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From: mc@notecnirp.Princeton.EDU (Mara Chibnik)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: recommendations from teachers
Message-ID: <5650@princeton.Princeton.EDU>
Date: Mon, 20-Jul-87 09:53:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: princeto.5650
Posted: Mon Jul 20 09:53:04 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Jul-87 04:38:57 EDT
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Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Princeton University
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In article <6633@mhuxu.UUCP> davims@mhuxu.UUCP (SZ-LOCOCO,JOHN) writes:
 }My boyfriend is a May 1987 graduate in CS.  He asked some of his former
 }teachers for recommendations, and they said they'd be happy to oblige.
 }When my boyfriend received his letters of recommendations from the teachers,
 }they turned out not to be "recommendations" at all.  They said some pretty
 }nasty things about him that outweighed any good points.  

 }Has anyone out there ever heard of something like this happening?  Why did
 }these teachers even bother to write their so-called "letters of               
 }recommendation" if they were just planning on saying nasty things?  
  
Yes, I've heard of a case like this.  The student in question (it isn't
me and I don't want to be more specific) is now comfortably ensconced in a
graduate program of good reputation and also holds a part-time research
position at a highly-respected industrial research facility, so it wasn't
fatal.  In this case, to the best of my knowledge, it was a single letter
that was a problem.  Again, the letter mentioned a number of good
qualities, but it was clear that the writer felt that some negative
characteristics far outweighed these. (The good points were academic and
technical.  The bad ones were personal.)  The student was, of course, much
distressed.  And, especially, had signed the waiver, so was not entitled to
read the recommendation.  (How that all happened is something that I never
got into.)

 }To the professors out there: Personally, what do you do if a student you
 }don't have a high opinion of asks you for a letter of recommendation?
I taught parttime for several years and have had to write recommendatons.
My own approach depends on what happens between the student and me in the
requesting process.
1.  First, when a student approaches me for a recommendation, if the
student is someone I think well of in a general sense, but who really can't
cut it in my field, I ask about plans for the future and discuss these in
terms of my assessment of potential.  I try to end up by saying something
that amounts to "Well, if you want a recommendation for [something I think
you would be good at] I'll be happy to write one." (Fill in the square
brackets with a specific.)  This is constructive, and helps to
get the message across that I wouldn't be comfortable writing a general
recommendation.
2.  If the student is someone I don't know well enough to write a letter
for, I say so, and ask what other teachers have been approached, to try to
suggest someone more suitable.  Sometimes we find one.  Sometimes there are
compelling reasons to worry about the "more suitable" teacher's letter (as
in your boyfriend's case).  In such cases, it is sometimes possible for me
to interview the student sufficiently to write a letter based on what comes
through at the interview.  (This is something that doesn't happen too
often, because I'm not generally so ready to offer that kind of help to a
student whose work I don't know well enough so I could have written the
letter without that.)  Often I've been able to steer the student to an
appropriate recommender, maybe in another department.
3.  If for any reason I can't do these things, my technique is what is
usually referred to as "damning with faint praise."  That is, I say nothing
bad, but no raves.  I mention the name of the course the student took with
me, its content, the student's final grade (or say the work was
satisfactory or good, depending)-- in other words, I say nothing bad, and
go on record as validating that the student's application is bona fide, but
really no more.  And I do NOT do this without letting the student know I
have reservations unless I have no way of communicating with the student.
4.  In extreme circumstances, I do nothing.  (I got a letter from a former
student who needed a recommendation in a hurry.  He was out of town.  He
had done work for me that was barely passable, despite having the obvious
ability to do excellent work.  I had put it to him while he was my student
that I was unfavorably impressed by his performance.  I threw his letter
away.