We enjoy providing advice on PTT to assist potential applicants in their
quest to gain acceptance to great graduate programs. However, sometimes the
best admissions advice comes directly from the universities themselves! For
example, the Graduate Student Recruitment Office at Purdue University recently
sent out a helpful email about how to get a great letter of recommendation
(LOR).
We often tell our clients that if they want to secure a great LOR, they should
take a hands-on approach and support their recommendation provider as much as
possible. The information in CAPITAL LETTERS below (written by personnel from
Purdue University) supports this idea -- they give very clear advice about
proactive steps an applicant might take:
COACH YOUR RECOMMENDATION PROVIDERS.
TRY TO SELECT RECOMMMENDATION PROVIDERS WHO CAN TALK ABOUT VARIOUS ASPECTS
OF YOUR POTENTIAL AND SUGGEST TO THEM WHAT THEY COULD HIGHLIGHT.
FOR EXAMPLE, A RESEARCH ADVISOR COULD TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC RESEARCH SKILLS
WHILE A PROFESSOR COULD TALK ABOUT YOUR ACADEMIC POTENTIAL. THIS PREVENTS YOU
FROM HAVING THREE GENERIC RECOMMENDATION LETTERS. MOST RECOMMENDATION
PROVIDERS APPRECIATE KNOWING WHAT THEY SHOULD DISCUSS IN THEIR LETTERS.
MAKE THE PROCESS AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.
PROVIDE YOUR REOMMENDATION PROVIDERS WITH:
-A COPY OF YOUR RESUME or CV;
-A FILE THAT LISTS ALL OF THE INSTITUTIONS, PROGRAM NAMES, CONTACT INFORMATION,
AND APPLICATION DEADLINES TO WHICH YOU ARE APPLYING
-A LIST OF DETAILS THEY WILL NEED TO ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESIONS ABOUT YOU
-A FRIENDLY REMINDER OF APPROACHING DEADLINES
After reading this information one should clearly understand that it would be
a mistake to simply hand the recommendation provider a form (or send them the
recommendation system email) and send them off to write without any further
discussion. Professors teach hundreds of students and they get many LOR
requests each year. Therefore it is very difficult to expect them to:
a) clearly remember everything you have done or every skill you have, and
b) to spend a lot of time writing about these things.
The applicant who takes a passive approach will more likely have a generic LOR
sent to the school by the provider. And that won't help your application
very much will it? Therefore we strongly advise that you get organized and
plan a strategy far ahead. If the recommendation is professional, analyze
the LOR questions and then write down bullet points of projects you have
worked on and the skills you have displayed at work that fit these questions.
Then discuss your application strategy with the recommendation provider in
depth.
Here are a couple more pieces of advice regarding how to best manage the LOR
process:
*Give your recommender a clear timeline.
Send the recommender a schedule with the schools you will apply to and the
deadlines for each school. Ask them to complete the LOR 4-6 weeks in advance.
If you feel they have forgotten you might send them a friendly reminder after
two weeks, and one week in advance of the deadline. It is always better to
have everything finished earlier than later, so choose a deadline that helps
everyone.
*Remember to send a thank you note to all of your recommendation letter
providers!
A thank you letter gives you an open door to go back to them in the future
with more personal updates and an excuse to stay in touch. This isn't the
last time you will need your recommender's help (probably) so be sure to
maintain a positive relationship with them all throughout your graduate
education.
Good luck getting those letters - Round 1 is not far away!!
--
David Johnston
[email protected]
--
quest to gain acceptance to great graduate programs. However, sometimes the
best admissions advice comes directly from the universities themselves! For
example, the Graduate Student Recruitment Office at Purdue University recently
sent out a helpful email about how to get a great letter of recommendation
(LOR).
We often tell our clients that if they want to secure a great LOR, they should
take a hands-on approach and support their recommendation provider as much as
possible. The information in CAPITAL LETTERS below (written by personnel from
Purdue University) supports this idea -- they give very clear advice about
proactive steps an applicant might take:
COACH YOUR RECOMMENDATION PROVIDERS.
TRY TO SELECT RECOMMMENDATION PROVIDERS WHO CAN TALK ABOUT VARIOUS ASPECTS
OF YOUR POTENTIAL AND SUGGEST TO THEM WHAT THEY COULD HIGHLIGHT.
FOR EXAMPLE, A RESEARCH ADVISOR COULD TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC RESEARCH SKILLS
WHILE A PROFESSOR COULD TALK ABOUT YOUR ACADEMIC POTENTIAL. THIS PREVENTS YOU
FROM HAVING THREE GENERIC RECOMMENDATION LETTERS. MOST RECOMMENDATION
PROVIDERS APPRECIATE KNOWING WHAT THEY SHOULD DISCUSS IN THEIR LETTERS.
MAKE THE PROCESS AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.
PROVIDE YOUR REOMMENDATION PROVIDERS WITH:
-A COPY OF YOUR RESUME or CV;
-A FILE THAT LISTS ALL OF THE INSTITUTIONS, PROGRAM NAMES, CONTACT INFORMATION,
AND APPLICATION DEADLINES TO WHICH YOU ARE APPLYING
-A LIST OF DETAILS THEY WILL NEED TO ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESIONS ABOUT YOU
-A FRIENDLY REMINDER OF APPROACHING DEADLINES
After reading this information one should clearly understand that it would be
a mistake to simply hand the recommendation provider a form (or send them the
recommendation system email) and send them off to write without any further
discussion. Professors teach hundreds of students and they get many LOR
requests each year. Therefore it is very difficult to expect them to:
a) clearly remember everything you have done or every skill you have, and
b) to spend a lot of time writing about these things.
The applicant who takes a passive approach will more likely have a generic LOR
sent to the school by the provider. And that won't help your application
very much will it? Therefore we strongly advise that you get organized and
plan a strategy far ahead. If the recommendation is professional, analyze
the LOR questions and then write down bullet points of projects you have
worked on and the skills you have displayed at work that fit these questions.
Then discuss your application strategy with the recommendation provider in
depth.
Here are a couple more pieces of advice regarding how to best manage the LOR
process:
*Give your recommender a clear timeline.
Send the recommender a schedule with the schools you will apply to and the
deadlines for each school. Ask them to complete the LOR 4-6 weeks in advance.
If you feel they have forgotten you might send them a friendly reminder after
two weeks, and one week in advance of the deadline. It is always better to
have everything finished earlier than later, so choose a deadline that helps
everyone.
*Remember to send a thank you note to all of your recommendation letter
providers!
A thank you letter gives you an open door to go back to them in the future
with more personal updates and an excuse to stay in touch. This isn't the
last time you will need your recommender's help (probably) so be sure to
maintain a positive relationship with them all throughout your graduate
education.
Good luck getting those letters - Round 1 is not far away!!
--
David Johnston
[email protected]
--
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