Writing Letters of Evaluation

Writing Letters of Evaluation Kay H Singer, PhD Associate Dean Director, Health Professions Advising Center Duke University Additional Resource Composing a Letter of Evaluation that Captures the Applicant as an Individual Joe Workman, Tom Oeltmann, Carol Elam The Advisor, Vol 25, 2005, pp. 20-26. A revised version with many examples is available on the NAAHP website under the Advisor Resources link. Some Models of the HPA Evaluation • The HPA letter is written by a single individual. • The HPA letter is written by an individual and edited by a committee. • The HPA letter is written by a committee and edited by an individual. Some Models of the HPA Evaluation (cont.) • An HPA letter is sent to schools along with individual letters from other evaluators. • Only the HPA letter is sent to the schools. It is based on and may include paragraphs excerpted from individual letters. • Both the HPA letter and other letters are sent and the HPA letter quotes extensively from the other letters. Data Available to You on Applicants • • • • • • GPA (cum and bcpm), +/- MCAT scores Strength/weakness of curriculum Activities Personal Statement Interview Letters of Evaluation written by others Organizing the HPA Letter of Evaluation • Para #1: Academic information – Graduation year, major – GPA (BCPM and cum) – Strength of curriculum – Graduation honors – Ranking by BCPM GPA Organizing the HPA Letter of Evaluation (cont.) • Paragraph #2: Family information, stressing what might be important in life history Examples: – Worked to support college – Parent(s) in a service profession – Experienced other cultures – Eldest of 6 children – Raised by grandmother Organizing the HPA Letter of Evaluation (cont.) • Paragraph #3: Exposure to health care • Paragraph #4: Any passions? In depth commitment to an activity? Participation in scholarly activity? – Note: Don’t just list the activities they will have listed on their application. Organizing the HPA Letter of Evaluation (cont.) • Paragraph #5: Give the reader a personal feel for the applicant. Use adjectives or appropriate descriptions that will allow the reader some additional insight into the applicant. Any special concerns, e.g., immaturity, difficulty communicating, lack of attention to detail? Organizing the HPA Letter of Evaluation (cont.) • Evaluation Rating – Recommended with Enthusiasm – Recommended with Confidence – Recommended – Recommended with Reservation – Not Recommended • Name, signature, date Additional Advice • Don’t rely on codes to get your evaluation across. • Differentiation of applicants is critical. • Your credibility will help your applicants. Not every one walks on water. Don’t write letters as if they do. It won’t help your weakest candidates and it will hurt your strongest. Tools • Registrar’s Office—or other office that can provide you with academic data • Excel spreadsheet for organizing that data and keeping track of information on applicants • Access database—excellent for querying applicant information to establish rankings and write reports • Macros in Word to make letter writing easier • VirtualEvals—streamlines transmission, creates an archive of letters One More Point Find a pleasant place to write your letters where you can spread out your files and not be interrupted as you write. Distribution of Recommendation Ratings by Year 70 60 Percent of Letters 50 40 30 Enthusiasm Confidence Recommended Reservation Not Recommended 20 10 0 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Application Year