen him since 2007, but he was my film professor, so here goes."
Which is possibly why he said to just write it myself, but while I'm glad he'll sign off on something, and there is definitely time to figure all this out, what the heck am I gonna do? How do you write your OWN letter of recommendation?!
So I postponed contacting potential recommenders until now, because I didn't have a definite final list of schools to apply to. But I am happy to report that I've finally gotten the courage to contact two people (I have to find three), and one replied quite promptly and said yes!
But then I saw those words..."Please get me a draft of the letter..."
Yikes! My professor is from undergrad, and because I've not exactly been working in my intended field, by which I mean, at all, and because the schools I'm applying to would prefer at least one academic reference, I thought, "Why not? I haven't seen him since 2007, but he was my film professor, so here goes."
Which is possibly why he said to just write it myself, but while I'm glad he'll sign off on something, and there is definitely time to figure all this out, what the heck am I gonna do? How do you write your OWN letter of recommendation?!