LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

What are recommendations for ?

Recommendations are meant to provide a third-person perspective on you as an individual. While
your grades/scores are supposed to represent your intellectual capabilities and your essay allows
you the opportunity of presenting your point of view, recommendations by those who know you
give the university an independent assessment of your skills and qualities.
Unfortunately, a number of applications ask for elaborate recommendations that are frequently a
burden on faculty and superiors. It's not uncommon to hear of faculty asking the student to write
his/her own recommendation and then editing them for effect. This is even more likely to be the
case in a work environment, where few would like to waste their time answering often absurd
questions.
In response to requests from visitors to our site, we've decided to provide some advice on how to
make the most of your recommendations.
Here's what we, ..uh, recommend...
Please note that by no means do we endorse the practice of applicants writing their own
recommendations. It put many students in a position they'd rather not be in. But the sad fact is
that many applicants have little say in this matter.
And even if you are fortunate enough to have people around you who are prepared to write up
their own recommendations for you, there are certain aspects you could try to keep in mind.
Hence this section should be useful for all applicants.

Selecting the
right people

How to go
about doing it

Writing the
recommendation yourself

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Selecting the right people to recommend you :
Do they know you well enough
You don't want to go for someone who doesn't remember your name. Which is why it's always
prudent to stick with immediate superiors or professors (in an academic setting). More
importantly, will the university believe that they know you well enough. If the CEO of the firm
where you interned is recommending you, make sure it's clear that your interaction with the
recommender is apparent in the write-up. The University could very well question the credibility of
a recommendation if it appears to have been manipulated.
How much credibility are they likely to hold with the university.
In academia, professors are likely to carry more weight compared to lab-assistants. In any case,
make sure that the professional competence of the person recommending you is apparent.
Are they likely to give you a positive recommendation
And you want to be doubly sure of this. You may want to stay away from the unreliable ones. If
necessary, approach the person and ask them upfront. Since they're likely to have written

recommendations for applicants before, it's not too much to expect them to understand your
anxiety. However, use your discretion in case you aren't too sure of how he/she will react.
Get some variety into your recommendations
For multiple recommendations, look out for whether the recommendations are likely to rehash the
same aspects of your personality. As far as possible, get recommendations from people who've
interacted with you in different situations. For example, an engineering student would be well
advised to get recommendations from a professor, a lab instructor and someone like a project
guide. The professor could attest to the student's keen sense of class participation. The instructor
could focus on his/her skills in the laboratory and the project-guide on his/her flair for research
and getting to the root of problems.
Co-ordinate your recommendations with the rest of your application
If the somewhere in rest of your application you've focussed on something like a particular
project, it would be particularly useful to try and build on that by providing a recommendation from
the person who guided you through that project. Likewise, if you've talked about your biggest
achievement at work, how about getting your boss at the time to recommend you

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
How to go about doing it
Make a list of persons you are going to ask to recommend you.
If possible, jot down a few extra names whom you could depend on in case of an emergency.
Make sure they are willing to do so.
Talk it over with them. See if they are reasonably sure they'd like to do for you. Be clear that
recommendations are a pain for everyone involved, but most so for those who have to actually
write them up. No one enjoys writing recommendations. And so you can't depend on someone
who isn't too sure he/she'd like to recommend you.
Make sure they know what you want to do
If they knew you were interested in marketing research and not finance, maybe they wouldn't
have said that you'd be a great asset to the finance class. Of course, the persons recommending
you are often busy people, so you may want to give them a note alongside the rest of the material
we've listed in our next point.
ShowTime
Each of the persons recommending you deserves a copy of your resume. Along with that, give
them the original recommendation form and a copy too. In this copy, give them points that you'd
like covered in their write-up. If the form asks them to list an incident where you displayed
leadership skills, it'd make it easier for them if you have provided them with a few incidents that
you think would be suitable. Let them do the descriptive part. Your job is to make sure they
remember a few relevant incidents. You could even attach a note saying that you'd rather they
talk about your pet project, etc.
Related Issues
Make your timeframe absolutely clear. And while we're on the topic, be considerate and give them
a few weeks to prepare your recommendation. Be sure that you've given yourself a buffer of a
week or two to make up for unexpected exigencies. Also clear up whether they'd like to mail the
recommendation themselves or whether they want you to do the needful. Consult the application
brochure to make sure you're aware of what your university prefers

