Letters of Recommendation - Career Center

Getting Good Letters of Recommendation

Session Objectives
• Understanding the purpose of letters
• Choosing your recommenders
• Asking for the letter
• Collecting the letters

Letters serve a purpose:
• Offers qualitative vs. quantitative information from a thirdparty
source
• Gives admissions committee a view of you:
• As a person
• As a potential graduate student
• As a potential professional in the field
• Can enhance strengths of the application or address
challenges or flaws
• Should be a resounding endorsement of your candidacy

Self-Assessment: What Needs To Be Said?
• What’s right with my application?
• What’s missing in my application?
• How can my letters be used to address these aspects?
• Think in terms of both quantitative and qualitative
components

Creating a List: Who is best qualified?
• Professors
• Refrain from using TAs and graduate student teachers when
possible
• Supervisors/ Employers
• Professionalism
• Maturity
• Related field experience
• Advisors
• Academic improvement over time
• Extracurricular involvements/leadership

Rules of Selection: Who will I actually ask?
• Must know you and your work well enough to write a
detailed, specific letter
• Obtain letters the committee requires or expects to see
• Faculty recommendations will be expected. Not having them
connotes that you have not had good relationships with your
faculty
• Don’t choose prominence over relationship
• Get your from the person who knows you the best, not
necessarily the most prominent person. Committees will care
more about what the letter says than who wrote it.
• Want to have at least 1 more writer than the program
requires for contingency purposes.

Face-to-Face Appointment
• Make formal requests for letters in person, when possible.
• Helps the letter writer remember you and be sure of who you are.
• Gives them a chance to ask clarifying questions.
• Gives you the chance to ensure they have time to write the letter.
• Come prepared to talk about your qualifications and why you have
chosen them to write a letter .
• Subtly give talking points by mentioning skills/knowledge you gained
from working with them and how these will be important to your
success is graduate school.
• Don’t be afraid to ask: “Do you feel comfortable writing a strong letter
for me?” If the recommender hesitates, MOVE ON!

Information Packet
• Provide information to help recommenders write a
stronger letter for you. You might include:
• Cover letter
• Transcript
• Resume
• Statement of purpose
• Instructional sheet with procedural details
• Required forms from schools or Career Center
• Pre-addressed envelopes with postage affixed, if needed
• Organize and clip forms and envelopes together by school

The Career Center Recommendation File Service
• One-stop shop for collection and dissemination of letters for
graduate/professional school
• Recommenders send one copy of the letter to our office and we
forward copies on to the schools at your request
• Must open a file prior to having letters sent to our office
• Forms available in The Career Center or online at
www.career.emory.edu:
• Click on “Pre Health, Law, Grad School” tab on top menu
• Click on “PreGraduate School”
• Click on “Recommendation Letter Files”
• Read webpage and download and submit forms

Following Up
• Timely letters are ultimately YOUR responsibility. Stay in touch
with your recommenders to ensure your letters are sent in a
timely manner.
• Send a handwritten “Thank You” a few weeks before the
deadline. It will serve as a reminder to them if they haven’t
written the letter yet. If they have, it will be a well-received
expression of gratitude.
• Tell letter writers if you change your plans, especially if they
haven’t sent your letter yet. Respect their time by not having
them write a letter you no longer need.
• Inform recommenders of the outcome of your applications.
Given their involvement in your application, they will want to
celebrate your success with you!

B. Jones Center, Suite 200
Mon. – Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
404-727-6211
www.career.emory.edu
For individual grad school advising, be sure to schedule
an appointment with your Career Advisor assigned to
your major!