Managing recomenders

[sweetpauline]

Hey guys, i have a question about managing recommenders. Well, lets assume that we have selected our recommenders, and the will help us. Lets supposse too that we are applying to 4-5 schools (the average for serious aspirants).

So, my question is, do recommenders have to fill 4-5 recommendation forms, one for each application? how can you avoid that not-so-nice situation with your recommenders?

One more question, is it advisable that recommenders know for wich schools are recommending to?

thank you everybody!

[Stacy Blackman]

I do advise you to have your recommenders fill out a different letter for each school, so that your recommendations are customized. A generic letter that you apply across all schools is not recommended. Yes, this is more work for your recommenders. However, you (and they) should know that a lot of the answers are recyclable, so the first recommendation will be the most difficult and it will become progressively less work.

You can also help your recommenders by supplying them with useful information. I posted some guidelines for guiding your recommenders on my blog, which may be helpful:
https://blog.stacyblackman.com/2005/08/0 ... ommenders/

Finally, another option is asking a few different people to write your recommendations. You may ask one person to write letters for three schools, and another person to write another three. Depending on your options, this may be a good approach.

[sweetpauline]

Thanks Stacy, that's a really helpful answer.

Well i gues that i will have to work a lot of time with my recommenders -so it will be necessary a nice gift at the end of the process

Just one more thing; which is the right approach when recommender's language is not English? should them try to write in english -assuming minor errors or less expressivity- or should i hire a proffessional translation service?

thanks agin for your insights, Stacy!

[Stacy Blackman]

A professional translation service is a good approach, as it will allow the rec to be more polished, professional and expressive. For a school like HBS, I would say it is a necessity. For most other schools there is a bit more flexibility, but it certainly cannot hurt.