Happy Schools Blog » Recommendation Letter

Recommendation Letter is More Valuable than SOP?

HSB — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:01:27 +0000

Graduate Schools Admission includes mandatory Statement of Purpose and 3 letter of recommendation. But, which one has more value SOP or LOR?

SOP or LOR

According to Stanford University Dean of Admissions Derrick Bolton. He states:

If you asked me ‘could I make a decision on an application without essays?’ I would say ‘absolutely’, but ‘could I make a decision without recommendations?’ ‘No way.’ To me the recommendations are more important than the essays, but the essays get more attention.

- Derrick Bolton, ‘Faculty Spotlight: Interview with Derrick Bolton,’ March 13, 2006, The Stanford Business Reporter.

LOR is worthless

LOR has high importance compared to SOP.But students applying for India have 100% control on the LOR. Only few selective professors and Managers will give confidential LOR. Majority of the students applying to Graduate School will write LOR by themselves and get signature from their Professor or Lecturers.

Many universities in America might not be aware of such things. In such cases, LOR is just worthless. Do you agree?

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Recommendation Letter is More Valuable than SOP?

The Letter of Recommendation and Getting Into College

HSB — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:17:40 +0000

The beginning of your senior year of high school or the college is one of the best feelings. You have less than a year left until graduation then get to leave your hometown and parents’ house, and travel off to college. However, before you get prematurely excited, you need to keep in mind that your final year of high school/college is one of the most important toward getting into college/graduate school.

Application deadlines are typically by the first semester, and the second semester is reserved toward visiting and touring schools you have been accepted to. It is also within this time frame that you need to determine your standing with the teachers in your school who will be able to write letters of recommendation.

Letters of recommendation are one of the critical factors towards gaining admission into college, and even later on in graduate schools. They provide a way for schools to get an outside view as to who you, as a student, really are.

Letters of recommendation provide a gateway through which schools can understand the student better; for example, a teacher may write that you contribute much to class discussion, but do not do well on standardized tests. This may help to explain a lower score on the SAT, ACT or GRE, without damaging the student’s chances at a school.

Letter of Recommendation and SOP

Letters of recommendation are much different than a student’s own personal statement essay that many universities require. The personal statement is presented as a way for the admissions board to get to know the student better: their background, experiences, and everything that is not readily described in an application.

The letters of recommendation, however, focus more upon the students’ applicable traits as they relate to schoolwork, rather than their personal life. It is therefore extremely important to forge relationships with teachers early on in your high school career, but also to maintain these relationships, especially during your final year of school. If you do not have close relationships with any teachers by your senior year, you need to make sure that you put forth the effort to gain a few by the end of your first semester.

This post was contributed by Heidi Taylor, who writes about the best master’s degree. She welcomes your feedback at HeidiLTaylor006 at gmail.com

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The Letter of Recommendation and Getting Into College

10 Criteria For Writing Effective Recommendation Letter

HSB — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:07:13 +0000

Recently I have been I reviewed few drafts of recommendation letters. Students tend to get confused while writing recommendation letters draft that will help the reference letter provider to highlight the important skills.

All Recommendation Lettters Will be Positive

I read a comment from one of the professor who said, almost all the recommendation letters written by professors from India and China say every student they is their favorite student and come under in top 5% of the class.

I know majority of you reading this article will agree to it. so, how do you think college admission committee will able to differentiate students profile if SOP, LOR looks to be same?

Effective Recommendation Letter

An effective recommendation letter is written by someone who meets some of the following criteria:

Is aware of your subject of interest and the universities and colleges you will be applying
Must evaluate your performance having known you for some period of time
Should be able to describe your social skills and personal characteristics
Is able to discuss your capacity to work with others in team environment and individual contribution.
Can discuss your leadership skills
Able to discuss your communication skills
Can able to evaluate your level of personal skills like punctuality, efficiency, assertivness,
Can discuss your academic skills — not simply experience, but evaluate your potential to succeed in graduate-level study
Evaluates you positively relative to others
Has some recognition and whose judgment is highly valued within the field

So, make sure above said 10 criteria is followed while drafting recommendation letter. Also, read Do’s and Dont’s while writing recommendation letter. Having mistakes or missing out important information in LOR will reduce the impact of the reference letter. College admission committee should receive the letter in sealed envelop. Some colleges provide option for the recommender to email the graduate school directly or submit the recommendation letter online.

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10 Criteria For Writing Effective Recommendation Letter

SOP and LOR Review + Free Bonus

HSB — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:24:26 +0000

I have been providing free Statement of Purpose(SOP), Letter of recommendation(LOR) reviews. But, I’m expiring that offer and moving forward documents will be reviewed for a very small fee. You will get personalized review about your SOP, LOR and Resume. I have discovered some new tips and techniques that will be used during the review. I’m sure the secret tips that I have discovered will improve your admission and financial aid chances dramatically.

