Recommendation

[T.B.Justin]

I have 1 academic letter and 1 more in the midst of being written. I exhibited some past (9+ years) patterned behavioral issues that will be apparent on my application; I would have concerns about that if I was on the review committee.

I feel one more way for me to address that is a recommendation from my therapist which I feel would give more credence to who I am today but I am not sure if its appropriate as a recommendation per se.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter!

[Dave Killoran]

I have 1 academic letter and 1 more in the midst of being written. I exhibited some past (9+ years) patterned behavioral issues that will be apparent on my application; I would have concerns about that if I was on the review committee.

I feel one more way for me to address that is a recommendation from my therapist which I feel would give more credence to who I am today but I am not sure if its appropriate as a recommendation per se.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter!

Hmmm, this is very interesting, and raises a situation that really made me think.

The usual way of handling a problem is to use an addendum, and then perhaps have one or more of your LOR writers address it as well. This case sounds different to me, though, especially when you say, "I would have concerns about that if I was on the review committee."

Having a therapist write a LOR isn't really the right angle, in my opinion, simply because it's not really a LOR. So, what I would do is a sort of modified/combined approach:

• Write this out as an addendum. Come clean in the way you did above, and acknowledge the issue head-on. I can see the opening being very similar to your comment above: "I have exhibited some past patterned behavioral issues that are apparent on my application; I would have concerns about that if I was on the review committee, and I'd like to take a moment to separately address those issues and reassure the committee that these are not a concern going forward" or something similar. Then, after discussing the issues, include a separate notarized statement from the therapist (with full contact info); you can reference parts of the statement in the addendum if needed.

The above approach isolates the issues and also allows for the therapist statement. This avoids using up a LOR on the therapist, and allows those other parts of your application to stand as positives for you.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

[T.B.Justin]

I have 5 separate addenda that address separate run ins with the law, as well as one that addresses a gap in my higher education; all matter of fact in the way I wrote them. I feel I need to address the behavioral patterns from those run ins in a separate addendum. I agree it’s not really a LOR from the therapist, it’d be another way to support that I am an adult that has taken responsibility for past transgressions and hopefully alleviate any concerns over those past behaviors becoming a problem in the present or future.

I am attempting to establish present good moral character, to practice in Connecticut and I haven’t found anything that would immediately disqualify me from consideration.

I wonder if a separate notarized statement from the therapist that states: when I entered into therapy, that it was under my own free will, with his contact information, include an open invitation to discuss concerns and answer any questions would suffice or maybe something more in depth about the work I did in therapy would be better.

I also am in recovery and I address that briefly in my personal statement. I entered into therapy shortly after I entered into recovery which officially started Jan 30, 2017 but the week of thanksgiving 2016 is when I decided to detox myself off of
opiates; January 30th is my official date because I used Suboxone up until the 29th to ease that transitional period for myself.


Edit: After further thought, perhaps there isn't a need to address those past behavioral issues in a separate addendum; maybe just introduce them all(run ins with the law) in one addendum and that would be the discussion. I also am starting to think I could be causing a concern when there is no present concern.

[Dave Killoran]

I have 5 separate addenda that address separate run ins with the law, as well as one that addresses a gap in my higher education

Is there any way to combine some of these? 5 separate statements on broadly related topics is overwhelming to the reader, and this many addenda could by itself stop you from being fully considered. The readers are human, and a workload of this size for one app would automatically start you off behind the 8 ball. Combining the statements, if possible, reduces that initial negative evaluation. You could also possibly include the comments you'd like to make about those incidents, as an opener and closer, a sort of wrapper for the incidents that explains and addresses them.

Edit: After further thought, perhaps there isn't a need to address those past behavioral issues in a separate addendum; maybe just introduce them all(run ins with the law) in one addendum and that would be the discussion. I also am starting to think I could be causing a concern when there is no present concern.

Ok, yes, just read this part and this is surely the way to go I also agree that you are creating a sort of Streisand Effect by having so many separate statements, and making the problem seem significant and possibly determinative without a word having been read.

Thanks!