The ultimate guide to getting the perfect letter of recommendation

INTRODUCTION

The letter of recommendation or the ‘LoR’ as it is popularly known as is an essential part of an

international student’s application process. Most institutions mandate that an applicant furnish

two letters of recommendation or more. In this e-book that we have prepared – Team

Hotcourses India hopes to address the questions that students may have with regard to the letter

of recommendation.

A well-written letter of recommendation helps an applicant’s admission chances greatly if the

letter is able to highlight the applicant’s academic strengths and positive traits. Some key points

that you should note are - ensure that you choose a referee who has taught you directly or you

have reported to at work and give ample time to your referee to draft your letter of

recommendation.

In this e-book we have covered topics like - the importance of the LoR, finding the correct

referee and approaching them, ideal content in a LoR and the perfect LoR, time-lines for a

LoR, sample letters and much more.

Once you finish reading this e-book you will get answers to your queries regarding the letter of

recommendation.

CONTENT

What is a Letter of Recommendation? - 5

Who should write your Letter of Recommendation? - 7

What do Universities expect in a Letter of Recommendation? - 9

Format of a Letter of Recommendation - 11

10 Commandments for a perfect Letter of Recommendation - 15

LoR – What NOT to do - 17

Sample Letter of Recommendations for MS, MBA and Engineering - 19

What is a Letter of

Recommendation?

CHAPTER 1

A letter of recommendation is one in which the writer assesses the qualities, characteristics, and

capabilities of the person being recommended in terms of that individual’s ability to perform a

particular task or function.

Most institutions require a minimum of two if not more LoRs to be submitted. These LoRs are

examined and play a critical role in the institution approving the applicant’s admission. A LoR

should describe the student’s talents and skills and highlight the academic / employment

relationship between the student and the referee.

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6Everything you need to know about the ‘Letter of

Recommendation’

Who should write your Letter

of Recommendation?

CHAPTER 2

A LoR should not be taken lightly; asking friends and relatives to write a LoR would be

detrimental to the student’s application. So who would be the best person to write a LoR?

The following pointers should help students decide the ideal referee.

• The student should have worked closely with the referee; ideally the referee should have been

the student’s lecturer or academic guide.

• The student and referee should have a good academic relationship and the referee should have

a good impression of the student.

• Getting a LoR from someone who shares a ‘love-hate relationship’ with the student is

pointless as the referee may provide negative feedback about the student.

• Getting a LoR from a reputed person academic/celebrity under whom the applicant has not

studied/worked may be construed as a gimmick by the admissions team and may back-fire.

• Get the LoR from someone who has a flair for writing; a poorly written LoR creates a bad

impression.

• If the applicant is submitting a LoR written by a former employer the applicant can request

the employer to highlight the applicant’s career achievements.



Recommendation’

CHAPTER 3

What do Universities expect in

a Letter of Recommendation

The content of the letter of recommendation varies, based on the course that you as a student

aspire to study. Some points are provided below for each of the major subject categories.

Engineering Studies:

• Details of your internships and projects.

• Your communication skills.

• Details of any national or state-level seminars and competitions that you have won.

• Knowledge of your subject specialisation.

Management Studies:

• Your leadership, team-motivation and managerial skills.

• In case you have specialized in HR, Marketing or Project Management - the letter should

highlight your achievements. This adds value if you have work-experience and the letter is

from your team-lead or manager.

• Career achievements (if you have work experience).

Arts and Humanities Studies:

• Your communication skills.

• Your expertise in the chosen area of study.

• Your creative ability.

• Details of your portfolio if applicable.

Medical Studies:

• Your academic ability.

• Your potential in the field of medicine. How have you demonstrated commitment to

medicine?

• Are you a compassionate individual who will make a good doctor some day?



Recommendation’

Format of a Letter of

Recommendation

CHAPTER 4

Now we will examine the letter of recommendation; part-by-part with sample lines for each

portion of the letter.

Date, Place and Salutation:

This is pretty straightforward; the date when the letter is written, city and the salutation. If the

institution’s admissions team provides a specific person’s name to whom the letter should be sent

then the letter should be addressed to him or her. Alternatively the salutation can just read - ‘Dear

Admissions Team’.

