Hello,

It varies. Actually, most MBA applications have a recommendation form containing questions for the recommender to answer. Some questions will naturally require a fairly short answer, such as "How long have you known the applicant and under what circumstances?" Other questions, such as "What do you consider the applicant's three most significant strengths?" warrant a longer answer, because ideally the recommender would also provide examples of the strengths. The HBS recommendation is relatively short, with three questions and responses limited to 250 words each.

Some applications forego the questions and ask for a letter covering certain points. Or, sometimes applicants hesitate to ask recommenders to address the specific forms and instead have them write one letter covering all the main points of the various forms. In these cases the recommendation letter should be long enough to contain substantive information backed up by examples of at least some points. A rough length estimate for such a letter would be 750-1300 words. Fewer than 750 and it's hard to see how the substance can be conveyed; more than 1300 and you risk being too long.

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com