The Complete Guide to Recommendation Letters, a Must-Read for Study-Abroad Applicants! (Part 2)

Who should write your recommendation letters?

When choosing recommenders, follow these principles: "knows you well," "professional," "relevant," "has time," and "enthusiastic."

Make sure your recommenders have the time, the willingness and the enthusiasm to write you a letter that strengthens your application. Common recommenders include professors, supervisors, and faculty advisors of clubs/organizations. Try not to ask peers (e.g., coworkers, co-founders, classmates) to write your letters. If you're an entrepreneur or run a family business, you could even consider asking clients, suppliers, investors and so on.

If you're asking a professor, the best choice is one whose research field is related to the program you're applying to and who knows you well. If possible, also choose the professor of a course where you got a high grade, because professors' letters are very likely to mention grades and class performance; a high grade in a course closely related to your intended field will also stand out more.

If you already have 2+ years of full-time work experience, at least one letter should usually come from a supervisor or team lead, who can describe your contributions and performance at work from their perspective.

Communicating with your recommender… is email alone enough?

You can start with an email that includes a short self-introduction: which of the professor's courses you took / which projects you worked on with your supervisor, how your grades were (you can attach your transcript), what you learned from the course/work, why you're applying for a master's and where you are in the process (you can attach your résumé), and finally a note of thanks saying you hope they'll be your recommender. If you know the schools you're applying to fairly well, you can even list the qualities those schools like or value in applicants, as a reference for the recommender's writing.

If you want your recommender to understand you better, you can ask to meet in person; more personal connection always helps.

Can I write the recommendation letter myself?

Try not to ghostwrite it. Schools can tell!!! Especially for MBA applications, which put great weight on what recommendation letters say: if the admissions officer thinks the applicant wrote the letter, that's usually a red flag, and it's goodbye.

It's best if your recommender is willing to write it themselves; some professors refuse drafts from applicants. When you email, don't offer to write a draft yourself, so you don't go against the professor's wishes or leave a bad impression. Then see what the professor wants: if they don't know you well, they may ask you to write a draft for them or give them some examples.

What a recommendation letter should contain…

Assess your achievements objectively, and avoid excessive praise or overlap with your other application essays. Different angles and assessments make a letter more credible! Important achievements and strengths should be described from the recommender's point of view. The letter should also show that the recommender knows the applicant, and can even go further and explain why the applicant needs further study!

The recommender must have spent a fair amount of time with the applicant to give concrete examples and avoid empty content. Also try not to simply list which of your achievements the recommender witnessed; use CAR (Context-Action-Result) to show the full story from cause to result. If you're not sure which angles to take, refer to the common MBA recommendation questions above and have your recommender introduce you from different angles.

What should a professor's recommendation letter include?

Students applying for an MS usually get at least one letter from a professor, because a professor can directly vouch for your class performance and academic ability. Besides the grade you got in the course, the letter can describe how you differed from other classmates (maybe you were proactive, joined class discussions, talked with the professor after class, etc.), your final project or performance in class, or even your interactions with classmates or the class.

How do you guide your recommender's writing?

You need to discuss your shared experiences with the recommender and pick one or two examples that strongly support your strengths. Don't just praise yourself blindly or only recount achievements or awards; those can simply be listed on your résumé. A recommendation letter should give real examples, describe your strengths from a third person's perspective, and lay out the context and outcome, so the school gets a more concrete picture of the applicant.

Common Q&A (questions collected from Instagram)

🈸️ Is it appropriate for a recommendation letter to mention a student's off-campus competitions or internships? (My teacher asked me to draft it myself.)

Facts the recommender witnessed directly are usually more powerful in a letter. If the professor coached you for the competition, they'll naturally have more substantive things to write. But if a professor's letter talks about the applicant's internship, it looks a bit strange; it would be stronger to ask your internship supervisor directly.

🈸️ How do I start drafting my own recommendation letter? Which parts should I emphasize? (When drafting, it's hard to break away from my autobiography/SOP.) Any tips or highlights that could help me?

See what I shared above! For a recommendation letter, stay focused: write only about experiences you and the recommender shared, and besides objective achievements and accomplishments, add subjective assessments, a summary of your time together and so on. If your recommender asks you to draft it first, ask them what they think of you and how they'd assess you when you talk; that'll give you a clearer direction!

🈸️ I'm a junior. Setting aside whether they're willing, how closely connected do I need to be with the writer? What about someone who was only my mentor in a training program?

There actually aren't any special requirements for who your recommender is! Some people worry a lot about the professor's rank (full professor or just a lecturer, etc.), but that's unnecessary worry. The best recommender is the person who has spent the most time with you and can best attest in the letter to how you conduct yourself. Even a training program mentor is fine to ask, if you spent enough time together and there's performance and experience from that period you'd like them to vouch for!

🈸️ If I graduated several years ago and need recommendation letters, who should I ask? (I'd rather not ask my supervisor.)

Say you've worked at a company for a year or two: you should usually find at least one recommender from work. But if for some reason you can't or don't want to ask your direct supervisor, that's usually the trickiest situation. One option is to find a manager from another department or a project leader who knows you, but even then, word that you're applying to study abroad may still get around. So one approach recommended on overseas forums is to find a big boss who has already left the company (more senior than your direct supervisor) and ask whether they'd be willing to write for you and not tell your other coworkers for now.

If you've made up your mind to study abroad, have figured out your passion and career goal, and are going to study abroad sooner or later anyway, I suggest finding a time to sit down and have a good talk with your supervisor. Besides asking them to write a letter, assure them you'll do your best to finish your work before you leave. I believe supervisors will understand and be willing to help.

🈸️ My supervisor has left the company. Is it a problem if they use an email address that isn't from the original company?

It won't hurt you at all! As long as your supervisor explains it in the letter, it's fine, because this is a very common and reasonable situation, and schools usually don't require the letter to come from someone "currently in the same organization as you." In my case, one of my letters was from a professor who was already teaching at a different school when I applied. As long as they clearly explain in the letter how they know you, there's no problem!

🈸️ You usually need 2 teachers/professors to write letters. Is a higher position always better? Does a letter from an alum help a lot?

I'll answer both together. I feel these are both myths! I don't think rank is the point; many schools state clearly that what matters is that the recommender knows you well! It's like at work: don't go straight to the CEO for a reference. If you don't even see them once a week, or don't work directly with them, a letter from the CEO won't add much,

A letter from an alum does help, but that priority comes after finding "someone who knows you well." Start with recommenders who know you, and if one happens to be an alum, even better! Never just pick any alum you've never actually worked with; that gets your priorities backward.

🈸️ Is it recommended that one professor write no more than 10 letters? (I want to apply to 15 schools and currently have 2 professors plus an internship supervisor.)

I think it depends on the professor. Talking with them, you can get a sense of how far they're willing to help you. Some professors limit the number, but others are happy to submit more. Ask early so you can plan which recommenders go to which schools.

🈸️ Is plain black and white fine for a recommendation letter, or does it need a company or school letterhead and format? Professors and supervisors usually ask us to write it.

Unless a school has special requirements, plain black and white is usually fine. Using your company's or school's standard Word template is also good.