Letters Of Recommendation
I am pleased to write letters of recommendation for students who have been effective teaching assistants or have worked one-on-one with me. I am unable to provide letters for students whose only information is their grades in my courses.
If you would like me to write a letter of recommendation for you, you must agree to waive your right to view the letter and send me an email at least 2 weeks in advance of the deadline with the following information directly included in the body of the email:
- Your name, major, and year of graduation.
- A list of all of the ways we have interacted together.
- Include the semester for each item.
- Include courses you took with me as well as classes you TA’d for me.
- Include your grade for each class.
- A small paragraph (3-4 sentences) explaining why you are asking me to write a letter and what you hope for me to emphasize in the letter.
- A paragraph about why you are applying for this opportunity, what sets you apart from other applicants, and what this opportunity will enable you to do.
- A list of all deadlines. (Inline in the email, not as an attachment or Google Drive link.)
- A current resume or CV (as an attachment to the email; no Google Drive links.)
If you would like me to write you a letter of recommendation, please do the following when you request a letter of recommendation:
- Make sure I know you well enough to write a strong letter. Doing well in one of my classes is not sufficient. For me to write a letter for you, you must have done at least one or more of the following: Worked with me on a research/independent study project, been part of NSF S-STEM, CAHSI LREU, or another funded research project., held a leadership position in a student group that I advise, and interacted with me regularly, or some other activity equivalent to those listed above
- Have a reasonable list of programs. Writing the letter is only part of the time required to submit a recommendation on your behalf. Each school or opportunity has a separate form, which takes time. Depending on what you are planning to do, the reference will require a different emphasis.
- Give me enough time. If I have never written you a letter before, make sure the deadline is at least a month in the future. If I have previously written you a letter, a week or so of lead time will do. I receive many requests for letters of recommendation and cannot accommodate them, so asking early ensures I can provide you with one. You must send me ALL of the information listed on this page at least a month in advance.
- Tell me what you need, when you need it, and where it needs to be sent. Make a list of all the programs you need a letter for, and place this information in a Google Doc that you share with me. Include the following information in a concise list for each program ordered by the soonest deadline to latest deadline: School name, Program (REU? Scholarship? MS or PhD? Department?), When the letter is due. Each program should send me a link to a letter submission portal with information about what to write in the letter. However, you can provide a link to the program in your list if you want.
- Tell me why you are applying to the program. What do you hope to accomplish if you get this opportunity? If you are submitting a research plan or a personal plan with the application, please provide those to me as well so that my recommendation can support your goals. 6.
- Remind me of your interaction with me, when, for what, how long, etc., and provide me with your current resume. These should be things like:
Which classes did you take with me, in which semester? Please highlight your performance in these classes (e.g., a perfect score on the final exam, a particular homework assignment where you exceeded the requirements—describe what you did, etc.). Which semesters did you conduct research with me? What did you achieve in these research projects? Are there any extra-curricular activities that would be relevant for me to mention (e.g., activities related to class, etc.)?
7. Waive your FERPA protections for the information I will need to talk about in the letter. In your email request or a follow-up email to your original request, after you have looked at this page, you MUST include the following text (exactly as stated here): “I consent to the release of personal and educational information about me in the letter of recommendation that I have requested from you. This authorization shall remain valid unless and until it is rescinded in writing.
8. Remind me when the letter is coming due. 2-3 days before the deadline, please send me an email with a reminder that the deadline is approaching.
9. Uphold your part of the application (or let me know I don’t need to write the letter anymore)
If you ask me to write a letter, I expect that you will complete your part of the application. Writing a good letter is time-consuming. If I am preparing a letter for you, I have declined to prepare a letter for another student. If I find time to support your application and you fail to complete your side of things, that is disappointing and may prevent another student from taking up an opportunity. If you won’t be able to meet the application deadline, please let me know so I don’t waste my time.
IMPORTANT: Send ALL of the requests at the same time, at least a week before the FIRST deadline (earlier is better).
All this information should be ready before the request deadline. This will make the process smoother and allow me to adjust my workload to support your reference request.
Good luck with your plans!