The ‘How’ Behind a Good Letter of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation (LORs) are a powerful tool to bolster your chances of securing admit into the university of your choice. People tend to take them lightly, but most often these carry more weightage than your essays. They are extremely resourceful to the college admissions committee as they are instrumental in providing valuable insights into your attitude towards studies, work habits, learning behaviour and your ability to perform to pressures and challenges. They are also a potential source of conveying how robust was your learning environment and academic program.

Skill Maestro presents a comprehensive list of tips to assist you in your process of securing LORs.

1.    Choose the teachers who know you in and out!

You need to be wise while choosing the teachers/counselors/advisers who will write an LOR for you. Your recommenders should be those who are familiar with your intellectual abilities, academic skills, critical thinking skills and communication skills. Those mentors who have seen you coping up to challenges and are aware of your desire to learn are the ones who are best positioned to support your application. Choose the ones who will act in your best interest.

2.    Share your finest details of activities and achievements with your recommenders

Send your CV with the recommender you choose to expose him to your profile completely. If possible, discuss things with him/her. Your recommender might know you in and out, but there might be fine details he/she might not be aware of. Share those details with him/her so that he/she can get a holistic picture of your profile and can help you endorse better.

3.    Sufficiently inform them about the way you are projecting yourself to the university

There needs to be a balance between how you are projecting yourself to the admissions office and what your recommendation letter talks of. Sufficiently inform your recommenders the achievements and strengths that you are highlighting in your application so that things can remain consistent through-out your application.  Share your motivations, ambitions, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses with your recommenders.

4.    Keep them informed about the application deadlines and the relevant forms

Inform your recommenders about the application deadlines and the guidelines and information sought by the universities you are applying to so that you can avoid any discrepancies and last minute hassles.

5.    Give them time!

You need to request your recommenders well in advanced about writing an LOR for you. They need to take out time from their busy schedules thinking about and preparing the letter. This will again help you avoid last minute rushes and will ensure that your LORs are in their best form of expression and not hastily drafted.

So, start looking for your potential recommenders who can project the best form of your talent to the universities of your choice! Needless to say, LORs are not just indispensible but extremely resourceful, to both you and to the admissions committee!

About Skill Maestro At Skill Maestro, We guide prospective students about the entire application process as well as suitable universities as per their profile/test scores. We have consulted dozens of prospective students for MIS across the globe. We have a physical presence in Indore where we also help students prepare for GRE, GMAT & SAT Follow Us  on Google+!