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Should a professor recommending me talk about my (bad) grades in his or her letter?
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I recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. I'm now applying to research internships and some of these need recommendation letters from faculty.
I did very badly during the first 2 years at college (having scored around 6/10 (=2.4/4) GPA in my courses until the end of my 4th semester) -- however, I learnt from my mistakes and became much more disciplined in my 3rd year, when I scored an average of 8/10 (3.2/4). At the end of 3 years, I had to graduate with a sub-3 CGPA of 6.88/10 (2.75/4).
I did really well on research projects and other quantitative projects at college, which is one reason why I've found professors to recommend me. I understand that my poor GPA will probably put me in a bad position, but what's done is done and I digress. One of my possible references asked me to draft a letter for him and that he will make changes as necessary before sending it in.
My question is: should I ask my references to talk about my poor grades (something along the lines of "While X does not have impressive scores in his undergraduate degree, it can be clearly seen from his transcripts that he picked up pace and discipline during his final year. I believe that X has taken home the importance of hardwork after a few hiccups in his academic life".)
Even if the above phrasing doesn't seem good, in general, is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter? Or is it simply better to let this go and concentrate on my strengths?
recommendation-letter grades
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
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WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
favorite
I recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. I'm now applying to research internships and some of these need recommendation letters from faculty.
I did very badly during the first 2 years at college (having scored around 6/10 (=2.4/4) GPA in my courses until the end of my 4th semester) -- however, I learnt from my mistakes and became much more disciplined in my 3rd year, when I scored an average of 8/10 (3.2/4). At the end of 3 years, I had to graduate with a sub-3 CGPA of 6.88/10 (2.75/4).
I did really well on research projects and other quantitative projects at college, which is one reason why I've found professors to recommend me. I understand that my poor GPA will probably put me in a bad position, but what's done is done and I digress. One of my possible references asked me to draft a letter for him and that he will make changes as necessary before sending it in.
My question is: should I ask my references to talk about my poor grades (something along the lines of "While X does not have impressive scores in his undergraduate degree, it can be clearly seen from his transcripts that he picked up pace and discipline during his final year. I believe that X has taken home the importance of hardwork after a few hiccups in his academic life".)
Even if the above phrasing doesn't seem good, in general, is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter? Or is it simply better to let this go and concentrate on my strengths?
recommendation-letter grades
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
1
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
1
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
12
down vote
favorite
up vote
12
down vote
favorite
I recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. I'm now applying to research internships and some of these need recommendation letters from faculty.
I did very badly during the first 2 years at college (having scored around 6/10 (=2.4/4) GPA in my courses until the end of my 4th semester) -- however, I learnt from my mistakes and became much more disciplined in my 3rd year, when I scored an average of 8/10 (3.2/4). At the end of 3 years, I had to graduate with a sub-3 CGPA of 6.88/10 (2.75/4).
I did really well on research projects and other quantitative projects at college, which is one reason why I've found professors to recommend me. I understand that my poor GPA will probably put me in a bad position, but what's done is done and I digress. One of my possible references asked me to draft a letter for him and that he will make changes as necessary before sending it in.
My question is: should I ask my references to talk about my poor grades (something along the lines of "While X does not have impressive scores in his undergraduate degree, it can be clearly seen from his transcripts that he picked up pace and discipline during his final year. I believe that X has taken home the importance of hardwork after a few hiccups in his academic life".)
Even if the above phrasing doesn't seem good, in general, is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter? Or is it simply better to let this go and concentrate on my strengths?
recommendation-letter grades
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics. I'm now applying to research internships and some of these need recommendation letters from faculty.
I did very badly during the first 2 years at college (having scored around 6/10 (=2.4/4) GPA in my courses until the end of my 4th semester) -- however, I learnt from my mistakes and became much more disciplined in my 3rd year, when I scored an average of 8/10 (3.2/4). At the end of 3 years, I had to graduate with a sub-3 CGPA of 6.88/10 (2.75/4).
I did really well on research projects and other quantitative projects at college, which is one reason why I've found professors to recommend me. I understand that my poor GPA will probably put me in a bad position, but what's done is done and I digress. One of my possible references asked me to draft a letter for him and that he will make changes as necessary before sending it in.
My question is: should I ask my references to talk about my poor grades (something along the lines of "While X does not have impressive scores in his undergraduate degree, it can be clearly seen from his transcripts that he picked up pace and discipline during his final year. I believe that X has taken home the importance of hardwork after a few hiccups in his academic life".)
Even if the above phrasing doesn't seem good, in general, is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter? Or is it simply better to let this go and concentrate on my strengths?
recommendation-letter grades
recommendation-letter grades
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
edited 22 mins ago
JeffE
86.1k13199346
86.1k13199346
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
asked 12 hours ago
WorldGov
1645
1645
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
WorldGov is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
1
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
1
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago
add a comment |Â
3
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
1
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
1
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago
3
3
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
1
1
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
1
1
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
13
down vote
It really depends on how the professor knows you.
If the professor only knew you "after the change", the letter might say "I am aware of student's relatively low grades during the first few years, but by the time of my class, they were a top-performing student", that kind of thing.
If the professor has known you for years, it might be appropriate to comment on having observed this change, and expressing confidence that you can handle the role in question despite the low cumulative QPA.
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter?
If not asked about it, why shed the light on it?
Your professor can talk about your points of strength and your efforts through the years. No real need to talk about everything in details.
