Recommendation Letters: Whom to Ask, When, and What to Give Them

A recommendation letter is the only part of an application written by someone who has watched you work. That gives it weight, and means it can't be rescued at the last minute. Readers can tell within a paragraph whether the writer knows the applicant, and a generic letter quietly lowers an otherwise strong file.

What a letter is actually for

Readers already have your grades. What they lack is a credible outside view of how you think: whether you ask good questions, recover from mistakes, or go beyond what was assigned. A useful letter supplies that through specific observations and, ideally, a comparison — "one of the three strongest students I have taught in eight years" carries more information than "excellent".

Readers learn to discount superlatives. What they trust are details a writer could only know from close contact: the essay you rewrote four times, the experiment that failed and what you did next, the way you helped a classmate without being asked.

Undergraduate letters: who writes what

Systems differ in who writes and how many letters are expected:

• US colleges typically ask for one counsellor recommendation, describing you in the context of your school, and one or two teacher recommendations, usually from teachers of core academic subjects in the last two years. Some colleges accept an optional additional letter from a coach, employer or mentor; one is plenty.
• UCAS uses a single reference, written by a teacher or adviser at your school, often compiled from several teachers' input. Recent changes have structured it into sections covering the school context, the applicant's suitability for the course, and any circumstances the reader should know.
• Continental European universities often require no letter at undergraduate level, or a brief school report. Where one is asked for, it is usually a short confirmation of standing rather than a detailed portrait.

Graduate letters are a different document

At postgraduate level the letter shifts from character to research potential. Programmes usually ask for two or three, and expect most to come from academics who have supervised you — a thesis supervisor, a lab head, a professor whose seminar you took and wrote serious work for. A letter from a well-known professor who barely remembers you is weaker than a detailed one from a junior lecturer who supervised your dissertation.

For research degrees, letters often decide close cases. Taught and professional master's programmes may accept a work reference from applicants long out of education. Our guide to graduate school applications explains how letters fit with the statement of purpose and CV.

When to ask

Ask early and in person if you can, then follow up in writing. For undergraduate applications, the end of the penultimate school year or the start of the final one is the usual moment; teachers who write many letters often cap how many they accept, and the first requests get the most attention. For graduate programmes, allow at least six to eight weeks before the earliest deadline, and more around December, when academics are writing for many students at once.

A worked example: making it easy to write a good letter

A student applying to eight US colleges asks her chemistry teacher in May. In September she sends a one-page summary containing:

1. The list of colleges and deadlines, with the earliest — an Early Action date in early November — highlighted.
2. Two or three specific moments from class she remembers: a lab report on reaction rates she revised after feedback, and a question she raised about catalyst behaviour that led to an extra experiment.
3. Her intended major and one sentence on why.
4. Anything the teacher wouldn't know: a part-time job of around 15 hours a week, for example, which explains a busy timetable.
5. Instructions for how the letter is submitted through the Common App.

The teacher now has material for a specific letter instead of a generic one, and a clear date to meet. Three weeks before the first deadline she sends a short, polite reminder, and a thank-you note once the letters are in. Total effort: an hour or two. Effect on the letter: often considerable.

A graduate applicant would send a similar packet, adding a CV, a draft statement of purpose, the titles of papers or projects done with the writer, and the specific research interests mentioned in each application.

Practical points that trip people up

• Waive your right to see the letter when the form asks. In the US this right comes from federal law and you may keep it, but readers generally give more weight to confidential letters, and writers are more candid.
• Don't ask someone who hesitates. If a teacher sounds reluctant, thank them and ask someone else. A hesitant writer rarely produces a strong letter.
• Choose depth over prestige. The head of department who taught you for one term is a worse choice than the teacher who taught you for two years.
• Match letters to your story. If your personal statement is about economics, a letter from a maths or economics teacher reinforces it; see our personal statement guide.
• Never draft your own letter unless the writer explicitly asks for notes, and even then, provide facts rather than finished sentences.

Getting it right

Make a short list of possible writers by the end of the year before you apply, and think about which of them have seen your best and most characteristic work. Ask early, give them a well-organised summary, confirm deadlines and submission method, remind once, and thank them afterwards. Put the request dates in your application timeline alongside everything else. The quality of a letter is decided mostly by the relationship and partly by the preparation — the second part is entirely in your hands.