<p>David, use your teacher’s honest assessment as a learning moment for you. The hard-nosed aspect of your character can certainly be an asset…just don’t let this aspect of your personality shoot you in the foot or preclude you from opportunities as you proceed in your career aspirations.</p>
<p>In other words, keep the best of who you are but consider how you are presenting yourself in the future. Sometimes it’s not so much what you are saying but how you say it.</p>
<p>I agree with boysx3. Don’t let your nose shoot you in the foot.</p>
<p>David, I think a LOR that seems genuine and presents a picture of a REAL person is far more valuable than a generic-sounding letter, or one that gives praise but sounds like the same letter could be printed off from a form in the teacher’s computer for a dozen students. I know many LOR writers who feel that it is a good thing to highlight a quality that could be a fault, along with a list of positives, in order to give the letter an air of objectivity and credibility. From your own post #18, I’ve got a picture of you as a person that is someone who I think will do well in college and would also be an interesting person to have in the classroom. Also, if you are applying to any very competitive program, I think that the ad coms realize that students who are strong-willed and persistent are likely to do better in that environment. They want the kind of students who stand out.</p>
<p>Of course it could also hurt, but any place that views that picture negatively is also not likely to be a good fit for you – given that you say that the letter is a truthful depiction of your personality. </p>
<p>Try to imagine some overworked ad com who reads dozens of LOR’s every day – s/he’s reading quickly, trying to match the impression s/he get from the LOR to the applicant… then making a very quick decision yes/no/maybe on the student, marking the file with the verdict, and then moving on to the next one. Perhaps the “yes” and “maybe” apps get a 2nd read by a different ad com. The LOR is worthless unless it is something that the ad com is going to remember 30 minutes later. So be glad that you have a teacher who put effort into conveying something REAL about you.</p>
<p>If the letter hasn’t been sent yet, but is filed first with the guidance counselor, I would consider taking your concerns there. If the GC reads the letter and feels the letter could, in fact, affect your chances negatively, then perhaps you should consider asking someone else in this teacher’s place if there is still time to do that. Personally, I wouldn’t take the chance of giving the admissions committee a reason to reject you and I wouldn’t allow a teacher to write a letter of recommendation unless they could assure you it will be a positive one.</p>