Recommendation Essay - Critical point of view

Question

Some of the recommendation essays ask your recommender for feed back regarding areas of improvement? How Critical can you really get here?

KingKREEP · Answer

Always a touchy issue....My recommenders talk about a 'real' weakness, but end (I'm hoping) on a positive note.

riverripper · Answer

Better to be honest than to ignore it totally. Obviously you dont want them to say you have poor personal skills or a weak grasp of spoken english or something else that sets off flags. But you do want to show that you aren't perfect because if you were then why would you be going to b-school.

I talked to a former student who was on an adcom 2nd year and he said tons of people get their bosses to say they are too hard of a worker, or the work to many hours, or some other "weakness" that no boss would ever complain about. These actually hurt people since it adds nothing to their app.

mbagal1 · Answer

Is it a good idea to get the recommender to talk abt the same weakness as you do in your essay?

On one hand it could mean you are very self aware. On the other, it might come across as a bigger issue than it is. What do you think?

riverripper · Answer

I think it always depends on the weakness. Yes it shows self awareness but just make sure you don't lead your rec too much towards that weakness. You obviously want them to sound similar but not TOO similar. There is that fine line between you being self aware and having the appearance you wrote the recs.

mbagal1 · Answer

That's right. I agree I did not think of that. Either way maybe I phrased it too strongly when I said "get the recommender" - the thing is in my case, I was aware of the weakness based on the feedback I received from this recommender

riverripper · Answer

I would somehow get in there that he let you know this weekness and you have been working to address this.

mbagal1 · Answer

ok, thanks. will get that in or think of other weaknesses to talk about.

defenestrate · Answer

I think weaknesses often reveal strengths. If the recommender can speak of weaknesses or areas of improvement then it might also show that the recommender is praising the right areas as well. This is because, if a recommender can say good and bad things, it means that he knows the applicant, and cares about him enough to actually understand the good and the bad.

ishcabibble · Answer

In the recommendation that my boss wrote for me, when talking about an area of weakness, she also included steps that I've been taking to work on it. I've always heard (at least in relation to job interviews) that when you are asked to talk about a weakness, you should alway follow it up with what you are doing to work on it. It shows that you are not just accepting the weakness.

Good luck!

Recommendation Essay - Critical point of view

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards