Letters of Recommendation Question
 

I am in the process of writing a college letter of recommendation for a high school student. I have never done this before, and now I am stuck. I have written that the applicant will be an asset to college and reasons why. I'm not sure if this will suffice.

I have searched online for examples of letters of recommendation, but I have not found anything that applies in this case. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions that you have. Thank you very much for your help. :)

I've never done one before, but maybe this will be helpful.

Do you know anything about this particular college? Like, if it's a religious school, you might want to make up some BS about how the student will thrive in a Jesuit/Franciscan/Vincentian/Mormon/whatever environment.

I've actually written a lot of letters of recommendation for college applicants and college transfer applicants. I always worried that I wasn't doing them well enough to benefit the students.

Then...I had the wonderful opportunity to be mentored by a longtime professor who sat on many admission committees. He said that letters that give general praise ("This applicant is hard working, dedicated, and an asset to her community.") are immediately eliminated from consideration. Letters that do not specify the author's relationship to the applicant are also ruled out. You should outline the time frame of your interaction. For example, instead of simply saying, "Katie was my student." You could say, "Katie was a student in my English class for the 2003-2004 academic year. I came to know her better as the advisor of the student newspaper during Katie's year-long tenure as Editor-in-Chief." Then, go on to describe what specific interactions in this context helped you to see Katie as hardworking, dedicated, etc.

If you do not feel that you can give this kind of detailed recommendation, be honest with the student. Explain that you would gladly recommend her/him, but you may not have the kind of information that the committee would want to see. If the student feels that you are her/his best choice, ask for a list of extracurricular activities and academic accomplishments before you write the letter.

Hope this helps! I had some really eye-opening conversations about this with my teaching mentor :eek:

Erica

There are books at the library on how to write recommendations.

Whenever I ask for my recs, I create outlines of what I want stressed and provide guidance for the writter. I also want specific examples like "Rudey and I worked on blah blah blah together. This was the problem. This is how we decided to solve it. This is the result of that experience."

-Rudey

I've written letters of recommendation before. I usually ask the student to provide me with a resume or at least a list of activities to help me see what this person is all about. I also ask the student why they want the letter (meaning to get into a college or for a scholarship). I incorporate their answers into the letter.

For example, I wrote a letter for a student who is applying for a scholarhip. I asked them if they won the scholarship what would be done with the money? How would the scholarship help them meet their long-term goals? I use this info & incorporate it into my letter to show how the student would benefit from the reward of the acceptance/scholarship/whatever....

Hope this helps...

YES! This is exactly the advice that I needed. I started to write what Erica had described including "asset to her community." It just seemed shallow and not specific enough. I figured that I could find some help on GC. :)

I think that I am on the right path. I have a copy of her activities and awards. I know her academic and career goals. She has a very clear vision of what she wants to do in college.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I'll be writing this letter tomorrow so there's still time to help if you have anything to contribute. :)

Re: Letters of Recommendation Question
 

Hi Peaches,

I have done quite a few recs for girls for various scholarships and other academic situations (like moving from college to college within the university or getting into a special program) --- I always go back to this template:



Writing a Letter of Recommendation


As an employer, coworker or friend, you may at some point in your career be called upon to write a letter of recommendation. If you are unsure about how to go about it or simply don't know what to say, here are some tips about what to include and how to structure a typical letter of recommendation. This advice may also be useful if you request a letter of recommendation from someone who is not familiar with how to write one.

First Paragraph -- Start out by specifying in what capacity and for how long you have know the person whom you are recommending. If the person is an employee or coworker, indicate the term of employment, the responsibilities of the position, and any significant projects undertaken by the individual. You may wish to include a sentence about the nature of your company and its activities. Here, you can also give a one-sentence summary or overview of your opinion of the recommended individual.

Second Paragraph -- In the next paragraph provide a more detailed evaluation of the person as an employee. Describe his or her performance on specific assignments and list any important accomplishments. What are the individual's strengths or shortcomings in the workplace? What was it like to interact with him or her?

Third Paragraph -- To sum things up you can make a more broad characterization of the individual and his or her demeanor. Overall, was the person responsible, polite, warm, disagreeable, lazy, spiteful? Finally, indicate the degree to which you recommend the individual for the position she or he is seeking: without reservation, strongly, with some reservation, or not at all.

Before writing the letter, you may want to ask the person for a list of his or her projects, since you probably will not be aware of all the work they've done. Finally, if you have not had much contact with the person, you may be better off declining to write the letter of recommendation, rather than putting together something vague and dispassionate. In addition to this I also ask their future plans and goals for life, tis information fits nicely into the last paragraph of the rec.


For additional help, refer to the following samples:
1. Strong Recommendation
2. Recommendation with Reservation
3. Recommendation from a Coworker

Samples can be found at http://resume.monster.com/articles/recommendation/