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Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for PhD Students (with Sample) - Need, Parts, Qualities

Letter of Recommendation for PhD Students: For PhD students, a letter of recommendation is a crucial component of the application documents. While other admissions materials, like transcripts and test results, are factual, a letter of recommendation for PhD students integrates the plans and facts of a CV and statement of purpose. A résumé is a summary of your accomplishments, transcripts are evidence of your achievements, and an SOP describes the significance of the course and your readiness for it. A reference letter for a PhD is an unbiased opinion on everything mentioned above. TOP EXAMS : IELTS | TOEFL | GRE | GMAT Country Guide : UK | Ireland | Australia | Canada

What is the need for a letter of recommendation for PhD students

Types of lors for phd, select the right person to write recommendation letter for phd, letter of recommendation for phd students: qualities to focus on, parts of a lor for phd students, elements of letter of recommendation for phd students.

Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for PhD Students (with Sample) - Need, Parts, Qualities

A PhD application usually requires at least two letters of recommendation for students from their professors. This allows the admission committee to know the applicants as people with skills that would otherwise be difficult to know from their resumes, transcripts and SOP. A letter of recommendation for PhD students should mention at least three qualities of the applicant – a social quality and at least two technical or subject-related qualities.

Moreover, as a PhD is an advanced specialised programme, the subject-related quality should be focused on projects carried out and specialised courses that will aid his/her PhD research. Read the complete article to know all the details about PhD letter of recommendation, PhD reference letter samples, and more.

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A recommendation letter for PhD student from professors holds much more importance than those applying for undergraduate or master's courses. Grades and GRE scores play a big role in receiving admission from a university. The LOR for PhD admission is usually the deciding factor when choosing between candidates with similar credentials. Go through the key points to be included in the reference letter for PhD students from the professor to gain an understanding of what it is before you ask your professor to write a PhD reference letter for you.

A PhD candidate must provide two letters of recommendation (LORs). Nevertheless, to ensure caution, it is recommended that the candidate should prepare a minimum of three LORs. Various universities may have different requirements for LORs from recommenders.

Academic Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for PhD

Usually, universities require applicants to submit two or three Letters of Recommendation (LORs) for PhD from their previous educational institution. For undergraduate programs, these LORs can be obtained from teachers at your high school, while for masters or PhD, professors from your university can provide them.

Professional Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for PhD

A Professional Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for PhD from a Supervisor differs from an Academic LOR by emphasizing certain content related to the applicant's teamwork skills, industry knowledge, and leadership qualities.

Before asking someone for a recommendation letter for PhD application, you should know whom to ask. PhD is purely an academic degree and therefore you need to have a recommendation letter for PhD from those who can vouch for your academic inclination and strengths. PhD recommendation letter should be written by academicians with whom you have worked or someone who has supervised or taught you. If you are aspiring for a PhD programme or want a lor for PhD post-doctoral research, you should ideally ask your master's project guide or PhD guide to be one of the referees for your letter of recommendation for PhD students.

Your faculty must go through a sample recommendation letter for a PhD from a professor before sitting down to write one recommendation letter PhD for you. Other letters of recommendation for PhD students from teachers and professionals can be taken from persons who are from the same field or specialization in which you intend to do your PhD. You can also take your recommendation letter for doctoral programs from your supervisor who has an understanding of your academic capabilities.

Friends and relatives are not supposed to write your LOR for PhD admission for a number of reasons; first, they do not have first-hand information about your academic capabilities. Second, as they have not professionally or academically worked with you, they would not be able to present relevant information in the PhD letter of recommendation about you. Also, the recommender might not have in-depth knowledge of the discipline you intend to do a PhD. Last but not least, relatives cannot be objective about your qualities. That's why it is not a great idea to take your student recommendation letter from them. So a letter of recommendation for PhD students from teachers, professors, supervisors, coaches, etc., is only applicable.

The person who is writing a letter of recommendation for PhD students would be a professional who has known the applicant academically for no less than one year. The recommender should not only know you as one of the students in the department, but they should also know you as a person, your capabilities as a student, as well as your control over the subject they have been teaching. They should also be aware of your plans.

