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Hi, in this module, I'm going to talk a little bit about recommendations letter,

again, based on my experience reading a lot of recommendation letters.

Recommendation letters are quite important, but

not necessarily in the way that you may think that they are important,

and I'll talk about some of those details in just a second.

The best recommendation letters are ones from instructors or

advisors who really know you well, and

can offer real detail about your potential for graduate study.

So, a detailed letter from somebody who's actually had you in a small class ,or

a seminar ,or multiple classes, or supervised you in an independent study,

well probably the most impactful when you're applying to graduate programs.

Letters from academics in your area who are familiar with standards and

the way that recommendation letters are written will also be the most useful.

So what you'll find is that especially North America and parts of Europe,

there's a certain language that professors use when

they're writing recommendation letters.

There are sort of code words.

There are particular ways we have of writing letters.

And the best letters come from people

who have spent time in that environment at a university in North America or

Europe, and they understand how recommendation letters are written.

They can provide the kinds of useful details that admissions committees

are looking for.

People from outside that environment, people say academic scene in

other countries where they're not really used to using recommendation letters.

They may not be able to write really effective or

useful recommendation letters even if they mean

well that will help people's chances for acceptance into a program.

So again, in terms of trying to find people to write letters for you,

try to find people who know you, and

who have some experience in a North American or European system.

Or certain Asian institutions where they are used to writing the sorts of letters

that people like to see.

Letters from managers, employers, and others are unlikely to be useful.

They may help explain some sort of a gap in the record, and

they may suggest some potential.

But overall, a letter from an employer or a manager for especially

a research-based program is probably not going to be particularly useful.

I would also watch out for what seems to be a common misunderstanding,

where people think that a short letter from somebody famous, but

who doesn't know the applicant, will be useful.

Most of the time, it won't be useful.

So I know that sometimes people spend a lot of time trying to get a, maybe using

your personal connections or trying to get somebody famous to write a letter for

them, even though that famous person doesn't really know them at all.

And then, the best letter they can write is just a very short one saying,

this person seems very smart, I met him once.

Well, admission committees when they see letters like that,

they generally don't take them too seriously.

They look for letters that offer detail, and

which reflect a real connection to the applicant.

So what does the ideal letter look like?

The ideal letter will provide specifics about the capability of the applicant.

They'll show examples of the applicant's potential

as it relates to the goals of the program.

Generalities such as best student in five years, best student in ten years,

are not useful unless they are backed up with illustrations.

So, I'm aware of certain professors.

I've seen these letters where, in fact, though, we might see five letters in

the same year from the same professor, each letter said that the student

they were writing the letter for was the best student that they had had in years.

Now, all five letters could not be simultaneously true, because each

one claim that, that particular student was the best student in years.

So, these sorts of generalities where people make casual remarks that say,

a student is the best ever, the best in five years,

the best in ten years, they don't have much impact unless they are accompanied by

an explanation of why that student is one of the best students in years.

So, it tends to go very well is a really detailed discussion

of contributions of the student to class discussions or a detailed discussion

of a research paper that the student wrote which emphasizes original thinking.

Those sorts of letters can be really useful because they help

showcase the applicants potential for the program that they are applying to.

A letter from an advisor or

mentor will hopefully provide examples of the student's independence or creativity.

So, a letter that simply says, a student is very good at carrying out instructions,

and is very hard-working, and does exactly what they're told, and

is a perfect research assistant will not be as useful as a letter that

gives concrete examples of how student perhaps identified and

solved problems on their own and moved their own research agenda forward.

That's what people are really looking for.

I want to also talk about the strategies you should follow when you're asking for

a recommendation letter.

First of all, make sure to ask well in advance.

Writing a recommendation letter can take some time.

And, it is a good idea to ask several weeks, or even several months in advance.

Make sure to provide copies of your personal statement,

your research proposal, your resume, and

anything else that puts you in a good light that will help your advisor,

your professor, or whoever it is write a detailed letter.

At the same time, you'll want to clean up your social media presence.

Quite often, if a professor receives a request from a letter from somebody they

had in class two, or three, or four years before, they may not want to

write back and ask for a picture to help them remember who that person is.

They may just go to LinkedIn, or Facebook, or some other social media site to

look for a picture to help remind them of what that student looks like.

It won't go well for you, if when your professor gets to your Facebook site, or

your Twitter feed, or

some other place where they're just trying to refresh their memory about you.

They find that you're using obscenities, that you're posting pictures

of yourself drinking, using drugs, or engaging in bizarre behavior.

Or, if you're writing public rants about either your school, political topics,

etc., that can change somebody's assessment of you very quickly.

If I get onto social media and I see a student who's got a lot of bizarre or

disturbing material up there,

I'm going to be very hesitant about writing a strong letter for them.

Because I don't want to write a letter for somebody who then goes on to some program,

and then the people at the program look up the social media and

wonder that if they perhaps made a mistake by admitting the student.

So, clean up your social media presence before you start applying to graduate

school, and especially before you start asking for recommendation letters.

A list of highlights that will be very helpful to your letter writer.

So you can summarize some of the key points that you

hope that a letter writer will emphasis, perhaps some details about,

why you are applying to be programs that you are applying to?

Why it is that you picked that particular interest to pursue graduate studies in.

Keep in mind that writing multiple letters may be very time consuming.

So, you're actually asking a lot when you ask somebody to write 10, 20, or

30 letters.

You may want to provide a checklist in the form of a spreadsheet,

that allows a professor to keep track of whether or

not they've completed the letters.

And keep in mind that professors may be receiving multiple requests.

You're probably not the only person asking for a letter, so

you should understand if people are somewhat overwhelmed.

Now I'd also emphasize something else that I think people often misunderstand,

especially about North America is that, professors do not expect, in fact,

do not want gifts and as a reward for writing letters.

Most professors are deeply uncomfortable if a student offers them any sort of gift,

either while they're writing a letter or after they finish writing a letter.

If you want to thank your professor for taking the time to write a letter,

a simple card is sufficient, and certainly no gift baskets,

no expensive bottles of wine.

Nothing that may make them feel awkward, or uncomfortable.

7.6 Recommendation letters

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