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
If you are writing the recommendation yourself
Make them sound different
Writing all your recommendations in the same style is just asking for trouble. Remember that
these recommendations will stay on your record for a long time to come. So even if you aren't
caught during the application phase, it's quite possible that they'll come to haunt you, say, when
you're begging for an assistantship.
Don't use too many superlatives.
None, if possible. And never in pairs. Saying that you're the 'most brilliant' student to have walked
the halls of the college is poor English and likely to result in that recommendation getting
excluded if your transcripts don't back it up.
Make it believable
There's no doubt that you're the brightest student your professor has ever seen (like the dozen
others who have asked him to recommend them). But if your professor puts you in the top 5% in
every category that he's been asked to rank you, and your transcripts show that you averaged in
the bottom 25% of your class, it's bound to raise some eyebrows. So take it easy on those
adjectives and percentages. Make sure you match up the assessments in the recommendation
with the hard figures that your transcripts reveal.
Try and talk about aspects of your personality that haven't been covered elsewhere
The recommendation really is a magnificent opportunity to do this. So instead of getting your
professor to describe your entire project (which you've already talked about in your
resume/essay), say that he saw you grow during the year that you were assisting him on the
project. How your already superior fundamentals in the subject were reinforced by your having
developed considerable finesse and accuracy in the laboratory.
Refer to the essay writing part of this site
Think of it like an essay. In fact, it is an essay. So for god's sake, give it structure and flow; and
work on that content.
Try to get across outstanding achievements
Read your resume and essay again. See if this recommendation provides you with a chance to
bolster some of the claims you've made elsewhere.
Co-ordinate with your goals
Think of what you'd like to be doing in the near future. For example, science and engineering
students generally seek assistantships in research or teaching once they're at their university. It's
quite likely that the person reviewing your application for an assistantship will look at your
application recommendations. If someone recommending you has said something about your
having presented a seminar on 'Big dams are examples of poor engineering', or having
conducted outstanding research as part of your project, it would substantially add to your chances
of clinching the assistantship.
Use discretion and good judgement
Since you're depending on others for this part of the application, your staying sensible is of
utmost importance. Everything from scheduling meetings with the person recommending, to
giving them a deadline, to suggesting what they should highlight in their assessment requires a
lot of tact on your behalf. So stick you

What is a Recommendation Letter?

As part of the application procedure every University will require you to send 2 or
3 recommendation letters. These letters are recommendations from teacher's/
professor's who have taught you at school/ college. This letter reflects the
student's academic potential and ability to successfully complete the degree at
the respective School/ College. If you are an MBA student with work experience
and employer's recommendation will be required. It is one of the several facets to
your application process, for gaining admission and financial aid. All these factors
will add up while the admissions committee is reviewing your papers.
A Recommendation Form is generally mailed to you along with your application
package, which the university would require your recommender to fill. Each
university has a different format for the recommendation form. Since each
university has a set format for the recommendation form, your recommenders
may find it tedious to fill out all the recommendation forms, hence they may give
you a recommendation letter on the institution or personal letterhead.
The recommendation letter is a confidential document written by the teacher/
professor. The letter is not supposed to be discussed with the student. Your
concern should be whether the recommender would write a positive
recommendation for you. If yes, then you can approach her for a
recommendation.
The recommendation letters must be Confidential. You must ensure that
The recommendation letter is typed on the institution/ teacher's letterhead
Each copy of the letter has the recommender's signature in ORIGINAL
The letter is enclosed in an envelope that is sealed (i.e. glued shut)
The recommender has signed across the flap of the sealed envelope
For each of your recommenders', you must have 15 copies of the
recommendation letter duly signed and sealed in envelopes.

What Kind of Information Is Included?

The content of a recommendation depends on the type of program to which you
are applying, and the format used.
The type of degree program to which you are applying will make a difference in
what your reference is asked to say about you. Your references may be asked to
comment generally on your academic ability or specifically on your performance
in coursework in a particular field. They may be asked to comment on your
participation in class as well as your performance on exams or papers.