Recommendation letters for Ph.D. students from supervisors, and professors are very subject-specific. Referees should speak of strong subject knowledge as well as analysis traits. A Letter of recommendation for student should show the student as possessing positive qualities like intelligence, self-motivation, responsibility, and amiableness. Emphasis should be given to passion and dedication as well.

Advanced study like a Ph.D. is often a challenging and demanding program. Therefore, the LOR for PhD admission should also display perseverance, competitiveness and the ability to work independently. Courses and knowledge related to PhD programme-related packages, extra courses, and statistical analysis techniques should be exemplified in the letter of recommendation for the PhD program.

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A student recommendation letter for a PhD will typically be between one to two pages. The document of recommendation letter for PhD student should be well differentiated into 5–6 paragraphs. The LOR for PhD should begin with an introductory paragraph about the recommender and his/her association with the applicant. You must read a PDF of the PhD recommendation letter sample before you ask your recommenders to give you one.

The next 3 to 4 paragraphs in the letter of recommendation for PhD program should outline the different academic and social qualities of the applicant with suitable substantiation. No quality should be mentioned without a suitable example. Finally, the concluding paragraph will sum up the above with a line recommending the applicant for the programme.

Also Read, Best Country to Study Abroad for Indian Students

Below is a LOR for PhD sample from a professor. Candidates can consider it as a letter of recommendation format for PhD and refer to it while writing their LOR for PhD.

Reference letter sample for PhD student

Like there is a letter of recommendation for PhD students from professors, you can also read about PhD reference letter sample pdf, sample LOR for graduate school from coworker pdf, letter of recommendation for PhD in computer science, sample recommendation letter for employee, etc which will give you a fair idea what a recommendation letter is all about.

A recommendation letter for PhD students from a professor or supervisor gives a human touch to the applicant’s profile. A reference letter for PhD student from a professor is the only document that can present the applicant’s social side to the admission committee. Therefore, choose a referee who can not only substantiate your academic strengths but also cite appropriate examples of your social qualities in your recommendation letter for PhD students.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs)

It is crucial that the person writing your recommendation letter is someone who is familiar with your academic abilities. The most frequent writers of letters of recommendation are academics; professors or supervisors, but, other experts who are familiar with you and have overseen your academic or research work may also be suitable candidates.

The reference letter should be 1-2 pages long with 5-6 paragraphs.

PhD suggestions are highly specialised. Referees should emphasise both analytical skills and in-depth topic understanding. Letters of recommendation for students should highlight their intelligence, initiative, responsibility, and interpersonal skills.

Yes, PhD, postdoc, and scholarship applications typically require two to three letters of recommendation. These letters should come from professors who know your work and can detail your possibilities.

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Graduate School Letter of Recommendation Examples 2022-2023

Grad school recommendation letters are an essential part of every graduate school application package–even in this (almost) post-COVID era of remote work and Zoom classes. Nearly all applications to graduate school still require at least two recommendation letters from individuals who can discuss your abilities, competencies, and personal character in a coherent way and recommend you for admission to graduate school.

Many referees have difficulty writing these recommendations themselves (for language issues or simply because they are busy) and some rely on the applicant to pen the draft of the letter and receive confirmation before submitting it to the graduate school. But regardless of who is writing the letter, there are a few key elements the recommender needs to include to craft a stellar recommendation for their graduate candidate.

Who should write a recommendation letter for graduate school?

Choosing which professors, supervisors, or advisors to request a graduate school recommendation letter from can be somewhat overwhelming. Should you choose someone who does not know you personally but who has connections to your target graduate school? If a famous professor writes you a grad school recommendation letter, will this automatically give you an advantage with the admissions committee?

In general, graduate recommendation letters should come from people who know you well, who respect you enough to say glowing things about you as a student and researcher, and who hold positions in school or work that are above your own. At least one letter of recommendation should be submitted from a past or current professor or academic advisor.

Another could be from someone in a slightly different role, including an employer, a research adviser, a senior colleague, or a professor from a different department or kind of class (e.g., a discussion class professor instead of a lecturer). No matter who it is, the recommender should know the applicant and recognize their accomplishments. It also helps if the recommender understands some details about the program to which their candidate is applying.

Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing who to ask for letters of recommendation for graduate school. Select someone who:

Knows you well and can answer positively. Choose an individual who you have spent time with outside the classroom if possible. They should also be familiar with your career goals and hold a favorable view of you.
Has known you for quite a while. A recommendation letter for graduate school carries more influence if the person has known you for months or years instead of months. If you can, find someone who knows you from various contexts, such as a professor who is also your advisor.
Can speak to your strengths in relation to your graduate program. Choosing a finance professor to write your recommendation letter for an MBA program would be a good idea because they can write about the qualities that will aid you in pursuing an MBA (qualities you can also include in your MBA essay ) and a broader career in business.
Has substantive stories to share about you. Who was fortunate enough to see you succeed in an academic, extracurricular, or professional setting? Having someone write your LOR who has good stories to share about you is certainly going to benefit you more than someone whose class you took with two hundred other students.

How to Request a Letter of Recommendation for Graduate School

Knowing how to request a letter of recommendation for graduate school can directly impact the quality of the letter your referee writes for you. Show respect and consideration for the time that your recommender is taking to write a glowing review that will get you into graduate school and positively impact the rest of your life.

With this in mind, it may seem obvious that the very best way to ask for a letter of recommendation for graduate school is to do so in person. While this isn’t possible for all students (due to availability or schedule), it is the best route if you want to ensure that your LOR is not only written on time, but includes all the positive information about you that admissions committees want to see in a graduate candidate. When you cannot ask in person, sending an email is an appropriate second-best option. But remember to always be cordial and polite when making this request.

What information should be included in a graduate recommendation letter?

Your referral letter should cover a range of skills, from academic abilities to research experiences, to applied experiences in and out of class. As the recommender, your letter should clearly answer some specific questions:

Your letter of recommendation should cover a range of skills, from academic abilities to research experiences, to applied experiences in and out of class. As the recommender, your letter should clearly answer some specific questions:

What is your relationship with the student?
Why should the graduate faculty listen to your opinion? (include your status, title)
What makes this student special? (discuss their characteristics, qualities, traits)
What specifically did this student do to impress you? (discuss their accomplishments, habits in class)
What makes this student qualified for graduate school and for this program? (include specific courses or interests of the student in addition to abilities and traits)
What do you know about the program the student is applying to?

What information does the LOR recommender need from me?

The recommender should be given sufficient time to write (and/or confirm) the letter. If it has been a while since you were last in contact, sending a background information file will make things easier. Include the following information so that the recommender can use a few details to bolster their letter:

Classes the student has taken with the recommender
Experiences you have shared
Transcripts
Research experience and internships
Awards and achievements
Academic/career goals
Relevant professional experience

In addition to background information, make sure that the recommender has the necessary information to plan the writing in a timely manner and target the letter as much as possible:

Graduate program application due date
Copy of recommendation forms (if applicable)
Instructions for submitting LORs (hard copy, soft copy, or direct to school)
Details about the program and school the student is applying to

What style of writing should be used in a recommendation letter?

Although the letter of recommendation is more informal than academic writing, you should make sure that your language has no grammatical or mechanics errors and that it is of an academic level that reflects the author’s educational level and qualifications. Apply the following standards to the writing and the essay-drafting process:

Make your language more personal in tone than research writing.
Use the active voice and first-person point of view more often.
Write chronologically, starting from important traits and then moving on to actions and achievements.
Use lots of details—list course names, scores, and specific achievements of the student.
Edit your letter before submitting it to the graduate admissions faculty.

How to Write a Grad School Letter of Recommendation Letter: LOR Outline

A well-structured recommendation letter (like any organized essay) will guide the reader logically towards an understanding of why this student is worthy not only of praise but of admission to graduate school. Grad school requires quite a few high-level scholastic attributes that not all students possess, and therefore it is important to focus on both the achievements of the candidate and on their personal character and potential to thrive in a difficult academic environment.

Use this outline as a letter of recommendation template in which to input your candidate’s achievements, skills, and traits. Note that the flow of information moves the reader into greater detail, using form phrases and transitions that increase the readability of the letter.

