Jan 11, · Writing Strong Letters of Recommendation: Final Thoughts. While the above samples of recommendation letters will help guide you through the letter writing process, they can't look exactly like your final product. Writing a letter is a significant undertaking, as it requires you to customize your words to the candidate and make your letter unique Writing a letter of recommendation is a tall order, and you don’t have to do it all on your own. Before you sit down to write, speak with the job seeker about their plans. Let them tell you what the new role is and why they’re excited about it. They might even share their cover letter and application materials, so you can make sure your Testimonial Letter Sample & Format The sample format, wording and writing etiquette is all you need to enable you to write a professional and credible Testimonial Letter using a standard format and the correct wording etiquette for these types of letters
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Letters of Recommendation. As an English teacher and college counselor working with high school students, I've had the privilege and responsibility of writing letters of recommendation. Starting out, I had a strong urge to help, but no clear sense of what exactly should go into a reference letter. If they all speak to students' impressive qualities and accomplishments, what makes some letters stand out among the rest? To answer this question, I researched recommendation letters from both sides of the college process, drawing on the advice of high school counselors and teachers and the perspective of college admissions officers.
I also read dozens of recommendation letters, from the ones that admissions committees loved to the ones that were cast aside as mediocre, useless, or straight up negative about a student.
This article compiles the most important lessons I learned through this research and my own work supporting students through the college process. Read on for a discussion of what exactly needs to go into the kind of rec letter that effectively advocates for a student and boosts her admissions chances, writing a testimonial for staff.
First, let's take a deeper look at what purpose recommendation letters serve when they arrive before an admissions committee. Admissions officers put a lot of weight on recommendation letters, writing a testimonial for staff.
Especially in selective admissions, writing a testimonial for staff, when thousands of qualified students are competing for a limited number of spots, writing a testimonial for staff, reference letters can go a long way toward differentiating one student from another.
According to Harvard dean of admissions William Fitzsimmons, recommendation letters are "extremely important" and are read "with great care" often projected onto large screens in front of the whole committee! So what are all these carefully reading admissions officers looking for? Two main features. The first is an insightful, in-depth story of the student that reveals both her academic skills and personal qualities. As a teacher, writing a testimonial for staff, you're in a great position to comment on a student's intellectual curiosity, creativity, and attitude towards learning.
Additionally, you can speak to a student's admirable personal qualities, like her sense of integrity, compassion, and leadership skills, to name a few. This in-depth look gives an admissions committee a holistic view of your student beyond the grades and clubs listed on their application, writing a testimonial for staff.
It helps the student come to life. The second main feature that admissions committees typically look for is a student's potential to contribute positively to the college communityas well as to succeed after graduation. In your recommendation, you can state your confidence about a student's success on campus and future achievement. Certain qualities are especially impressive to admissions officers and hint at success in college, though this might vary somewhat by individual.
Some of these qualities include love of learning, academic commitment, communication skills, commitment to mastery of a specific skill or area, and leadership capacity. Since these personal qualities may not be apparent on the rest of the writing a testimonial for staff apart from the student's own personal essaythe letters of recommendation can go a long way toward describing a student's best traits.
Plus, they show that a student has teachers who are motivated to advocate for her. Of course, hopefully no one would agree to recommend a student and then write bad, sabotaging things in the recommendation letter. It's generally safe to assume that all recommenders want to support students in continuing their education. But mediocre letters can often be just as bad as ones that are outright critical, and merely "good letters" pale in comparison to excellent ones.
So what must go into a letter of recommendation to make it particularly strong and effective? The strongest letters of recommendation take time and thought to craft.
They're individualized to each student and are thoughtfully revised for word choice and flow of ideas. First and foremost, what content is essential for a strong letter of recommendation? Perhaps the best way to describe what a letter of rec should include is to start out by describing what it shouldn't include. A rec letter should not simply be a restatement of a student's grades, clubs, and awards. All of these facts and figures should already be stated on the student's application. The most ineffective rec letters just repeat a student's resume.
Admissions officers are hoping for deep insights into a student's character, rather than a list of data points that could apply to any number of students. This is not to say that recommenders shouldn't mention what a student has achieved or been involved in, but they shouldn't feel compelled to list every single accomplishment.
Instead, writers can point to a specific involvement or story that demonstrates something meaningful about the student. For instance, you might be writing about Michael, whose powerful commitment to equality and education led him to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school.
In this way, you're discussing something a student has done to illuminate something significant and admirable about his character and motivations.
Speaking about his establishment of the GSA is more illustrative than simply stating that he's committed to equality and social justice. So if reiterating the student's grades and activities i. MIT offers an insightful breakdown of the questions its admissions officers would like answers to in a letter.
These questions are a useful guide for recommenders writing to any college. A recommender writing a testimonial for staff necessarily have to answer all of these questions, writing a testimonial for staff they're great starting points for brainstorming. They shift the focus from what a student does to what a student is like, in terms of her intellectual curiosity, specific skills or talents, passions, and personality.
Some other impressive qualities include communication skills, resourcefulness, and innovative problem-solving. Admissions committees often also look for demonstrated leadership and the ability to collaborate with others in an interactive and diverse environment. Beyond these personal qualities, letter writers might speak to unusual circumstances or challenges that the student has faced or survived.