A highly research-oriented program will want to know primarily about your skills
as a researcher. If you are applying for graduate study in an helping profession
like counseling, your references may be asked to comment on your interpersonal
skills. If you are applying for graduate training in a profession, e.g. Business,
Education or Nursing, your references may be asked to comment on your work in
the field.
Some programs have a form which they ask your references to fill out, answering
short answer type questions, or asking your references to rank you among the
students they have taught. Other programs ask for the same information in an
actual letter format. Some programs combine the two they ask your reference to
fill out a form, and invite them to make general comments in letter form.

Who Should I Ask to Write for Me?

This will depend somewhat on what information your references need to provide.
If you are applying to an traditional academic program, it is good to have people
who have been your instructors write for you. A professional program may ask
you to have a supervisor or co-worker comment on your work.
In any case, it is best to choose as references people who know you well enough
to make specific comments about your ability. It is also important to choose
people who will write positive recommendations. It does you little good if your
letters contain negative comments about you.
Specific comments on your performance in school or at work are also helpful. If
your reference can write that you consistently "came to class prepared and asked
intelligent questions that contributed to class discussion," or "demonstrated
foresight and initiative in implementing policy," that will help your cause far more
than "Student X was in my class, and did well," or "Ms Y has been employed
here for three years."
Another consideration is the reputation of your references. If you can get a
favorable reputation from a professor who is well respected in your field, that will
certainly strengthen your application. But if you can get a stronger
recommendation from some one with less prestige who knows you better, should
you use that instead? This can be a tradeoff situation,and it can be hard to know
which is more beneficial. Specific comments about your work from someone who
knows it very well can easily be more helpful to you than a vague positive
comment from a more famous person.

How Should I Approach Someone About Writing A

Recommendation?

Many professors are happy to write recommendations for their students.

However, there are three important things to remember:
1. Having someone write a recommendation is a privilege, not a right, so ask
politely.
2. Professors are often very busy people, so it is best to ask early, and to get
any materials (e.g. a recommendation form) to your reference as soon as
possible.
3. You need positive recommendations, so don't be afraid to ask if a
reference feels s/he can write you a favorable recommendation.

Should I Waive My Rights to Review

Recommendation Letters?
The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) gives enrolled
students the right to view the contents of their files. If recommendations are part
of your file, you are entitled to see them along with the rest of the information in
your file, if you are admitted and enroll as a student at that school.
It is common practice for a recommendation form or instructions to ask the
applicant to sign a voluntary waiver of review rights, which means that you are
giving up your rights to see the recommendations written on your behalf. The key
word here is voluntary. If you feel strongly about it, you may refuse to give such
a waiver.
In my opinion, there are three good reasons to waive your rights to see
recommendations:
1. It is commonly assumed that your references will be more candid in their
statements about you if they know the recommendation will be kept
confidential.
2. If you are not admitted to a given institution, you have no legal right to see
the recommendations anyway, unless you are a currently or previouslyenrolled student at that university
3. If you have chosen your references carefully so that you know they are
going to give you a good recommendation, there is little need to see the
recommendation once you are admitted.

What If I Haven't Been in School for Years?

If your instructors still remember you and the quality of your work well enough to
comment favorably on it, then you will have little trouble as long as they are
willing to write letters for you. If they don't particularly remember you and your
work, it can be very helpful if you can supply samples of the work you did in the
class to help the professor remember your work a little more clearly than simply

by checking the gradebook. I would certainly offer to do at least that for any
prospective reference-letter writer.
The possibility that you may choose not to go immediately on to graduate school
is one more good reason to cultivate and maintain a professional relationship
with the faculty at your undergraduate institution(s). Keep up with the field and
their research interests. Take opportunities to ask them questions about their
work. If you are genuinely interested in their work, it should be easier to get
references from them.