1. Greeting to the recipient

Dear {Name}, or To Whom It May Concern, To the graduate faculty of the {University / Department}

2. Opening paragraph: position; relationship to the applicant; general assessment of the applicant

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend {Name} for admissions to {Program} at {University}… I am a professor of {area of study} in the department of {department} at {University}.

recommendation letter for grad school example 1

3. Second paragraph: positive skill or trait; evidence of trait or skill; anecdotes demonstrating this skill

Jane has excellent communication skills. Her written work is both clear and concise, as well as interesting to read…

recommendation letter for grad school example 2

4. Third (up to fifth) paragraph: Other skills or traits; evidence of character and skills; detailed anecdotes

At a personal level, Jane is a well-disciplined, industrious student with a pleasant personality. She went well beyond the course expectations…

recommendation letter for grad school example 3

5. Final Paragraph: clear recommendation of the candidate to the specific school or program.

Jane is unquestionably an exceptional candidate for graduate study in {Program Applying for}. Jane’s work in “Developments in Anthropology” suggests that she would greatly benefit from the opportunities for intellectual development provided by a sustained period of graduate study…

recommendation letter for grad school example 5

6. Closing line: polite offer to be contacted if needed

If I can be of any further assistance, or provide you with any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

recommendation letter for grad school example 6

Letter of Recommendation Template and Useful Phrases

Admission essays often contain template phrases or “form phrases” that allow the writer to plug in their specific information while not spending too much time deciding how to compose every single aspect of the writing. This can be especially useful for ESL authors because conventional expressions used in academic and essay writing can be difficult to learn and memorize. Use the following form phrases to help craft a more professional letter of recommendation.

Introducing yourself

My name is {Author} and I have been a Professor of Math at {University} since {date} .
I write to you today to proudly express my support for {Student} in applying to your prestigious university.

Discussing your relationship with the applicant

I first came to know {Student} while teaching him/her in my {Course Name} course…
I was {Student} ’s thesis advisor during his/her senior year.
I have known {Student} for several years now and can attest to his/her strengths and quality of character.

Discussing the student’s general positive traits

{Student} has excellent communication skills and displays them regularly in class discussions.
He/She is a highly intelligent and competent student who excels in many areas.
Not only is {Student} hard-working and thoughtful, but he/she also demonstrates kindness and generosity towards his/her peers.

Demonstrating evidence of student’s character and skills

She/he has shown herself/himself to be a true leader who is able to successfully develop plans and implement them in his/her work.
{Student} demonstrated his/her independence daily, completing difficult lab exercises by researching outside of class.
During his/her internship, {Student} consistently managed his/her work responsibilities diligently and learned quickly. For example…

Discussing the school/program the student is applying to

As {University} is renowned for its {Program} , I believe this is an ideal place for {Student} to solidify his/her abilities and cement his/her knowledge of {area of study} .
The learning environment that {University} is famous for creating excellent opportunities in which {Student} to apply his/her skills.

Final endorsement and offer to be contacted

For the above reasons, I am confident that {Student} will make an excellent addition to your graduate program, and I wholeheartedly support him/her for admission to your program.
Thank you for your time and attention in reading my endorsement.

Further Tips for Writing Admissions Essays

Highlight your self-motivation, competence, and potential in this essay
Emphasize everything from a positive perspective and write in the active voice.
Demonstrate through examples; don’t just write that you are a “persistent person”—show it!
Approach every topic with continuity and focus.

The Final Step: Editing Your Recommendation Letter

As any good writer knows, it takes more than one draft to create a strong and compelling work of writing. After you have written your recommendation letter draft, there is still a lot of room for revision. One way to ensure that grammar mistakes and style errors do not get in the way of a strong letter is to let the admissions experts at Wordvice’s Admissions Editing Services edit and proofread your (of your candidate’s) letter of recommendation or other application essays, raising the chances that your candidate will be admitted to the program of their choice.

With a full suite of professional proofreading services , we edit thousands of admission documents each year for all kinds of authors of academic and admissions documents just like you. Furthermore, our application essay editing services , recommendation letter editing services , personal statement editing services , CV editing services , cover letter editing services , and SOP editing services are tailored to the needs of your specific admissions essay.

