How to ask for a Recommendation Letter

How to ask for a recommendation letter.

You know that you need a recommendation letter for a college application, your dream job, or a special program that you really want to get into.

First, you need to decide who you’re going to ask for recommendations. Start by creating a list of past teachers or people that have played an important role in your life. This could be a teacher, tutor, or coach. It could also be a mentor, manager, or boss. After you’ve created your list of possible people, make notes beside each person.

• How long have you known the person?
• How does your relationship with them reflect or connect to where you want to go to school?
• Would this person say positive things about you?
• Is this person is a good writer?

Now that you have your list, reach out to the first 2-3 people that most closely align with your goals. For example, if you’re hoping to study art, and you have an art teacher or art tutor on your list, you want to be sure to reach out to them.

When you email the person, you want to make this as easy for them as possible. If they’re a teacher, they may receive a lot of requests. And if they aren’t a teacher this may be the first time that they’ve been asked to write a recommendation letter, making them feel a bit unsure. Make sure that you’re giving them at least 2 weeks notice, the more time the better.

Provide the following information in writing:

• Where are you applying and what are you thinking about majoring in?
• Will the request come from common app? Or do you need them to send you a copy? If the letter needs to be mailed, provide them with a stamped and addressed envelope.
• Provide a list of other helpful information, what clubs and/or extracurricular activities are you involved in. What classes have you taken that relate to your desired field of study? Also, include any classes/lessons that you’ve taken with this person.
• Explain why you feel that a letter from your selected person is important.

Do not expect or request to view the letter.

If the deadline is approaching (in a day or two), and the letter hasn’t been submitted, send a respectful reminder. It’s possible that they forgot, or that the digital request ended up in their junk or spam folder.

Here is a sample email to get you started.

Hello, _____________ (name)

Would you be willing to write a recommendation letter for me?

I’m planning to apply to the following schools, ( list schools), and hope to major in ( list possible majors).

Your recommendation is important to me because ( explain why)

Select which is relevant for you

If you’re willing to write a recommendation I wanted to let you know that you’ll receive a request through Common APP. If you’ve never used common app before it will require you to create an account with your email. Once logged in, you should see my name. Select my name and follow the instructions. It will let you type the recommendation letter on the platform, or upload a document.

If you’re willing to write a recommendation letter, I’ll need you to email a copy to the following email addresses.

If you’re willing to write a recommendation letter, please email me the completed letter as a PDF.

To make it easier for you to write the letter, I wanted to remind you that I took the following classes with you ( list the classes).

Thank you