Tips for Letter of Recommendation

Letters of recommendations is definitely one of your most important parts of your application. You definitely want to thoughtfully think of who you would want to choose to write your letter of recommendation. This is also not something you want to wait last minute on. Think through all of the people who would be willing to write your letter and then from there choose which schools you want the person to write for.

When should you begin to think of who should write your letters of recommendations?

I definitely recommend starting to think of who you want the people to be to write your letters of recommendation by the beginning of the Summer you plan on applying that Fall. The reason why you want to start early with this because by the end the summer or beginning of the Fall you want to prepare emails to all of the people you want to write your letter. It's always good to give them a lot of time in advance to they are not scrambling at the last minute to write your letter. They will also respect this a lot because you are giving them a couple months ahead of time for them to write your letter.

Who should you select?

Thinking of who you should select to write your letters of recommendations can be a difficult decision. Here are some tips when it comes to thinking of the right people to write your letter.

Select a person who you had a relationship with in the past 5 years. For instance, if you had an internship two years ago then the manager who managed you would be a good person to ask.
This person should be able to speak on your work ethics in some sort of capacity. For instance:
1. Professor
2. Dean or Chair Person of your department
3. Internship Manager / Host
4. Advisor
5. Mentor
6. Researh Advisor
If a person has advised you in some way and they went to a school that you are applying too, definitely select that person for that university. This shows the school that you have alumni that is supporting you to attend their school for graduate school.
Sometimes you might even need to think outside of the box. Consider asking people that might have an indirect relationship with you. For instance, the President of your university is someone people might be nervous to ask for a letter of recommendation. However, some presidents may say yes especially if you have done a lot of positive work at the school.

Tips when sending emails to recommenders

Now you should have a good idea on who to ask to write your letters of recommendations. The last step is now contacting them and figuring out what to say. GradStart provides an email template you can use here. This email template outlines all of initial information your recommenders need. Since you might be asking people who interned for or did research for a couple of years ago its important to establish the relationship you have with them within the initial email.