Samples:

November 25, 2013 25/11/2013 25th November 2013

Chennai Chennai Chennai

Dear Katherine, Dear Admissions Team, Dear James,

Referee Introduction:

This is where the referee introduces himself / herself and recommends you.

Samples:

‘I am ‘Referee’s name and designation’ and I would like to recommend (applicant’s name) for the

(course name) at (name of the institution).’

‘I am Sushant Sen senior lecturer - Department of Chemistry - Hindu College. I would like to

recommend my student Vidya Shankar for a place on the MSc Biochemistry course offered at the

University of Surrey.’



Recommendation’

Academic / Professional Achievements:

This is where your referee describes your academic and professional achievements.

Samples:

‘Vidya has been an exemplary student and has consistently scored well in all exams and has

secured an overall GPA of 8.5 of a maximum 10. She is interested in research in herbal extracts

and is also an avid quizzer and passionate about swimming, winning numerous inter-collegiate

swimming competitions.’

‘Ravi has been working with our firm Metfab India for the past two years as a business

development officer. With thorough product knowledge and good selling skills he has been

instrumental in our growth in New Delhi and Mumbai. His plan to complete an MBA in

Marketing is a good one and he is sure to reach great heights of success.’

Concluding Paragraph:

This is a formal conclusion to the letter.

Samples:

‘Vidhya has a bright future ahead of her and I am sure she will continue with renewed vigour on

her research on herbal extracts. It is with great pride that I recommend Vidhya for a place at the

University of Surrey on the MSc Biochemistry course.’

‘Ravi is a sincere and hard-working employee with a tremendous zeal to succeed. I am proud to

have mentored him and recommend him for a place at the University of Birmingham on the MBA

in Marketing course.’



Recommendation’

Signature:

The referee’s signature should display his/her name and designation clearly.

Samples:

Sincerely,

Sushant Sen

Senior Lecturer

Department of Chemistry

Hindu College

Chennai - 600025

Contact Phone - (91) - 98xxxxxxx8

Email - [email protected]

Sincerely,

Avinash Gupta,

Regional Manager,

Metfab India Pvt. Ltd.

No - 2 - Metfab Plaza,

Shivaji Marg,

Mumbai - 400021

Contact Phone - 91 -98xxxxxxx7




Recommendation’

10 commandments for a perfect

Letter of Recommendation

CHAPTER 5

A step-by-step guide to getting a letter of recommendation:

1. As soon as you decide to apply to an institution or multiple institutions - print out a schedule

of the application deadline; and stick to the schedule.

2. Next go through your list of contacts to short-list ideal referees.

3. Contact the referees personally; explain your course and institution choice and request for a

letter of recommendation.

4. Choose a referee who can write well; a badly written letter of recommendation can cause all

your academic dreams to crash.

5. Be very clear by what date you need the letter and follow-up with regular reminders.

6. Ensure that you share all relevant academic / professional achievement details with the

referee.

7. If the institution has a word-limit for the letter; please request your referee to stick to the

word-count.

8. Take a back-up copy of the letter.

9. Ensure that the letter is posted / couriered / emailed well in advance of the deadline date as

stipulated by the institution.

10. Always remember to thank your referee and keep them posted of your admission / acceptance

at the institution of your choice.



Recommendation’

LoR – What NOT to do

CHAPTER 6

What NOT to Do?

• Do not fabricate tales in the letter.

• If the institution has stipulated that you as the applicant should not read the letter; please don’t

read the letter.

• Do not fake the letter by writing it yourself and putting someone else’s signature; it is illegal.

• Do not get a letter written by a referee who does not know anything about your academic or

professional achievements.

• Do not let the letter become a ‘bragging session’.

• Do not rush to find a referee at the eleventh hour - the letter may cause more harm than good.

• Do not wait for the last minute to send the letter; give ample time for the letter to reach the

institution.

• Do not forget to thank your referee.