For more articles on writing and editing your essays and academic work, visit Wordvice’s Academic Resource page .

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation for Graduate School

How to write a letter of recommendation for grad school

When someone asks you to write a graduate school letter of recommendation , it demonstrates that they value your opinion, trust you and believe in your writing skills.

But as flattering as it is to be asked, there is also some pressure associated with crafting an effective and convincing letter of recommendation. After all, the applicant is counting on you to influence the admissions board and highlight their accomplishments, strengths and skill sets.

The good news is, writing a graduate school letter of recommendation is more intuitive than you think. Below, we’ve rounded up all the tips you need to write the perfect letter for anyone in your sphere.

What Is a Letter of Recommendation?

First off, let’s go over what a letter of recommendation is.

A letter of recommendation is a brief, written endorsement needed for certain jobs, programs or schools that details a person’s qualifications for whatever they’re applying for.

It’s written by a trusted and valued source: usually a past employer, teacher, mentor or colleague. In a letter of recommendation for graduate school, the writer describes the person’s skills, their personality and why they’re the right fit for the program. This is all so the institution has confirmation of the applicant’s ability to succeed in the program.

If you don’t believe you’re the right fit to write a student’s recommendation, that’s OK, too. You can politely decline and explain to the student why. You can also offer to help them find someone else who’s a more appropriate choice.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Letter of Recommendation for Grad School

Once you’ve decided to accept and write the letter of recommendation, take a moment to consider some key questions before you begin crafting your statement.

What is your relationship like with this person?
What do you think of their work you’ve seen? How would you describe it?
What are significant memories you have with them?
What qualities or strengths does this person have?
What would you specifically want somebody to know about this person?
What value would this person bring to this grad school program, and how would they thrive in the field after the program?

What to Ask From Someone Before Writing a Letter of Recommendation

Of course, there is some student information you’ll want to obtain before starting your recommendation. To ensure you’re addressing all the right points and representing them in the best light possible, make sure you ask them the below questions.

The basics . First off, you should find out where this letter is going, to whom it should be addressed, what the deadlines are and how they’d like you to submit it (mail, email, etc.).

Why they want to go to this program and why they are drawn to this school . It’s important to know the motivation behind their graduate school studies: Is it for the love of learning? To get a better job? To switch fields altogether? This will help inform what you write in the letter. Similarly, it’s good to know why a specific school is calling them as well.

Any strengths or qualities they want highlighted . Each person will have different qualities they want you to discuss in their letter of recommendation. If the strengths they mention are ones you agree with and seem relevant to the degree program, definitely include them. You should also ask about what achievements they’ve made that will help them stand out from the crowd of applicants.

Their resume . No one can memorize a person’s entire job and education history. A resume can help remind you of special projects and exemplary work they’ve accomplished in the past, which you can then emphasize in your letter.

What to Include in a Letter of Recommendation for Grad School

There are specific things you should always include in a letter of recommendation for graduate school to make it shine and improve the applicant’s chances of admission.

These are the points that you must undoubtedly touch on throughout your recommendation:

How do you know the applicant? It’s important to describe who you are and how you know the applicant, as well as how long you’ve known them. Personal anecdotes are a must, and they boost your credibility.

Why are they a good fit for the program? Include an explanation for why you think they would specifically thrive in the program. Avoid being vague or general. Dive into why the school would be the perfect fit, and vice versa!

What are their most shining accomplishments? Describe their achievements, especially the ones you’ve personally witnessed. In addition, reference their top strengths and qualities. Again, avoid generalities and use vivid anecdotes.

Can you explain any gaps or discrepancies? A letter of recommendation is often a good time to clear up any troubling parts of the student’s resume or work history — perhaps there was an employment gap or grades dip because they were caring for a sick relative, for example. If you’re aware of any weak spots on their resume from extenuating circumstances, this is the time to note it.

What sets the applicant apart from the rest? Be sure to conclude on a strong note with a very clear, concise recommendation. Highlight what sets them apart from other people, so the program can clearly understand why they should admit this candidate into their college or university.

