"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

-- The Dalai Lama

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Just Smile and Nod

Yesterday I was in the office of one of my recommenders talking about, amongst other things, law school applications. She told me this story about a student she had a few years ago that asked her for a letter of recommendation and also for help with his PS. In his first drafts he wrote about how "the law would be good for him, and he would be good for the law." She suggested that he be more specific and show how he was a unique, attractive candidate. He then proceeded to argue with her about her advice. She told me that she ended up writing him a not-very-stunning letter of recommendation. Ouch!

So, the moral of the story is: Just smile, nod, and say thank you!

1 comment:

CM said...

Funny... whenever I get PS comments, my first reaction is, "No, that's not what I meant! Don't you see how this continues the theme from two paragraphs ago?" But then I remind myself that I won't get a chance to argue with the admissions committee (and that I don't want to annoy whoever I asked for comments).