If you really feel that the grades by them self are subject to questioning, it will be a good idea to mention them in that way but, in my opinion, everybody knows that the grades alone aren't really a factor and in fact, your grades getting better time after time is the biggest factor.
I would suggest, if you really need to talk about it, to say something among these lines:
X has shown big improvement through his undergraduate studies which proves, with no doubt, that he is capable of handling bigger projects.
I am not a native English speaker so this might need some improvement.
Bottom line is to focus on the good side without really mentioning the bad/down side that got you there.
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
13
down vote
It really depends on how the professor knows you.
If the professor only knew you "after the change", the letter might say "I am aware of student's relatively low grades during the first few years, but by the time of my class, they were a top-performing student", that kind of thing.
If the professor has known you for years, it might be appropriate to comment on having observed this change, and expressing confidence that you can handle the role in question despite the low cumulative QPA.
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
It really depends on how the professor knows you.
If the professor only knew you "after the change", the letter might say "I am aware of student's relatively low grades during the first few years, but by the time of my class, they were a top-performing student", that kind of thing.
If the professor has known you for years, it might be appropriate to comment on having observed this change, and expressing confidence that you can handle the role in question despite the low cumulative QPA.
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
up vote
13
down vote
It really depends on how the professor knows you.
If the professor only knew you "after the change", the letter might say "I am aware of student's relatively low grades during the first few years, but by the time of my class, they were a top-performing student", that kind of thing.
If the professor has known you for years, it might be appropriate to comment on having observed this change, and expressing confidence that you can handle the role in question despite the low cumulative QPA.
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
It really depends on how the professor knows you.
If the professor only knew you "after the change", the letter might say "I am aware of student's relatively low grades during the first few years, but by the time of my class, they were a top-performing student", that kind of thing.
If the professor has known you for years, it might be appropriate to comment on having observed this change, and expressing confidence that you can handle the role in question despite the low cumulative QPA.
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
answered 11 hours ago
cag51
7,91031841
7,91031841
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter?
If not asked about it, why shed the light on it?
Your professor can talk about your points of strength and your efforts through the years. No real need to talk about everything in details.
If you really feel that the grades by them self are subject to questioning, it will be a good idea to mention them in that way but, in my opinion, everybody knows that the grades alone aren't really a factor and in fact, your grades getting better time after time is the biggest factor.
I would suggest, if you really need to talk about it, to say something among these lines:
X has shown big improvement through his undergraduate studies which proves, with no doubt, that he is capable of handling bigger projects.
I am not a native English speaker so this might need some improvement.
Bottom line is to focus on the good side without really mentioning the bad/down side that got you there.
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter?
If not asked about it, why shed the light on it?
Your professor can talk about your points of strength and your efforts through the years. No real need to talk about everything in details.
If you really feel that the grades by them self are subject to questioning, it will be a good idea to mention them in that way but, in my opinion, everybody knows that the grades alone aren't really a factor and in fact, your grades getting better time after time is the biggest factor.
I would suggest, if you really need to talk about it, to say something among these lines:
X has shown big improvement through his undergraduate studies which proves, with no doubt, that he is capable of handling bigger projects.
I am not a native English speaker so this might need some improvement.
Bottom line is to focus on the good side without really mentioning the bad/down side that got you there.
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter?
If not asked about it, why shed the light on it?
Your professor can talk about your points of strength and your efforts through the years. No real need to talk about everything in details.
If you really feel that the grades by them self are subject to questioning, it will be a good idea to mention them in that way but, in my opinion, everybody knows that the grades alone aren't really a factor and in fact, your grades getting better time after time is the biggest factor.
I would suggest, if you really need to talk about it, to say something among these lines:
X has shown big improvement through his undergraduate studies which proves, with no doubt, that he is capable of handling bigger projects.
I am not a native English speaker so this might need some improvement.
Bottom line is to focus on the good side without really mentioning the bad/down side that got you there.
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
Is it a good idea to talk about your bad grades in a recommendation letter?
If not asked about it, why shed the light on it?
Your professor can talk about your points of strength and your efforts through the years. No real need to talk about everything in details.
If you really feel that the grades by them self are subject to questioning, it will be a good idea to mention them in that way but, in my opinion, everybody knows that the grades alone aren't really a factor and in fact, your grades getting better time after time is the biggest factor.
I would suggest, if you really need to talk about it, to say something among these lines:
X has shown big improvement through his undergraduate studies which proves, with no doubt, that he is capable of handling bigger projects.
I am not a native English speaker so this might need some improvement.
Bottom line is to focus on the good side without really mentioning the bad/down side that got you there.
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
answered 5 hours ago
Paul Karam
71117
71117
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
3
3
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
"Why shed the light on it" --> because the reciever of the letter will see the bad grades and thinks the opinion of the professor is not well justified or even worse it's a standard letter which is used for every student.
– OBu
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
The receiver will also see the improvement. This is why focusing on the important side is better in my opinion
– Paul Karam
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
WorldGov is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
WorldGov is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
WorldGov is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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3
The idea of the professor asking you to draft the letter is rather controversial, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041/….
– Nate Eldredge
12 hours ago
1
Yes, I understand. That said, it's pretty commonplace where I live (India) and in any case the professor is the one who'll be sending it in at the final stage after making the changes he feels necessary.
– WorldGov
12 hours ago
1
The bad grades are there on the transcript - something to address them (since they will stand out from other applicants) seems prudent.
– Jon Custer
4 hours ago