Bonus – List of Universities

As an introductory offer, I will provide few universities that match your profile. Make use of this introductory offer. Bonus offer is valid through end of this year.

Click here for more details about SOP and LOR Review.

Students who have already submitted their SOP and LOR will get it reviewed for free. Consultancy firms are charging Rs 10,000 or more for for providing the same service. Again, as bonus, I will provide with few schools to apply.

Again, bonus offer will expire on Dec 31 2008. All you need is to submit your interest to get the documents reviewed and bonus list of universities is waiting for you. Click here for Statement of Purpose, Letter of Recommendation and Resume Review.

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SOP and LOR Review + Free Bonus

Poor Letter of Recommendation – Example

HSB — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:27:03 +0000

Letter of recommendation will get you admission with aid. But, many students don’t realize the importance of letter of recommendation. I have written many articles and also provided sample recommendation letters. Even then many students make lost of mistakes while getting reference letter from professor, assistant professor or manager from work.

7 Things to Avoid in Recommendation letter

I stumbled upon an article from about.com that explains the characteristics of a bad recommendation letter with example.

Is neutral.
Has errors, such as typos and grammar mistakes.
Discusses weaknesses without discussing strengths.
Provides no examples or data to support statements.
Shows that the letter writer has little experience and contact with the student.
Is not based on relevant academic or applied experiences.
Is late.

So, make sure you dont make the above mistakes, else you will end up getting a bad/poor recommendation letter. Which affects your chances to get college admission.

Its always good to give a draft of what you want the person who is going to give referrence. So, they will know what skills to highlight.

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Poor Letter of Recommendation – Example

Free – SOP and LOR Review

HSB — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:40:51 +0000

Free Review is not available – Click Here for more details on how to get SOP and LOR Review.

I got lot of emails from students applying to Fall 2009 requesting to suggest universities based on their profile.

Following that, I decided to provide free review of your Statement of purpose [sample sops] and Letter of Recommendation drafts [ letter of recommendation templates ]. Yes, you read it right, its free. Now going to how and whats.

How to get Free Review

You don’t have to do anything. Email me your Statement of Purpose and Letter of Recommendation draft version you have created. I will go over the document and will suggest changes and improvements that can be done.

Rules and Notes

Don’t include your name or any other personal details in the draft you plan to send. Just the Statement of Purpose and recommendation letter contents.
Delete your name, email address, phone number or any personal details
While sending Recommendation letter draft, same rules 1 and 2 applies.
Don’t include the name of the person who is going to give your reference.
I’m here to help you, I don’t want any of your personal details.
I will hold on to the copy of any draft version you provide, to use as reference in future and may upload in the Sample Sops section. If you are not comfortable with that, I will be not able to provide the review.
SOP’s will be uploaded only after 5 to 6 months, that will give enough time for you get admission. As I said, I might not even upload them. For instance, I have some 20+ SOP’s for Computer Science, but I have already posted few. So, Those SOPS will not be uploaded. If you send the SOP without your personal details, it will be much better.
Advantages – provides an opportunity to get reviewed by additional person and if you have made any big mistake which might cost you admission, I will be able to highlight and suggest alternate ways to include the same information.
So, why are you still waiting?

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Free – SOP and LOR Review

Letter of Recommendation Examples and Samples

HSB — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:07:09 +0000

I collected few sample recommendation letters from current students in U.S. It’s usually good idea to provide rough draft of your letter of recommendation to the professor or lecturer from whom you plan to get recommendation.

But, before you continue this article, I strongly suggest to read Letter of Recommendation - Do’s and Don’ts.

If you don’t provide the outline, some professors or manager might not have any clue on what to write about you. So, giving input to them and explain how you want and what topics to include. Make sure LOR goes in accordance to what you write in Statement of purpose. If LOR explains about your leadership skills, try to include more details about that in your statement of purpose [ sample sops ]

Someone asked me -

Does it matter from whom we get letter of recommendation i.e. professor, assistant professor or lecturer, maybe manager?

Yes, it does matter a lot. If the professor is know for his research, then it will help to get admission and almost everyone writes the person they are recommending, as their favorite student. So, for Universities to recognize the value recommendation letters, designation of the person plays an important role.

Free Letter of Recommendation

I asked few of my friends and family members to share their recommendation letters and any letter of recommendation samples they had collected. And I was able to get few of them.

More Samples Recommendation Letters

I have listed 4 samples reference letters here, that will help you create a template and give it to your professor or anyone who is giving you recommendation, but don’t copy the exact ones. Try to get the idea and use it to your situation.

Some Universities do provide templates in pdf format and also accept the ones we submit. If colleges have reference letter template, then find what skills they are looking for and try to include them in your recommendation letter.

I have 14 more recommendation letter samples with me. Subscribe to email updates, so you will be notified when more sample lor templates are posted.

