Is it appropiate to ask for a recommendation letter in a visiting institution?

Question

I expect to finish my BSc in Mathematics this year so I am going through the process of applying to Master Programmes. Apparently, if you want to study as an international student a letter of recommendation is a key component to the application, however I am a bit lost in this.

I was thinking of asking one of my lecturers from last year, the problem is that last year I was a Visiting Student in other institution, so I do not know how usual is to get a letter of recommendation as an undergraduate from a institution different from the one you are graduating with.

Why don't ask someone from my home institution? I met most of my lecturers know this year so they could only evaluate me on a semester that will not have finished for the moment of writing this letter of recommendation, also in my previous year of my undergrad I did not show much interest or motivation, so I do not think they can evaluate me fully, plus it was three years ago.

Why do I think a person from another institution is more appropiate? Most importantly because it was last year and for a full academic year, also I was highly active in their courses (got First Class in both of them) and in one of this courses, despite not having some of the prerequisites, I managed to do it properly by independent learning. Why do I have some doubts? Because it was fully online so I do not know if they even remembers me, plus I have not talked/written them since last semester ended so I feel that starting communication again, after almost 6 months, with this request could be viewed as opportunistic.

Thanks for your attention.

Answer 1

I may be wrong on this, but I would say that as long as the person writing the letter

• has some form of external recognition (a title, a position, a reputation, publications, …),
• is willing to write a good letter and
• actually knows you,

you're fine. I don't think their "home" institution matters.

In any case, a good letter generally starts by describing how and for how long you know the applicant, so you can probably ask that person to briefly explain how they know you.

This way, the MS committee reviewing your application will know why the letter is from a different institution (if they even notice it).

Answer 2

Yes it is appropriate.

Since you received excellent grades, it is likely that the person from the other institution remembers you, when you will introduce yourself ("who is this Partizanki? ah the visiting one doing a good job, now I remember").

Write a polite email, do not boast about your grade, write some remarks that you enjoyed the course you attended and passed them with good marks (you can write you were in the top 1%, or 5%, or whatever is First Class) and you would ask if they would be available to write you a recommendation letter to apply for the future Msc programm.

There are two possible scenario:

• your email goes unanswered, maybe even unread, and forgotten in the mailbox of the person you contact;
• you receive a positive answer and you obtain a recommendation letter.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that this recommendation letter to access a Master program can be thought as a minimum requirement, to filter out the students who are not able to get one, rather than something providing a huge bonus in the application process.

Good luck and congratulations for being so active even during pandemic times, don't overstress yourself!