Search Results

In general you should ask for a letter of recommendation for a particular purpose at the time you need it. That purpose might be as generic as "admission to graduate programs in my field" or "to get …

In my experience as a letter writer and as a member of graduate admissions committees, it's very rare for graduate admissions committees to contact a reference. On the other hand, it's quite common t …

It's one thing to write a letter of recommendation and another to add to the letter of recommendation your willingness to discuss the candidate further. In positive letters of recommendation, I usual …

From my point of view as a recommendation writer, it's not much harder to send out 5 recommendation letters for a student then it is to send out one letter, since the letters vary only slightly and in …

Assuming that the student had good grades, I'd explain that I couldn't remember the student and that I could only base my recommendation on the transcript. I'd still be willing to write such a letter …

My advice is to start your letter by explaining who you are and your background. For example, you could mention where you went to graduate school and that you think the student could succeed in that …

I've seen this situation. In our department all faculty vote on admission decisions (we don't have a separate committee that is delegated to make these decisions.) The faculty who have written recom …

I would view the letter favorably if the letter writer made it clear that they had observed the candidate's teaching. I've seen some TA training programs where the TA's are observed in the classroo …

It would be normal to have some letters of recommendation from professors at your undergraduate institution. In my experience, faculty often write such letters for students a few years after they've …

I've participated in searches at my university in different departments that handle this in different ways. In some cases we required everyone to have letters of recommendation sent, while in other c …

I've served on many search committees in a mathematics department. At our institution teaching and research are both important, and I wouldn't describe our institution as entirely "teaching focused." …

Short of asking to draft the letter (which many letter writers consider inappropriate), you can simply ask the letter writer to address particular issues in your letter. You should also supply copie …

One suggestion is to get a good teaching reference if you're working as a TA. Most departments have one or more faculty who supervise graduate student TA's. If you're actually leading a recitation s …

You should ask your references to send the letters directly to the hiring committee. Your references will be more candid in letters that you have not seen and this will increase the credibility of th …

This is probably not a good idea. A strong letter of recommendation will make it clear how the recommender knows the applicant. If it is apparent that the recommender is a family member, then many r …