How to get the best possible recommendation

letters to put in your application packet for
fellowships and scholarships
You have the grades, you have the achievements, you have a future. What you
want is the scholarship or fellowship that will help you realize that future. What
you need are outstanding letters of recommendation from some of your
professors.
It sounds easy enough. You've done well in Professor Doe's class, Professor
Jones has been your academic advisor for two years and you were Professor
Smith's research assistant last semester. These people know you; they know
your work. You assume that they will automatically write you a glowing
recommendation to put in your application packet.
But it's up to you to choose the best people to write the letters and to make sure
your recommenders have everything they need to write you the best possible
recommendation letters.
Here's what you can do:
Before asking someone to write you a recommendation letter, do some
research on the specific scholarship or fellowship and get your resume and
statement of purpose in order. Consult the application packet and see what
qualities and accomplishments the selection board is looking for. Compare
your own qualifications to those sought and take notes. If your recommender
asks for some backup information, you will have everything ready.
Particulars count, and examples are crucial. Your recommender may
remember that you were "a hard worker" but may have forgotten that you set
up a new lab on your own. He or she may remember that you are "extremely
bright" but may have forgotten that you not only made straight As in class, but
tutored some of your fellow students to high grades in that class as well. Your
resume and statement of purpose will serve as reminders of these details.
Choose the right people to write the letters for you. Choose a professor who
knows you rather than the department head who doesn't. Good sources for

letters are your academic advisor, professors of classes you were active in or
people you've worked for. It's a good idea to have not only a couple of
references from inside of your department, but to demonstrate diversity by
having at least one letter written by a faculty member from another department
or college.
Schedule a meeting with the professor to talk about the scholarship or
fellowship. Use the meeting to explain why you think you could be competitive.
Then ask the professor if he or she would have the time to write the letter and if
he or she would feel comfortable writing a supportive and positive
recommendation letter for you for this particular award.
If possible, inform the professor a semester or so ahead of time that you are
considering applying for a scholarship or fellowship and would like him or her
to write you a recommendation letter. The professor will pay closer attention to
your actions and accomplishments and will perhaps keep a running file on you
to use when it comes time to draft the letter.Speak to the professor early enough so
that he or she will have about a month to work on the letter. Since each
recommendation letter must be tailored to the individual and to the award, your
recommender will need plenty of time to complete it. Everyone at CMU has a lot of
work to do, and allowing your professor ample time to complete this task is both a
courtesy and a necessity.
Neatly and thoroughly fill out any portion of the recommender's form that is necessary.
This could be as simple as typing in your name and social security number. You want
to make the task of recommending you as easy as possible for your recommender.
Although the decision is up to you, selection committees recommend that you waive
your right to see the letter when completed. Waiving your right to see the letter is
thought to lend more credibility to the recommender's statements.
Make sure that you provide the recommender with a pre-addressed, stamped envelope
if necessary or with other directions if the letter is to be returned to you.
Follow up with the professor in a couple of weeks to see if he or she needs any
additional information. A call or an e-mail note from you will also serve as a reminder
to the professor if he or she has forgotten to write the letter.
Finally, thank your recommender for taking the time to write the letter and let him or
her know the outcome of the application.

NOTE: Though these tips are especially useful for scholarship and fellowship
recommendation letters, many of them are also useful for graduate school and
employment recommendation letters.

Guidelines for Recommendation Letters

Please print this page and give it to those from whom you are requesting
recommendations.

A Minimum of Three Recommendations is Required

You should request recommendations from individuals who are familiar with your academic
achievement and potential. If you have been out of school for a number of years and are unable
to contact former professors, letters from other individuals who can address your achievement
and potential will be accepted. At least two or more of the references should be from people who
have seen you do social work or related work. If you have been a paid social worker, at least one
of the two references should be completed by your supervisor or director.
Recommendations can be word processed on the letterhead stationery of the person sending the
recommendation; however, the Graduate School recommendation form indicating your choice in
waiving the right to see the reference should be completed and should accompany the letter. The
form can be downloaded from the School of Social Work web site, or a paper copy can be
requested from The Graduate School. Completed recommendations should be sent to the
applicant in a sealed envelope with the signature across the seal. Applicants should suggest
to the persons writing the non-academic references that they use the following guidelines when
writing the recommendation letters:

How long and in what capacity have you known the applicant?
What is your judgment of the applicant's maturity and emotional stability?
What is your evaluation of the applicant's capabilities and suitability for graduate education?
What is your evaluation of the applicant's capabilities and suitability for subsequent practice in
the social work profession (i.e., ethical standards, appreciation for a wide range of people,
commitment to social and economic equity)?
Identify areas such as work performance, workload management abilities, leadership ability,
and personal characteristics that you believe might either help or hinder the applicant's
development as an effective social worker.
Other comments.

