What do grad schools look for in LORs?

Graduate School
1

<p>Some of my recommenders have a policy of asking students to draft a sample LOR, which they than add to/modify as they see fit. I was just reading about how, at the undergraduate level, terms such as “hardworking,” “conscientous,” “compliant” etc., can actually be seen as negatives due to the perception that the applicant is hard working but not bright or just conforms to the “grind.” Does this hold water at the graduate (doctoral) level? What comments are “good?” What would be potential, not-so-obvious red flags? (my specific field is psych, if it matters).</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It’s full of great tips, but pay particular attention to the section about recommendations.</p>

3

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062859615-post2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062859615-post2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;