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Letter of Recommendation Examples and Samples

Top 8 Skills in Recommendation Letter for Graduate School

HSB — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:05:38 +0000

Recommendation letter is one of the mandatory requirements while applying for Graduate School. Majority of the Universities require 3 recommendation letters and some schools require 2+. Some schools letter of recommendation as reference letters. I have seen schools that require students to submit the references through online form. Do. it really depends on the college you are applying for admission.

Why Recommendation Letters?

Universities use reference letters to determine their professional characters, behaviors and other skills, which will be expressed by the in the letter by their managers or professors. Some schools will provide reference letter template and will ask the students to get it filled. But, most of the schools accept the recommendation letter signed in sealed envelop.

Image Credit : pedroesimoes7

Graduate school or department admission committee will look for specific skills and traits that can convince them to give admission. Its not a bad idea to given them an outline of skills to be included. I have written about dos don’t and while writing recommendation letter.

What Skills to Highlight

There are so many skills that a person can highlight in the recommendation letter while providing reference. But, its difficult to include many traits in 1 to 2 page document. Much care has to be put in to select the skills that have to be included in the LOR. You can refer to sample recommendation letters, but all those skills will not apply exactly to you.

8 Skills in Recommendation Letter

Social Skills
Motivational Skills
Communication Skills (Reading, Writing and Listening)
Analytical Research and Quantitative Skill
Leadership Skills
Ability to overcome tough situations
Willingness to go extra mile
Volunteer Activities

Recommendation letter will not get admission, GRE Scores, Statatement of purpose (sample sops), Resume and other skills play equal role in getting admission.

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Top 8 Skills in Recommendation Letter for Graduate School

(Updated)Letter of Recommendation that gets Graduate School Admission

HSB — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:09:25 +0000

Have your ever wondered what should be the contents of Reference letters?

In on the of previous articles Letter of Recommendation : Do’ and Don’t I gave an overview about how to write a reference letters for U.S. University graduate school admission. In this article I’m going into details of what should the contents of the reference letters should look like. Graduate School Admission committee is looking to find specific information about the student.

There are two different way to write a reference letters. Some, universities have their own letter of recommendation form to be used, while other universities accepts in written A4 size sheet. In the previous article about letter of recommendation, I have given a link to Good Sample reference letters. If you look deep into it contents, you will understand, what different area it projects the students capabilities.

1) Research Potential

2) Ranking of student among peers

3) Analytical Skills

4) Communication Skills – Oral and Written

5) Team work – Get along well with others

6) Potential for higher education

7) Creativity/Imagination

Intellectual Achievement

9) Emotional Maturity

10) Leadership Skills

11) Volunteer Activities

Some of the professor who’s giving students reference letters for U.S. University admission might not be aware of the what to write about the students or he might fail to highlight few areas. So, you can use the above 11 areas as reference and ask the professor to write about you. Sample reference letters can be given by you professor, lecturer, manager at work,..

Some of students have asked me the following question:

Does the degree, recognition of the person you get reference letters for graduate school admission matters. Does the reference letters from someone with PhD and someone with just the Bachelor’s degree matter? Keep checking the articles, I will talk about that in next post.

If you enjoyed this article, you may subscribe to email updates from this blog for getting notified about similar articles in future. Also, you can pass the information about this blog to you friends. Also, you can talk about Happy Schools Blog to your friend who are looking for details about U.S. Universities.

Coming Soon : Sample, Original reference letters used by students for Master’s admission.

You might be also looking for information about Statement of Purpose and tips to write high impact SOP.

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(Updated)Letter of Recommendation that gets Graduate School Admission

Letter of Recommendation : Do and Dont’s

HSB — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 04:42:31 +0000

College admission requires atleast 2 Letter of Recommendation (LOR ). Graduate Schools Admission committee evaluates the candidates credentials and reference letter plays an important role in that about what recommendation providers have said about you.

Some college requires LOR to be submitted online and I have seen graduate schools, requiring LOR to be sent via email directly to the graduate school or to specific department. Some graduate school have their own form (template) that has to be completed, instead of traditional LOR in letter form. Here what to include in LOR, and the right way to get the LOR for graduate school admission application.

The process is very simple, but it might be time consuming.

Identify the person who is going to give recommendation letter
Ask them to include details on your research skills, problem solving skills, team work, communication ( written and oral ), analytical ability, leadership, social skills, ..
Get the LOR in the Referring Personal letter head, make sure you get it signed and if possible seal ( or Stamp )
Put the LOR inside a cover ( envelop ) paste it and get sign on the Envelop joint. So, it will ensure, its not tampered.

Now, your recommendation letter is ready, here list of top 8 skills to include in reference letters. I have collected sample recommendaition letter from current students in U.S. I will be posting in few days time. If you like to be notified by email, subscribe to email updates.

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Letter of Recommendation : Do and Dont’s