Recommendation Letters

Sooner or later, almost everyone needs to ask for a recommendation letter from a teacher/professor. Here are a few tips

Plan Ahead.

Do well in your classes and plan on which teachers you may ask to write recommendations for you. If you stand out in class, your teacher will remember you in a positive way.

Save your best writing and best teachers’ comments on your work. You can use it later to remind them about how you performed in their class.

Communicate with your teachers individually while you are a regular student. If a teacher knows you fairly well as a person, that makes it easier for that teacher to write a better recommendation letter for you.

Asking the teacher

Be formal and polite. Even if you know the teacher well, make every effort to show respect when you ask for the recommendation. Giving small gifts may be appreciated by some teachers, but a bigger gift is to have a clear direction and ideas for helping the teacher write the letter.

Make it as easy as possible for the teacher to write the letter(s). Prepare and neatly organize all information that you think may be helpful. Such items as transcripts and your Statement of Purpose can be quite helpful. Prepare the stationary and envelopes for the teacher.

Tell the teacher, in writing, what you think were your strengths in his/her class. Remind the teacher of some special work you did, or what you learned that may be especially valuable for your future study plans. Sometimes, old class papers with the teacher’s comments can be helpful.

But don’t give too much information. You can offer to give more, but the teacher probably doesn’t want to spend too much time wading through lots of documents.

Write the letter yourself. This is the best thing to do. Your teacher may change it a little or a lot, or maybe even just sign it the way you write it. In any case, this can be the most effective way to get the good recommendation letter that you want.

The Letter

There are many ways to write a good recommendation letter. Here is one way to organize it.

Write three paragraphs

Paragraph 1. Explain the relationship between the teacher and the student. What qualifies the teacher to know the abilities of the student? What class(es) were you in? What were the basic requirements of those classes? How well did the student do in those classes in a general way. Perhaps, give the student’s grade in the class, or rank if known.

Paragraph 2. Give details (from the teacher’s point of view) of your performance in the class. Make some general statements about what kind of student you are, and then back it up with some specific examples from your class. This si where saved assignments or teachers’ comments can be useful. This may be the longest paragraph and could possibly be split into two.

Paragraph 3. Summarize the strengths of the student for the specific graduate program you are applying to. Say concisely why the teacher thinks this student will succeed in this program.

These are just a few ideas and guidelines. You can find a lot more information and examples through the Internet.

Writing recommendation letters can be a time consuming process, but it becomes an enjoyable process when students appear dedicated and responsible. Acting like a successful graduate student at this stage in your process will help you get a better recommendation and may help you get off to a better start when you begin the program.

Best wishes.

Prof. Klassen