Recommendation Letters

[millerm27]

Hello,
Can anyone please provide links to any good guides for writing a recommendation letter? My boss said she would give me a very stellar recommendation but hasn't written these in a long time and asked me to find some resources for her. Basically something with a general format, what should be included, length, etc.
Thanks!

[niraj_a]

check out Columbia's recommendation questions - thats practically the best format in terms of guidelines that ive seen so far.

[Jen Kedro]

One quick word of advice-- suggest that your boss focus on "showing, not telling"....or basically, use stories and specific examples in the letters, not just a list of traits. They should not sound like form letters (as many do), but instead show specifics about you and your accomplishments.

[Graham]

Dear Millerm27,

Thanks for your post! There are a number of resources available when it comes to recommendations, and I've tried to provide you with a few from our site below. Beyond that, I'll echo Jen's sentiment that the key is for your recommender to show and not tell the adcom how great you are.

In the meantime, here are a few links of interest that relate to the recommendations process:

Common Recommender Dilemmas
https://blog.clearadmit.com/2008/10/admi ... ilemmas-2/

Managing Your Recommenders
https://blog.clearadmit.com/2005/07/admi ... endations/

Harvard Business School's POV on Recommendations
https://blog.clearadmit.com/2008/06/harv ... mendation/

Beyond these links, you may want to investigate the Clear Admit Recommendation Guide (a downloadable publication). The Guide focuses on strategically selecting the best possible recommenders, helping them understand the characteristics of a strong recommendation, and exerting some influence over the content of their comments to arrive at complementary documents that reinforces the strengths of your candidacy and alleviate its weaknesses. Most importantly in your case, the guide includes a set of guidelines you can print and share with your recommenders, a list of frequently asked questions and two full sample recommendations.

Details can be found here:
https://www.clearadmit.com/ss_reco.html

Best of luck,

Graham