<p>How are they different from not-so-great LOLs, other than that the better ones are specific, to the point, and clearly attest to recipient’s strengths and weaknesses, rather than just saying things like “X was in my intro chem class and he got an A. S/he was a great student. S/he’ll achieve anything s/he wants in life…” I recently got a LOR from a prof whose class I took last semester, and his LOR (seal-opened) was just like the one described above.</p>
<p>Great LOR’s usually have something personal or interesting. For example, one of my friends got a D+ on her first midterm, worked really hard, went to every office hour, ended up getting the high grade on the final (this was out of a 1000 person class) and an A- in the class. What’s noteworthy is not the fact she got an A- (200+ students in that class probably got an A-) but that she was able to persevere through a terrible beginning. That would be a good story for a LOR.</p>
<p>Or it could be a personal anecdote about you or your life that the professor knows from chatting in office hours. For example, I wrote a peer rec for this friend (UF Med School actually requires a peer recommendation). I knew she was biracial so I talked about her ability to bridge two very different cultures (cultural competency is rather important for a physician), I talked about how passionate she gets about certain things, and, as her study buddy in multiple classes, I can certainly speak to her work ethic and intelligence. Obviously, a professor is not going to know 1/10th as much about her as I do, but even if the professor knows just a couple of things, it would make a good LOR (obviously, those things have to be relevant to medicine).</p>
<p>Things are not going to get that dramatic in every class and you’re not going to know every single professor. But, then again, you only need 3-4 good recs out of 30 or so courses.</p>
<p>
A great “LOL” looks like this:</p>
<p>HAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAHAH!!!</p>
<p>Okay, that was a lame joke. :o</p>
<p>why did you ask for an open-access LOR? I’ve always been told that those are taken with less weight than ones to which you waive your right to read.</p>