Some tips from campus colleagues and others

who serve on selection boards
Every year, faculty across campus write scores of recommendation letters to get
good students into graduate school. But some find that writing recommendation
letters for very competitive scholarships and fellowships is a different kind of
challenge. Writing recommendation letters for such competitive scholarships as
the Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright requires extra thought and more detail than
the typical graduate school recommendation letter.
Here, several Carnegie Mellon colleagues and others who sit on the selection
committees for some of these prestigious awards offer tips on writing
recommendation letters.

When a student asks you to write a recommendation letter, make sure that you
understand what the student expects from you. Do you share the student's
perception of his or her achievements? Could you wholeheartedly recommend
the student for this particular award or program? If not, tell the student you may
not be the best person for the task.
Ask the student for his or her resume and statement of purpose. You may also
ask the student for a more detailed list of accomplishments. These items will
spark your memory if it's been awhile since you've worked with the student.
Know what the selection committee is looking for. Read over the application
materials that the student will provide you. If the committee is looking for
scholarship qualities, it is fine to discuss the student's other qualities, but target
your letter and your examples on scholarship.
Take some time to really think about the student and what he or she has
accomplished. What makes a student's application packet stand out from the
others is not only grades and accomplishments, but the specifics of what the
student did and how he or she went about it. Tell a story; compare this student
to all the others you've had throughout the last five years. But, remember, if the
student does not stand out significantly from those other students, you may not
be the best person to write a recommendation letter for the student.
Selection committees normally weed out mediocre application packets before
focusing on the excellent ones. This means that a brief letter with phrases like
"good student" and "hard worker" that aren't substantiated with examples will
get tossed aside in favor of the detailed letter that doesn't just tell but shows
how qualified the student is.
Most committees look not only for what the student has already done but what
he or she has the potential to accomplish. Addressing potential may take a little
more time than discussing past deeds, but it may give the student the edge
over other applicants.
Unlike recommendation letters written for entrance to graduate school, letters
for scholarships and fellowships should not bring up a student's weakness and
then dispel that weakness with a parallel strength. While this technique seems
to show objectivity, it is not a technique that works with these very competitive
awards. Judges have many letters to read and are looking for any reason to
take a candidate out of the running so that they can concentrate on a smaller
core. If a judge sees a negative phrase such as "Although at first Jane
appeared to be a dreamer in class," he or she may never get to "I soon
realized that she was actually thinking one step ahead of my lecture."
Write at least a page and don't be afraid to go into detail in a longer letter.
Committee members have commented that less than a page shows a lack of
enthusiasm. Some have commented that over two pages is a bit long, but
others have said that a letter filled with example after example of the student's
accomplishments and outstanding capabilities is a joy to read.
However long the letter, be sure to print out each page on one side of the
paper only. The back sides of double-sided letters may get lost if they are
photocopied for the committee.

NOTE: Though these tips are especially useful for scholarship and fellowship
recommendation letters, many of them are also useful for graduate school and
employment recommendation letters

Sample Letter Of Recommendation

Prof. John Smith
MS, PhD
Dept. of Computer Science.
It gives me immense pleasure in recommending Mr. Joe Doe for the graduate
program in Computer Science at your University. I have known him for four years
in my capacity as Professor, Department of Computer Science. I have also
taught him two theory courses, 'Introduction to Computer Science' and 'System
Programming' and I am teaching him Application Programming.
In this context, I wish to place on record the consistently brilliant academic
performance of Mr. Doe during his four years of study.
As per his performance records, he can be placed in the top 10% of a class of 90
students in my subject and is placed on the overall in the top 20%. He is
intelligent, inquisitive and yearns to gain an in-depth knowledge. With his
determination and hard work I have no doubt that he will succeed in all his
endeavors.
His project titled "ABC DEF GHI JKL" conducted at XXX was ranked among the
best projects carried out in the department. He has shown the motivation,
intelligence, preserving nature and analytical aptitude for graduate study and
research. He is extremely co-operative and possesses the capacity to contribute
positively while working as part of a team.
In my view Mr. Doe compares favorably with the best among my students. I am
sure he will make an outstanding graduate student. I recommend him in the
strongest terms for admission to the Graduate Program at your University
preferably with financial aid.
Prof. John Smith