Asking for recommendation letters

Your professors will usually be glad to write letters of recommendation for you, but do give them plenty of time, at least 6 weeks. Normally such letters are sent directly from the professor to the potential employer or graduate school. Occasionally, a graduate school will specify that they want everything mailed together in one packet, in which case you will have to collect the letter from the faculty member, who may sign his or her name across the seal to insure the letter’s privacy.

Please help your professors by providing the following:

(1) The complete address to which the recommendation should be sent.

(2) The exact name of the job or program you are applying for.

(3) Information about the recipient of the recommendation. Describe the job or graduate program you are applying for. What interests you about it? Why do you think you would be a good candidate for the job/graduate program?

(4) Information about yourself. Remind your professor of the course(s) you’ve taken with them, what your grades were, what special project or paper you did. Remind him or her of your other accomplishments and interests, such as Teaching Assistantships, leadership roles in department or campus organizations, participation in departmental events such as Language Day, and so forth.

(5) A statement of your long-range goals.

(6) Any forms provided by the target graduate school or employer. Usually there is a place for you to indicate whether or not you waive your right to see the recommendation. ALWAYS check the box YES, that you waive your right. A recommendation from someone who thinks you will be reading the recommendation does not carry the weight of a confidential recommendation.

More ideas about recommendations to graduate school (with my additions in [ ]) from the following website. Please click here.

"Develop good relationships with your professors. Try to get to know 3 or 4 on a fairly close basis. Some graduate schools want 3 letters of reference, some want 4. Graduate schools know what a generic letter sounds like, so you want your professors to know you a little bit better than 'oh yeah, that kid who sat in the front row of my class who got an A-.'

1. Get the most prestigious faculty you can to write your letters. It really helps if the people on the admissions committee at the school you're applying to know one of your recommenders.

2. It is best to ask professors for letters in person. Try e-mailing them and setting up an appointment, then politely ask them for a letter at the appointment. Some professors consider it very rude to ask for a letter by e-mail, so be careful.

3. Remember that by asking for a letter you are asking the professor for a big favor--you should approach it as such. Writing thank you notes after the fact is a good idea.

4. Once you're ready to apply, give your recommenders your resume and any other information you have that you think might help them write about what a great person you are and how much potential you have for grad school.

5. While all of your letter writers don't have to be faculty, it's a really good idea to have the majority be professors—[linguistics or language] professors, that is. You might have, for example, an English professor do one of your letters simply because she can attest to your writing ability, but most of your recommenders should be [linguists or language specialists]--graduate students or college or university professors--people who know what graduate school is about and have some idea about whether you really have what it takes to be successful there.

6. While it's not essential, try not to have all male or all female recommenders. Some people might believe that a mix of letters from both male and female recommenders indicates that you work well with both.

7. If you're applying to [an applied program] and you've had a job [teaching], it's a very good idea to have your job supervisor write one of the letters. I wouldn't recommend more than one letter from your employment, though: most recommenders should be college or university faculty.

8. Give the professors writing your letters very brief and clear instructions, and make sure you provide all the postage they need--normally they will provide the envelopes. When they're done, send them a thank you card--they've done you a big favor (well, assuming they wrote you a good letter, anyway).

9. It is very rare that someone will write you a bad letter--many professors will simply tell you that they don't think they can write you a good letter (or more likely, don't have time, etc., etc.). If a professor hints at the fact that they don't think they have much to say about you or that they have a few concerns, they might be trying to tell you that they don't have the very best impression of you. It won't hurt to ask a professor directly, "Do you think you can write a positive letter for me?" If you're astute, you should be able to figure out whether you really want a particular person to write you a letter or not.

10. Finally, go ahead and lie to your professors about when the deadlines are (say they're earlier than they really are)--and then give them the letters about 6 weeks before you tell them they're due. When I applied to grad school, I told one professor that the deadline was December 1st (the actual deadline was January 15th). I gave him the letter in the middle of October. Guess when it was finally mailed? The middle of February--and from what I hear, this happens a lot more than it should."

E-mail correspondence with graduate schools or potential employers: