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[mulerooster]

My advisor asked me to write my recommendation letter for him, and he would modify it further if need be.  It seems odd to me to be writing about myself in such a manner.  I ended up asking my advisor for a copy of an old letter he wrote for me and I modified that slightly to fit the new position I am seeking. 

How typical is this in academia?  Do people tend to exaggerate their abilities when they are writing their own letter?  Can search committees tell when the advisor actually wrote the letter vs the candidate?

and why is this software telling me I should spell advisor as adviser?  I've always spelled it -o-r.  :)

[larryc]

It is not typical, nor is it uncommon. It is definitely a great opportunity. Praise yourself to the skies!

[michigander]

Usually I interview students requesting references to make sure that I include things (if I can) that will be most helpful for the specific position.  Sometimes, when I'm really rushed, I ask the student to write a first draft with special attention to job specific experiences with the proviso that I'll rewrite it as appropriate before sending it.  I know that others do this because I wasn't smart enough to think this up myself -- one of my references early in my career asked me to write a first draft of a recommendation letter.

[untenured]

It is not typical, nor is it uncommon. It is definitely a great opportunity. Praise yourself to the skies!

Yup, I've heard of this.  You provide the skeleton of a letter and the author fleshes it out.  The author is a busy person and you are saving that person a lot of work.

Hopefully, the author will not rubber stamp your letter. Instead, he or she will take the facts you provide and insert his or her own insights and conclusions.

[ruralguy]

Its not unheard of at all, but I think, a little lazy, and puts the student in an awkward position. Being busy is no excuse. I see plenty of super busy lab-leading, grant-getting profs write well thought out letters. But I suppose its better than either saying "no" or saying "yes", and not getting the letter out.

[optimisticfungus]

It is not typical, nor is it uncommon. It is definitely a great opportunity. Praise yourself to the skies!

+1

I've been asked to do this a few times, especially for references that aren't on my committee. It is a good way to show the reference how you want to present yourself and what accomplishments/strengths you want to highlight.

[kron3007]

I have been asked to do that by my current boss.  Their reasoning (likely in addition to it saving them time) was to make sure that they didnt miss any important items.  This makes sense to me, especially in larger lab groups, as they are not likely to keep up with what you have done as well as you are.

I suggest talking yourself up as much as you can, they can tone it down if needed.

[brixton]

Although avoid excessive adverbs.   It's most important that you get all of your accomplishments down.  S/he can add whether you did it ably or with alacrity or mastered the art at the top of your class.  Just make sure you get good specifics about awards, papers given, classes taught or TAed, grants written, measurable successes, etc.

[not_a_gradstudent1]

Since you don't know for sure what your advisor will do with the letter you draft, it would be a good idea to have someone else you know -- ideally someone who has written letters for successful job candidates and even more ideally someone who's been on a search committee -- vet your letter before you turn it over.

[babbinacara]

I recently read an application for which the poor sad candidate had clearly been asked to do this by all three of her/his referees. Two referees submitted the exact same letter with different letterhead; one referee did tart the letter up a little but it was recognizable as having the same baseline as the others. So beware if you are asked to do this by more than one person--write two very different letters that point out different aspects of your skills and abilities. (This baseline letter was also pretty bad...definitely get someone to look at it before you forward it on.)

[anisogamy]

I recently read an application for which the poor sad candidate had clearly been asked to do this by all three of her/his referees. Two referees submitted the exact same letter with different letterhead; one referee did tart the letter up a little but it was recognizable as having the same baseline as the others. So beware if you are asked to do this by more than one person--write two very different letters that point out different aspects of your skills and abilities. (This baseline letter was also pretty bad...definitely get someone to look at it before you forward it on.)

Ouch.  That's sad.

I've been asked to do this myself, and it was a bit awkward.  In my case, I understood it because the person I asked was both painfully busy and not as familiar with my background and accomplishments as my other letter writers.  I was applying for a fellowship that my letter writer had once held and one of my regular letter writers suggested that I request a letter from this other person instead, because the fellowship committee might take give more weight to a recommendation from one of their own.

OP, the only thing that strikes me as unusual about your situation is that it is your advisor that has asked this of you, not a recommender who might not know you as well.  I would hope that your advisor would be very familiar with your accomplishments and would have a lot to convey in his or her letter. 

I

[heptameron]

I've never heard of anyone writing their own letter before.  It sounds dicey.

[bioteacher]

I always make my students write the first draft of any letter of recommendation they ask for. It's a great experience for them to start thinking about how they want to present themselves. It also ensures they understand the effort involved so they are more proactive about getting such letters in the future from others they approach.

It is extremely rare to have a student give me a letter so well crafted that I literally could sign and send it. Even then, I put my own touches on it. Sometimes, I chuckle at what they put forward as their "great" accomplishments and use some of what they reveal about themselves to beef up my own letter. --One student wrote that s/he was very proactive and as proof of this, said they had been the first person that term to ask for a letter of recommendation from me. Little did the student know that they were not the first person to make that request that term and it was a very weak example to begin with.

Mostly, I use the draft to help me see the student in a new light. I then use any new insights to make my own letter sound less generic. (Some of these letters are for students new to the program, requiring a letter from a science prof, but in large classes. They didn't realize until too late that they needed to get to know faculty more personally. If the letter is essentially a rubber stamp in the bigger process, I do need the extra nuggets of info to work from.)

OTOH, my mother has told me many times that when she was in college back in the day, all of her professors responded to requests with a simple sentence, "You write it; I'll sign it." And of course, she wrote herself glowing letters.

[bcohlan1]

None of my letter writers has ever done this, but I have had an undergrad ask me (his former instructor) for a LoR for a scholarship program; without me requesting it, he had pre-written the first draft and included it with the initial request for the letter. Since his version was basically accurate but a little high-flown, I simply replaced most of the superlative language and sent it on its way.

[totoro]

I ask for people to at least give me some bullet points of what they think I should mention. It makes the job a lot easier.