What does a good letter of recommendation look like?

[jklunder]

Hello everyone,

A few of my mentors are willing to write excellent letters of recommendation for I/O psychology programs.

 

1.  What does a good letter look like?

 

2.  One very old professor has wrote one; it is clear he is well past his prime and even writes mis-spellings and such.  Can I still submit that?

 

Thanks

[ed_psy]

A good recommendation will talk about your achievement/accomplishment in the professor's class. He/She might talk about a paper you wrote that stands out, talk about your character. If you have done research with that professor, it will be on the letter too. (I have written one for an undergraduate who was looking for a job while I was a TA.)

 

I always waive my rights to read recommendations so I don't know if professors have spelling errors or not. But I have read around how some professors have made bigger mistakes like the writing the wrong program name, so I think some mis-spellings wouldn't hurt. After all, professors are busy people. They may not have time to  proofread before submitting.

 

Can moderators fix the reputation? I clicked the red by accident 

[biisis]

A good letter of recommendation will in most cases be unread by a student- ergo we may not be able to give you a really complete answer! (Being able to look over potential letters and decided after the fact if you'll submit them strikes me as a little of the far side of ethical).

[lzs]

A good letter says a lot more than "got an A in my class." A good letter shows that the writer actually knows you and your work and your capacity for graduate study, which in many ways is very different from undergraduate study. Preferably, the letter is written by someone who has worked with you outside of class and/or has supervised your research. The letter should say things that the admissions committee would not already know just from reading the rest of your application. It should attest not only to your intelligence but, importantly, to your maturity, responsibility, work ethic, and strong intrinsic motivation.

[lewin]

I've never read any of my letters but here are three important characteristics.

 

1. Positive. Especially for American programs, it should use lots of standout words like superb, unique, exceptional (source). It should emphasize your research ability because perceived competence drives hireability (source).

 

2. Detailed and concrete. It should have specific examples, e.g., ran studies, analyzed data, wrote results. As Izs said, more than just what's on the rest of your application or in your transcript. [i get reference letter requests from people in my large lectures and I tell them, "I'll write one, but all it will say was 'So-and-so got an A, which put them at #14 of 170 students.'"

 

3. From somebody important. I also discourage students from having me write them letters because I'm a postdoc. You want a letter from tenured or tenure-track faculty. Ideally, from somebody who knows your future advisor(s) because academia is small and personal connections matter. One of my undergrad letter-writers went to the same conference as a few of my POIs and talked me up to them. This helped a lot.