college how to : securing rec letters
uh basically what i did to get recommendation letters secured for grad school + study abroad? this is like for ….anxious people lol? i researched for HOURS on how to actually go about getting recommendation letters….but there weren’t too many tips for the actual process, just ‘oh! get recs from professors who love you’ haha…
Before you even think of asking…
Do your research: Thinking about graduate school? scholarships? studying abroad? Fulbright? anything that you have to apply to, you’re going to be asked for recommendation letters. this most definitely did NOT occur to me, so I probably added more stress to my plate than I needed to. But yeah….you can’t just get in on your own merit for most things. You need people to vouch for you in the form of rec letters, and most times your applications won’t even be considered without them. PLUS when you DO ask for a recommendation letter, you want to show that you have done some research into whatever you are applying for, and share some of that information with your potential recommender.
Prepare statements of purpose and academic CVs: In order for your recommender to write a letter, they need some background on, well, you! Even if you talk to them often, it’s still nice to have your specific ideas and goals about the program ready and laid out. Plus, they may not know of all your academically-related accomplishments, so detail them in that CV! It’s basically a resume in a different format, but if you get it done early, your recommender may even go over it and send you back suggestions.
Quality of your recommender: Honestly, you can’t just get any old recommendation letter and hope that’ll fly. Oftentimes when recommendation letters are provided as a side thing (at least for college), they can be pretty basic and impersonal. It’s best to get a letter from someone who has had 1-1 conversations with you where you shared about who you are, not necessarily just what you do. That can add a lot to your letter.
So many options….: It’s actually really okay to ask if your potential recommender feels they can write a strong, POSITIVE letter for you. You don’t want a petty supervisor (or someone with which you butted heads or got a less than stellar grade in their class) writing your letter. If they can’t immediately say yes, then they won’t be golden. Once you weed out the so-so choices, you can focus on the strong candidates.
Building rapport: it comes to a point where you really do have to put yourself out there if you want your professor to remember your face. I’ve gone to events and seen professors (future, former, or current) present, and had little small talk convos just to say ‘hey! I’m your student!’. just walking around campus I might run into one, so that’s always a good time to ask questions about things in general (I would save assignment related questions for office hours!). I always email my bilingual professor every week because he doesn’t post the assignment slots ahead of time, and let him know ‘hey! I’ve finished my assignment and want to submit’! Not only is that helping him keep things running, but he’s realizing ‘wow…she’s always finishing her assignments early’. bonus points! I usually spend half an hour in office hour sessions, talking about school, asking questions about their research, going off on tangents …it’s okay to treat your professor as a mentor, they want to see you succeed, so show that you are putting that effort in! It’s also a good chance to practice your language skills with your language professors…
Schedule a talk ahead of time: When you actually ask for rec letters… do NOT just drop in! Show a level of professionalism by emailing your professors ahead of time and asking if you can speak with them regarding grad school/study abroad program, and ask them a question. :-] That’s what I did anyway lol! I didn’t ask for my rec letter officially over email, but face to face.
Set them up: Discuss the program(s) you are interested in, and give them enough detail so that they have a general idea of what you want to get them involved in. Don’t just sit down and ask ‘Can you write me a rec letter?’ but show that you are prepared! If you need to, provide them with pamphlets now.
Just ask!: Okay, now you can literally ‘just ask!’ When I had to ask for rec letters from one of my professors, my CURRENT professor was in his office just chatting with him! That was a bit nerve-wracking, but I just spit out my request before my anxiety took over (I totally wanted to run out of the office). It didn’t really matter that we had an ‘audience’, as he accepted with no problem!
APPLY!: Now that you’ve asked, you have to follow through! Start working on your application if you haven’t done so already, keep researching the process, and keep your recommenders up to date with deadlines, reminders, and additional information you discover. For me, I have to keep my professors up to date with my writing samples, statements of purpose, application process, and deadlines for my study abroad program. Whatever I need to know, they need to know!
um, I hope this is helpful! I can’t really cover the ‘okay I’ve applied and they’ve sent their letters in’ parts because…that hasn’t happened yet! I only asked two weeks ago, but I’ll definitely add onto this post once I can talk about the end results. :-]
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