We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Home

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Should a Letter of Recommendation for Graduate School Include?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 9,276
Share

A letter of recommendation for graduate school is a part of what applicants present to an admission department to apply for acceptance to a program. Grades or test scores are relatively impersonal, and though they attest to student aptitude, they don’t discuss the personal features of the graduate student. While letters might briefly detail a student’s academic aptitude, they’re really intended to be more personal accounts of the student and to give a comprehensive, more colorful picture of how that student will fit in any graduate program.

Before discussing the content of a letter, it’s first important that students think carefully about the professors they ask to write a letter of recommendation for graduate school. One consideration is whether professors asked have any association with the school(s) to which the student is applying. In competitive schools, a letter from someone with connections to that school may speak volumes. Equally, or perhaps even more important, is thinking about how well the professor knows the student. A warm personal letter about accomplishments or graduate school readiness comes more easily from professors who know and like the student.

In making a request for a recommendation, students can help professors add important details to a letter of recommendation for graduate school by sending reminders of work completed. Requests for letters, which should be made at least a month before they’re needed, should include transcripts, term papers, lists of all classes taken with the professor and summary of other activities the professor and student pursued together. The point is to give the letter writer as many personal details as possible, which can help jog the memory or furnish content for the recommendation. Even a scribbled remark on a term paper may flower into a complementary statement about the student.

The professor’s job is to write a highly personal letter of recommendation for graduate school that is fueled with examples of the student’s gifts. With information like term paper grades and personal knowledge of the student, it’s fairly easy to create a one or two page letter that speaks to the student’s strengths. Some specific qualities sought by graduate schools include maturity, autonomy, cooperation, originality, and research ability. Concrete examples of how the student excels in these areas are exceptionally valuable.

What should not be included in a letter of recommendation for graduate school are a lot of statements about the student’s need to improve. If a teacher feels uncomfortable with a student’s readiness for graduate school, he might simply state to the student that he cannot make a recommendation. Professors put their own reputation on the line when they recommend students; writing a dishonest appraisal isn’t advised.

For students, this illustrates the necessity to cultivate strong relationships with professors and work on improving performance. Undergraduate students should view teachers as resources, get to know them during office hours, and work on making themselves pleasantly memorable. The teachers most likely to give the strongest recommendations are those who know the student well.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia...
Learn more
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-should-a-letter-of-recommendation-for-graduate-school-include.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.