Grad school recommendations mean a lot to the person hoping to find a seat in their next college/university. And since you are going to be responsible for this, you have to make sure the letter is good enough to help them get through. You cannot say bad things about the student. The point is to help the student/teacher/professor excel in the future. And if you are confused on how you can get this done, this post will tell you about how to write a recommendation letter. Some really good tips, ideas and suggestions have been enlisted here and we hope it will help you significantly.
14 Guidelines for Writing Grad School Recommendation Letter:
1. Be choosy:
Before you write a recommendation letter for someone, make sure you know them enough. You have to be selective about recommendation letters and you cannot afford to write absolute rubbish. It is quite important to know everything about the candidate so that you can write things that are true and make complete sense. You should be specific and have some good idea about their character. If you do not feel very confident about the person, we would suggest you, not to write a recommendation letter for them anyway. Tell them to find someone else for you.
2. Keep things short:
Also when you are writing a recommendation letter, remember very well to keep it short. You don’t have to make it too long. In that way it becomes too boring. Your language should be short and crisp. Make it interesting by keeping yourself straight to the point. Also avoid complex sentences and words. Keep your vocabulary in check as well. We would also request you to write with a good tone. You don’t want to sound too casual. Be a professional which you already are and maintain some consistency in your letter writing.
3. Don’t overdo the goodness:
Of course, when you are writing a recommendation letter for graduate school, you are expected to write good and interesting things about the person. But make sure you are not overdoing that part. Some people make it way too sweet. Know that something like that will not be appreciated. You should use simple words that explain the good qualities of the person. As long as you refrain from making things sound over the top, you are good to go.
4. Think of all the good traits:
Every person has some good traits. Your point is to pin them down on the paper so that the person who will read the letter will know what to expect from them. Also remember that their qualities will act as qualifications. So make sure it is good enough to help them pass through.
5. Be Honest:
It is also very important to be honest when you are writing a recommendation letter. You don’t want to write things that don’t bear any truth. After all, you will be blamed for writing it. So be careful and mention those things that actually exist.
6. Ask the applicant for help:
Since you are going to write for the applicant, it makes complete sense to seek their help. Go ahead and ask them what they need and the qualifications the next company/college they are going, etc. Never be afraid to ask them for help and guidance. If you go by our suggestion, we would request you to get hold of all the details you can gather about the applicant. That will help you know the person better and in that way the recommendation letter will also come out right.
7. Remember to be specific:
Remember to be specific with your statements when you are writing a graduate school recommendation letter. So if you are talking about a certain quality that the student possesses make sure to back it up with some good examples of how they made it happen. You may also mention things like the student has enough potential to excel in the future
8. Ambiguity:
As we all know graduate school recommendation letter tend to be extremely positive. But there are some letters that are so inflated that when the readers go through them, they feel like they are trying to analyse some kind of code. So be very vocal. Any piece of information that is equivocal can be looked in a very negative manner even though you might not have wanted to put it in that way.
9. How should you format the letter?
There is also a way to present the letter if you want to make it look attractive. We can suggest you to use the regular PDF form. It can take around 40-44 lines of texts. And you should be able to cover almost everything in that. There are letters with ranking grids that you may try. It will keep around 36 lines of text if you are writing a short one. Some extra text may also be added to it.
10. Make sure the student knows:
Another thing you must remember to do is making sure that the student is aware. Often they do not know about their needs and responsibilities when it comes to looking for such letters of recommendation. When you are trying to gather information from the student, tell them to elucidate to you the need for having this letter. Secondly about the skills they possess, some of the experiences they have had before and this could include volunteer work. Finally, what matters more is their CV or resume where all details will be given anyway. Also, don’t forget to ask for their transcript and reasons why they are so keen on studying after graduation. It will give you a good idea.
11. How to write a recommendation letter for business schools:
When you are writing a letter for business schools, there are some things that you have to remember to mention. Speak about the student’s ability in maintaining good relationships, some of their personal achievements, their intellectual qualities and how good their communication skills are. Does the person possess self-discipline? Can they make good businessmen? Mention all of this when you are writing a letter.
12. How to write letters of recommendation for health professional schools:
When writing recommendation letters for health professional schools, it should speak more about the individual’s academic abilities and how intelligent they are in the field of study. Talk about the knowledge skills and how talented they are as students. Their personality traits matter so mention that as well. You should end the letter with a short but overall summary, especially how much they have improved and how they’ve come so far during their time in their school. That should be more than enough.
Here are some good examples of grad school recommendation letters.
13. Graduate School Letter of Recommendation Template:
First mention the name of the person in power concerned. Then say that you are the principal of a certain school and are very happy to recommend someone from the teaching staff to their school. Mention the name of the person and speak about the number of years they have taught. Also mention the subject. Go on to the next paragraph and talk about the person’s skills and what sets him/her apart from the rest. Show that the person is inspiring and encourages all. The third paragraph should speak about these abilities as a teacher and what he has done so far for his students. Finally mention all the hopes you have on this person and that you want them to be successful wherever they go.
14. For students going to pursue their masters:
There are students who want to study further and this letter would be perfect for them. Write that you are speaking on behalf of the teaching staff. Mention the name of the student, the year they enrolled in and the subject they studied in your college. Speak about the student’s performance and what they are good at. If they possess unique skills, don’t leave that behind. Show how the student has grown over the years and how active they are when it comes to other activities. Say that it would be great if they will allow your student to be a part of their program as they are full of hope.
The discussion finally comes to a close here. We are hoping you have found some kind of help through this. If there is some feedback you would like to give us, feel free to post your opinions in the comment box below. We would love to hear everything from you. Some of you could be having questions to ask. Don’t hesitate to ask that either. We might not be a bunch of experts but will try our level best to answer all of them. On that note, good luck with the recommendation letters.