These can be especially meaningful writing a testimonial for staff explain a dip in academic performance or to show how a student has overcome hardship. I would advise getting the student's permission before including personal family information, writing a testimonial for staff to make sure she's comfortable with you sharing it. Finally, a recommender may want to demonstrate her own familiarity with the school to which the student is applying. If the school is particularly competitive, then you might express your confidence in the student's ability to thrive in an academically rigorous environment.
If you're an alum of the school, then you can believably assert your confidence that the student would be a strong cultural fit. The strongest recommendation letters give insight into a student's intellectual orientation, motivations, and personal qualities. As a writer, how can you rave about writing a testimonial for staff student in a sincere, genuine, and convincing way?
One of the best ways to accomplish this is to focus your recommendation on the student's best assets. Just as you don't have to feel compelled to repeat every grade, club, and award on the student's resume, you also don't have to speak about every quality that makes the student great.
In fact, well-rounded students aren't necessarily what the most competitive schools are looking for. While selective schools look for academic excellence in most subjects, what they really appreciate is a student's singular commitment to a specific and distinct area.
Developing a "big spike" in a certain area shows passion, dedication, and the ability to sustain long-term focus. As PrepScholar co-founder and Harvard alum Allen Cheng writestop colleges are looking for students who are going to change the world. They're expecting deep achievement, and the best predictor of that is deep achievement in high school. Therefore admissions committees are especially impressed by a "huge spike" in science, writing, athletics, or whatever your commitment might be, writing a testimonial for staff.
Of course, writing a testimonial for staff, not all or even the majority of students are applying to Ivy League schools, but the takeaway message still applies. Recommendation letters don't have to present the student as well-rounded and good at everything they do. Instead, they can paint a specific picture and highlight the qualities that are most important to understanding who the student is and what drives her actions.
Some letters may highlight that a student is a top scholar, while others may speak to a student's leadership skills. Some may focus in on the student's passion for volunteer work, or her talent in acting, art, music, or athletics. For students with extensive international experience, recommenders may rave about their multicultural, global perspective or unusual maturity and sophistication. Other students may have had to overcome hardships in their life, and the recommender could speak to their resilience and strength as a survivor.
As mentioned above, I would suggest discussing this kind of content with the student to make sure she's comfortable sharing it with admissions commitees.
All in all, a recommender can brainstorm a list of the student's best assets with the aid of the student's resume and " brag sheet "and zero in on the most important themes. What if the student hasn't demonstrated interest in a particular area, but you're excited to see her further explore her interests in college?
In this case, you could write earnestly about the student's room to grow and the potential you see in her. At the same time, be careful with this kind of wording, as it may suggest different things to different admissions officers.
If you really feel not able or qualified to provide the student with a recommendation that will help her admission chances, then you should respectfully decline or suggest someone else better able to write her letter. Once you've chosen writing a testimonial for staff most important themes to highlight about a student, you can think about specific stories, experiences, or observations that demonstrate those strengths. The best recommendation letters "show," rather than just "tell. Bring your letter to life with meaningful stories and examples.
b Due to Kate's superlative writing and analytical skills, I'll be using her year-long thesis on representations of gender in Jane Eyre as an example of the highest quality work to students in my future AP English classes. The second uses more powerful words, but more importantly it gives a specific examplethereby proving that Kate has strong writing skills. It explains the grounds on which the teacher draws her conclusion that Kate is a good writer.
It additionally suggests that Kate can sustain focus in a long-term project and impressed the teacher so much that her thesis became a model for future students.
The best recommendation letters support their praise of a student with specific anecdotes and observations. These stories accomplish a few things.
One, they support the writer's claims. Rather than just listing adjectives, the writer backs up her description with examples.
Secondly, they make the letter more interesting and help the student come to life in the eyes of admissions officers. Officers may be up all night reading through applications.
The last thing they want is a generic, boring recommendation letter that blends into all the others. Interesting stories make both the letter and the student pop. Finally, the use of specific stories proves that the recommender is, in fact, qualified to assess the student. The best letters come from teachers who know a student well. Sharing anecdotes and observations prove that you've gotten to know the student thoroughly and your evaluation of her is trustworthy and reliable.
In addition to sharing examples, writing a testimonial for staff, you should take the time to be intentional with your word choice, writing a testimonial for staff. Consider which phrases and adjectives will present the clearest and strongest endorsement of the student. As with any piece of writing, the best recommendation letters are eloquent, clear, and don't fall into the trap of cliches.
Case Study: 5 Keys to Creating a Killer Testimonial Video
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Oct 05, · This article was co-authored by wikiHow blogger.com trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 2,, times Oct 06, · Pro Tip: Is someone writing a reference letter for you? Don't forget to send a thank you letter in return. They'll remember the gesture, and that's networking A letter of recommendation is very similar to a cover letter. Get more tips here: How To Testimonial Letter Sample & Format The sample format, wording and writing etiquette is all you need to enable you to write a professional and credible Testimonial Letter using a standard format and the correct wording etiquette for these types of letters
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