Is a letter of recommendation a common format?

[nehs]

I'm in the process of applying to Grad School/Business School for Spring 2011.

I am not able to find out how to ask for Letters of recommendation. Is this something like every university/college will have a differen format? or can I just as my referees to write a general one?

Another question that I had is , Can I ask my supervisor at the volunteer work that I do to write me one? It is a distinguoshed Non profit but I did not work anything rellated to my work ex/education/future grad school.

[anthropologygeek]

Some programs ask for all 3 to be academic and sometimes just 2. As for asking, make an appointment and ask. If you sense any hesitation move onto others

[Mr. Wonton]

Most professors will write one letter for each student and make slight changes as they see fit (for example, if you're applying to X University and they got their MBA there, they might throw in a few words about how you're a good fit for the program). It's your responsibility to provide your recommenders with the deadlines and letter submission guidelines for each school.

As for your second question, it looks like you've already answered it - if your supervisor can't provide a meaningful assessment of your potential as a graduate/business student, he/she shouldn't write you one.

[fuzzylogician]

1. There are usually two things a school will require of a recommender: there will be a form to fill out with some general assessment of your placement and achievements ranked relative to the professor's other students - this part normally looks like a closed questionnaire and changes from school to school. And there is a section in which to enter the actual letter - recommenders will usually write just one letter and perhaps make small changes to adjust it to each school.

2. The sort of recommendation letter you want depends on the field you apply to. For business school, you might want to have professional letters and then a letter from your supervisor will be fine. But ask yourself this: what could the letter from your supervisor contribute to your application? If it's not going to say anything useful about you study/research abilities, how would it support you as a strong and able candidate? Can it speak to your managerial abilities or other favorable qualities in business school applicants? For grad school (which I understand to mean a research degree), probably at least two and preferably all three of your letters should be academic ones. Try searching on the admissions webpages of the universities that you are interested in, they will tell you what kind of letters they prefer.

3. Professors are used to writing letters of recommendations. Simply go to their office hours and ask. You could come to each meeting equipped with a small packet containing your previous work in each professor's class, if you're worried that they won't remember you. It could also be useful to send your recommenders a draft of your SOP, once you have one. This way they will have a better idea of where your interests lie and will be able to be more precise in their own letters.

Edited August 6, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[nehs]

Thank You friends for the replies.

Its been 5 years since I passed out of my college and I was wondering how to hunt down my professors and to complicate things, I studied outside the United States. Anyway,I'm going to try my luck by contacting them.

And sharing my SOP with them is a great idea. Thank You.

[nehs]

I have narrowed down on my choices for referees and they have agreed to write LORs for me. My question is how do I get them to write more than 1 letter for me as I'm applying to 3-4 different grad schools?

They are all located in different citiees/countries. Hence, I would be sending them a brief document with my present details and also remind them of what work I did with them,so that they are reminded easily.

The admissions committee of the universities has asked me to send LORs directly from the referree to the univ admission's team through email. But, their websites has a format for the LOR. How do I incorporate this format in the email?

Some schools have online recommender forms and that's a lot easier to handle.

please help me

[tskinner]

Your LOR writers should already be expecting to write a few letters for you when you asked them to write LOR. When you contact them, just send them the links to the websites with the information on how to format the letters. It won't take them more than a few minutes to tweak your letters to fit each school's standards.

[nehs]

Your LOR writers should already be expecting to write a few letters for you when you asked them to write LOR. When you contact them, just send them the links to the websites with the information on how to format the letters. It won't take them more than a few minutes to tweak your letters to fit each school's standards.

thanks tshinner. Appreciate your response.

I think I would not need to send any links to them, isn't it? the institute will contact them directly?

do u know what kind of information will be asked in the web portal? I need to know this so that I can give my recommenders a heads-up....

[tskinner]

Yeah, the institution should e-mail them.

The forms in the application, if I recall, asked for their full names, addresses, telephone numbers, and professional job titles. This is my recommended 5 part plan for LORs:

1. 
   
   
2. I'm thinking of applying to grad school. Will you write me a letter? I want to do x, y, and z.
   
3. A month later: I just took the GRE and got perfect 800s on both sections. I will be applying to schools a-g. I'll input you into their system today and send you a list of all their deadlines. (You then go into your applications and input their information and e-mail addresses. The application then e-mails them a link to fill out the form EXCEPT FOR UCLA, WHO ARE IDIOTS, BECAUSE THEY WANT PAPER LETTERS, AND WHEN ONE OF YOUR REVIEWERS MOVED TO TAIWAN, IT GETS COMPLICATED! /rant)
   
4. The day after #2: Here are a list of the deadlines. Did you get notifications from all the schools?
   Perhaps a month or so later: Here is my current draft of my Statement of Purpose. Though I would appreciate feedback if you had the time, I expect you are too busy with research and LOR writing, so I just wanted to send it to you to get a better idea of my plans and state of mind when you write my letters.
   
5. A week before your last deadline: Hi Professor! I just wanted to let you know that I've submitted all my application information, and I wanted to thank you for all your support in the process and I'll keep you updated on the results. In case you need them, here are the deadlines again.
   

This is a good way to give them frequent reminders without sounding overbearing.

[newms]

Yeah, the institution should e-mail them.

The forms in the application, if I recall, asked for their full names, addresses, telephone numbers, and professional job titles. This is my recommended 5 part plan for LORs:

1. I'm thinking of applying to grad school. Will you write me a letter? I want to do x, y, and z.
2. A month later: I just took the GRE and got perfect 800s on both sections. I will be applying to schools a-g. I'll input you into their system today and send you a list of all their deadlines. (You then go into your applications and input their information and e-mail addresses. The application then e-mails them a link to fill out the form EXCEPT FOR UCLA, WHO ARE IDIOTS, BECAUSE THEY WANT PAPER LETTERS, AND WHEN ONE OF YOUR REVIEWERS MOVED TO TAIWAN, IT GETS COMPLICATED! /rant)
3. The day after #2: Here are a list of the deadlines. Did you get notifications from all the schools?
   Perhaps a month or so later: Here is my current draft of my Statement of Purpose. Though I would appreciate feedback if you had the time, I expect you are too busy with research and LOR writing, so I just wanted to send it to you to get a better idea of my plans and state of mind when you write my letters.
4. A week before your last deadline: Hi Professor! I just wanted to let you know that I've submitted all my application information, and I wanted to thank you for all your support in the process and I'll keep you updated on the results. In case you need them, here are the deadlines again.

This is a good way to give them frequent reminders without sounding overbearing.

I really like this. I think I'll follow it with a few minor tweaks

[nehs]

The application then e-mails them a link to fill out the form EXCEPT FOR UCLA, WHO ARE IDIOTS, BECAUSE THEY WANT PAPER LETTERS, AND WHEN ONE OF YOUR REVIEWERS MOVED TO TAIWAN, IT GETS COMPLICATED! /rant)

Yes, this is the problem with a couple of universities in my area too..rant... it is so prmitive to ask recommenders to write in paper and mail it out/or we mailing it out...

same case wit me...some of my recommenders r in different countries

WOW...thanks for that plan...sounds fantastic...I'm sure it will help all who read this thread....

I have put the email id of the recommender in the application...i've also sent them an email letting them know what to expect... i hope they upload their reco in 2 weeks..if not, I"ll follow ur reminder plan

[tskinner]

i hope they upload their reco in 2 weeks..if not, I"ll follow ur reminder plan

Haha! You're funny. Have fun refreshing the status page of your application as midnight of the application date draws near! This is inevitable for at least one of your letter writers. XD