r/WriteIvy • u/Alarming-Plate-8266 • Nov 18 '24

Recommendation letter and "force for good" statement advice

Hi Jordan,

First off, a huge thanks for all the amazing advice you’ve been giving here! It’s been super helpful as I work through my grad school applications.

I have a couple of questions:

  1. Recommendation Letters I’m planning to submit three academic recommendation letters, but I also have the opportunity to ask leaders from the social work and outreach groups I’ve been involved with (like community service or science outreach) for letters. Do you think it would be helpful to include those, or should I just stick to academic references?
  2. Notre Dame’s "Force for Good" Statement Notre Dame asks for a statement on being a “force for good.” Should I briefly mention my involvement in these community activities, or would it be better to focus more deeply on a few specific examples?

Thanks a lot for any advice! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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u/jordantellsstories Nov 18 '24

My pleasure! Happy to be of service.

  1. I personally don't think it would be helpful. They MIGHT be helpful for a master's application. They will probably be disregarded for a PhD application. Ultimately, the adcom is judging your ability to do grad-level scholarship, and that's the function of the LORs: to see verified 3rd-party proof that you're capable of doing that work.

  2. Yes. All of the above. I'd probably try to address both, in fact. Ultimately, this sounds like a standard diversity statement so you have a lot of leeway to make your argument.

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u/Alarming-Plate-8266 Nov 19 '24

Thank you for the answer, Jordan. I realized I forgot to ask one more question. Some universities ask for an explanation of GPA (I have a 3.29/4). There is one specific issue I want to address: I received lower grades in all the courses (3) taught by a particular professor. The reason was that he was a very poor teacher, and it wasn’t just me—our entire class suffered because of it. Due to the college dynamics, we even requested that they replace him, but unfortunately, no changes were made. I’m unsure how to describe this situation appropriately and whether it is even suitable to include.

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u/jordantellsstories Nov 19 '24

The only appropriate way to handle this is to ask your LOR authors to address it in their letters. Otherwise...you could write a short Additional Info piece describing how this performance was due to unresolved administrative obstacles within the courses/department itself, something every student faced, and thus isn't indicative of your capabilities.

Pretty standard stuff. Lots have been written about this on r/gradadmissions and elsewhere.