When it comes to advice for requesting references
for graduate school, Dr. Dave Mumby’s blog
post,
“How to Ask For a Letter of Recommendation,” is full of useful tips. Though I
had not yet stumbled upon Mumby’s piece when I was applying to graduate school
last fall, I did follow many of the guidelines he suggests and certainly
recommend them to prospective students. Here, I’ll take a look at Mumby’s
advice in relation to my own process.
Mumby says: “First, just send a short email to ask
if he or she is willing to provide a letter. Don’t attach documents like your
c.v., transcripts, or personal statement. That will come later, if you do in
fact get a positive response to your request for a letter of recommendation. Your
initial email should simply explain that you will soon be applying to graduate
school, and you hope they can provide a letter of recommendation for you.
Indicate how many programs you are applying to and by which date the first one
would be needed.”
My experience: I agree completely—even if you have
maintained a relationship with a faculty member since graduation, you cannot
guarantee that he or she will be willing or able to write on your behalf and
therefore shouldn’t go into the conversation with the assumption that he or she
is definitely on board—you need to ask. Of course, some professors will be
equally as over the moon as you are about your potential graduate school plans
and may respond with enthusiasm right away—always a good thing!
Once my recommenders did agree to write for me, one
of the professors I contacted sent me a specific form that her department uses
to collect information from students prior to writing recommendation letters. I
sent a portion of this document to my two other recommenders as well. In this
document, I also described my passion for higher education and the issues I was
hoping to explore while in graduate school as well as some more detailed
information about my top choice programs and why I believed they were good
fits. In my email conversations with these individuals, I was also able to
explain what I had been doing work-wise since graduation and articulate my
general interest in graduate school.
Mumby says: “Timing is important. The right time to
ask someone for a letter is about 4 or 5 weeks before you need it. That might
seem like a long time, but it is customary to give professors a long time to do
such things, and most will be at least a little annoyed if you ask for a letter
of recommendation less than a week before you need it.”
My experience: My college career center stressed
this point as well. While recommenders may still wait to submit their letters
until right before an application deadline, busy academics will appreciate you
notifying them much further in advance. Mumby writes, “Send an email to your
referees a few days before the deadline, just to confirm that the letters have
been sent or will be ready on time. It’s not necessary to send more than one
reminder, as long as you do it just a few days before the deadline. If you
remind them too early, they are more likely to just put it off until another
day, and perhaps end up forgetting altogether.”
Mumby says: “Put the addresses and deadlines of all
the programs to which you are applying in a single document–if possible, on
one page–and list them in the order in which the deadlines will come up. For
each one, indicate whether or not there is an evaluation form to complete along
with the letter. Also indicate what the referee is supposed to do once the
letter is completed.”
My experience: In the document I sent out to my
recommenders, I was able to provide links to recommendation guidelines and
instructions for each program to which I was applying, following Mumby’s
one-page strategy.
This is just a snippet of Mumby’s advice—to gather
all of his tips, be sure to check out the full article. Best of luck securing
those recs!
Oh, and a final word from me: When the
application/decision process is over, be sure to keep your recommenders updated
on your acceptances and final plans! They’re eager to hear where you end up.
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