Round 1 applicants, now is the time to reflect on the questions common to all letters of recommendation: strengths, as compared to those in a similar role, and a story about receiving constructive criticism.

More and more programs are moving towards the Common Letter of Recommendation. Identify the stories you want to share and outline them in STAR format for the first 2 questions, then consider ideas your recommender might include for the “anything else” area.

1. Show, don't tell - narrate a specific incident or moment in time for each question.

2. Use the STAR format for your stories, or if that doesn’t fit, at least make sure to have a beginning, middle, and end. Provide context, but pick examples that won't eat up all the words with it.

3. Pick examples that model teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, innovation, persuasion, strategic thinking, etc. – things b-schools care about.

4. Make sure each recommender really champions you. They see your uniqueness and articulate that artfully in whatever language they speak (you can translate.) Ideally, they can provide additional insightful comments about you beyond the examples.

5. Aim to evoke an emotional connection with the reader - this makes you memorable and members of adcom will fight for you. I like recommenders to speak to the candidates soft skills in the "anything else" section for this reason.

One other important point: make sure what your recommender discusses is consistent with other elements of your application. Conflicting information is a red flag and they will move on.
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