How to write a Recommendation letter

Recommendation letters are letters written by professors who know you, assessing you capacity to meet the requirements of a program you are applying for. They're supposed to help decision-makers to get a better picture of your potential. The sure thing is, if you apply for a Master’s program, or for a PhD, sometimes even for a summer school, you cannot avoid them.

•  Usually, recommendation letters have to be written on especially designed sheets of paper that come as part of your application form. Fill in the fields at the beginning at the form that ask for your name, department, etc. Take the forms to a professor who knows you and is familiar with your skills or activity. Allow the professor as much time as possible (ideally two-three weeks) to write your letter. Try to make sure the professor is aware of who you are, what your interests are and understands what you are applying for. Try, with politeness and attention, to make sure the professor will write you a recommendation in warm terms.

•  Content. A recommendation letter ideally starts by stating the name of the professor who writes the letter and his/her title, together with the student's name for whom the letter is written. The professor should also state since when has s/he known the students: year, class or other activity. The assessment of the student’s capabilities should be made from a multiple point of view over the next 3-4 paragraphs. From a professional point of view, it should give account of the student’s knowledge, interests and capabilities, activities and results, work capacity, etc. Personally, it should assess the student’s personal characteristics, character, social skills, his or her relations with the students and professors. Same as in other application documents, the direction should be from facts/experience to qualifications, and from those, to value judgments, especially those skills relevant for the desired program should be outlined throughout the paper. The final paragraph should provide an overall assessment of the student’s potential to fulfill the requirements of the program, even though partial judgments can and should be provided in the letter's content.

•  Some of the graduate study programs supply you with forms for the recommendation letters that ask the professor a number of specific questions about your skills and qualifications.

•  Don't forget to write the date and the name of the home university. The name of the program you are applying for should come out explicitly in the body of the text, in order to make clear that the letter has been written for that occasion.

Most recommendation forms contain a certain number of fields, the multiple-choice kind, where the professor has to assess, by checking cells, your abilities. Make sure those fields are checked and insert the text in the place left for additional remarks. I strongly suggest that you do not leave blank that portion of the form, but use it instead as a self-standing recommendation letter.

Good luck!