Recommendation’

Sample Letters of

Recommendations

CHAPTER 7

October 11, 2013

Chennai

Dear James,

I am Professor Kishore from the Department of Computer Science - Jai Hind College - Chennai. I

would like to use this letter to recommend one of my students Ms. Ambika Sharma for a place on

the MS in Computer Science programme offered at Ball State University.

Ambika completed her BSc Computer Science course with an excellent overall score of 91%. As

part of her project in her final semester of study she worked along with two of her classmates on

building a role-play game devised for the Android platform. The game is called ‘Muka’ and is an

extremely popular and addictive game with attractive graphics.

Ambika is soft-spoken, hard-working and multi-talented; she is a trained classical dancer and has

won many prizes for her dance performances in numerous inter-collegiate youth-festivals.

Ambika wishes to complete her MS in Computer Science and plans to start a company that will

focus on developing multi-platform compatible mobile and computer applications.

I wish Ambika all the very best in her academic pursuit and hope that she will get a chance to

study the MS in Computer Science programme at Ball State University.

Thanking you.

Sincerely,

Kishore Kumar

Professor - Department of Computer Science

Jai Hind College

Red Hills Road,

Avadi, Chennai - 600053.

Tamil Nadu

India.


Phone - (91) - 8799134562

Sample Letter of Recommendation for MS course-aspirants

Letter of recommendation written by a professor for a student aspiring to study an MS

in Computer Science at Ball State University.



Recommendation’

October 15, 2012

Dhaka

Dear Steve,

Greetings!

I am Praful Sengupta - Professor - Department of Mathematics - Nazrul Islam College, Dhaka. I

am writing this letter to recommend my student Tamim Ali for a place on the MBA program

offered by the Melbourne Business School.

Tamim has completed his BSc in Mathematics with an aggregate score of 74%. He is a hard-

working student and has good communication skills. He is a good orator as well and part of the

College Debating Club and has won numerous oratorical competitions. He aspires to study an

MBA in Australia and the Melbourne Business School is his first choice.

Tamim has been an exemplary student and plans to set up his own data-management company

one day providing employment to people in Dhaka. I wish him all the very best for his academic

pursuits and would like to recommend him for a place on the Melbourne Business School MBA

program.

Please feel free to contact me in case of any queries and I hope Tamim gets to study his preferred

course.

Thanking you.

Yours truly,

Praful Sengupta

Professor - Department of Mathematics

Nazrul Islam College - Dhaka - 1362

Phone - (88) - 028891253


Sample Letters of Recommendation for MBA Aspirants

A letter of recommendation written by a professor for a student aspiring to study an

MBA at the Melbourne Business School.



Recommendation’

November 21, 2012

Mumbai

Dear Susan,

I am Professor Ashutosh Kumar - Department of Electrical and Electronic Studies - Tagore

College. I would like to recommend my student Ms. Priya Kumar a place on the MSc Electronic

Engineering course at the University of Kent.

Priya has been an exceptional student and has secured an overall rating of 8.75 in a maximum

possible academic rating of 10 points. Her project in the final semester of study was on a low-

cost solar-powered portable light cum fan. The project was rated highly by the examiners and her

prototype is working perfectly. She has excellent communication skills and she aspires to be a

scientist and develop low cost lighting solutions.

In addition to being an excellent student, Priya is also a talented musician and plays the violin.

She is also a passionate painter and has won many prizes in both painting and music performance.

I am proud to have guided her in her project and would like to recommend her for a place at the

University of Kent on the MSc Electronic Engineering course.

Thanking you.

Sincerely,

Ashutosh Kumar

Senior Professor

Department of Electrical and Electronic Studies

Tagore College

Gandhinagar,

Mumbai - 400011

Maharashtra, India


Phone - (91) - 723602009

Sample Letter of Recommendation - Engineering Courses

Letter written by a professor for a student who wishes to pursue an Msc in Electronic

Engineering at the University of Kent



Recommendation’

We hope that you found this e-book useful and now have a clear idea of what an ideal letter of

recommendation should highlight and who the best person would be to write your letter of

recommendation. Please share your experiences in securing a LoR by writing to

[email protected].



Recommendation’

mailto:[email protected]

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The ultimate guide to getting the perfect letter of recommendation