The Complete Guide to Recommendation Letters, a Must-Read for Study-Abroad Applicants! (Part 1)

What does a good recommendation letter look like?

As the only third-party input in a study-abroad application, the recommendation letter matters a great deal! Admissions officers want this document to show them how others see you, not to repeat content or achievements already covered in your résumé or SOP/PS. A good recommendation letter should be written by the recommender, recommending you to the school from a third person's perspective, so examples are extremely important! Examples help the school understand your relationship with the recommender and, through past events, show the role you play on a team. If the letter only states objective facts (achievements, grades, rankings, etc.), it will be too ordinary and overlap too much with your other application materials. It should tell a story, so the school learns how, "in the recommender's eyes," you achieved these things, what advantages you have over your peers, and so on.

If you have a study-abroad agency help prepare your application essays, they prepare similar recommendation letter templates for every cohort, or even every student, using similar writing techniques and grammar. When letters like these are submitted, schools just find them cookie-cutter and unoriginal; sometimes two or three letters for the same student even look alike, which leads the school to think the student wrote them. This article offers some insights on recommendation letters and on how to guide professors or supervisors to write solid and supportive ones.

Not sure what a recommendation letter should cover? Take a look at the questions below!

This section lists the 10 questions that top 10 US MBA programs most often send to recommenders. Although schools usually don't set a direction or specific questions for MS applications, you can use these questions to understand what schools want to see in a recommendation letter.

Of the 10 questions below, the first 6 are ones that several MBA programs all ask recommenders to answer. This shows that schools usually want to know the following: how the applicant performs compared with peers, with specific examples; constructive feedback the recommender has given the applicant and how the applicant responded; what the recommender thinks the applicant can contribute to the school community; why the recommender believes the applicant will succeed in their career…….

1. Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization.

2. How does the applicant's performance compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (E.g., what are the applicant's principal strengths?)

3. How do the applicant’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples.

4. Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant's response.

5. Please provide example(s) that illustrate why you believe this candidate will meaningfully contribute to the [School X] community.

6. Please provide example(s) that illustrate why you believe this candidate will find success throughout their career.

7. [School X] has a diverse student body and values students who are inclusive and encouraging of others with differing perspectives and backgrounds. Please tell us about a time when you witnessed the candidate living these values.

8. In the [School X], we develop leaders who embody our distinctive culture's four key principles, one of which is “confidence without attitude” or “confidence with humility”. Please comment on how the applicant reflects this [School X] value.

9. Share how you feel the applicant will contribute to the [School X] classroom and community.

10. (Optional) Is there anything else we should know? Please be concise.

Read it here 👉🏻 Recommendation Letter Guide, Part 2