How to Format and Structure a Graduate School Letter of Recommendation

As for structure, letters of recommendation should not be longer than a page. Start off with a greeting (“Dear [Name]” or “To Whom It May Concern,” if you don’t know the recipient). In the opening paragraph, explain who you are, the nature of your relationship with the student and your overall impression of them.

Within the body of the letter, you can expand on their personality, skills and achievements — along with personal anecdotes — before wrapping up with a final strong and clear recommendation for the applicant.

Then, feel free to add in a polite offer to contact you if they need more information and a formal parting signature. Double-check for spelling and grammar, too, as any mistake could weaken your credibility.

Once you’ve proofread the letter, all you have to do is submit it as instructed and patiently wait for an update from the applicant. Best of luck!

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PhD applicants: Everything you need to know about letters of recommendation

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In this blog post, Chris Blattman gives advice on what the purpose of recommendation letters is, who you should ask, and how to manage the process.

Excerpt: Will a professor write you a letter of recommendation? My answer: Writing student recommendations comes with the faculty job, and I usually write if asked. But since this academic territory is often so unfamiliar to grad and undergrad students, let me give some general guidelines and advice.

Read the full article here.

Sample Recommendation Letter for Graduate School

How a Well-Worded Reference Can Give Your Application a Boost

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Whether you're applying to business school, medical school, law school, or another program, scholarship, or fellowship , most graduate school applicants are going to need two to three letters of recommendation that will be submitted to the admissions committee (along with your undergraduate transcripts, standardized test scores, essays, etc.) as part of the application process .

Not every school requires letters of recommendation. You can often get by without one at some online schools and even brick-and-mortar schools that have more relaxed admission requirements. However, schools with highly competitive admissions processes (i.e. the ones that get a lot of applicants but don't have classroom space for everyone) use recommendation letters, in part, to determine whether or not you are a fit for their school.

Why Graduate Schools Ask for Recommendations

Graduate schools seek recommendations for the same reason employers require career references. They want to know what people who have seen your work and experienced your efforts firsthand have to say about you. Nearly every other resource you provide to a school is a first-person accounting. Your résumé is your interpretation of your career achievements, your essay answers a question with your opinion or tells a story from your point of view, and your admissions interview includes questions that, again, are answered from your point of view. A recommendation letter, on the other hand, is all about someone else's perspective on you, your potential, and your accomplishments.

Most graduate schools encourage you to choose a reference who knows you well. This ensures that their letter of recommendation will actually have substance and won't simply be full of fluff or vague opinions about your work attitude and academic performance. Someone who knows you well will be able to provide well-informed opinions and concrete examples to back them up.

Sample Letter of Recommendation for Grad School

This is a sample recommendation for a graduate school applicant was written by the applicant's college dean, who was familiar with the applicant's academic achievements. The letter is short but does an ample job of emphasizing things that would be important to a graduate school admissions committee, such as GPA, work ethic, and leadership ability. Notice how the writer includes plenty of adjectives to describe the person being recommended. There's also an example of how the subject's leadership capability has helped others.

To Whom It May Concern:

As the Dean of Stonewell College, I have had the pleasure of knowing Hannah Smith for the last four years. She has been a tremendous student and an asset to our school. I would like to take this opportunity to recommend Hannah for your graduate program.

I feel confident that she will continue to succeed in her studies. Hannah is a dedicated student and thus far, her grades have been exemplary. In class, she has proven to be a take-charge person who is able to successfully develop plans and implement them.

Hannah has also assisted us in our admissions office. She has successfully demonstrated leadership ability by counseling new and prospective students. Her advice has been a great help to these students, many of whom have taken time to share their comments with me regarding her pleasant and encouraging attitude.

It is for these reasons that I offer high recommendations for Hannah without reservation. Her drive and abilities will truly be an asset to your establishment. If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Roger Fleming

Dean of Stonewell College

As positive as this letter is, it would have been even stronger if the writer had provided additional specific examples of his student's achievements, or had pointed to quantifiable results. For example, he could have included the numbers of students the subject had worked with or detailed specific instances in which she had helped others. Examples of any plans she'd developed, how she implemented them, and what the outcome was once they were put to use would have been useful as well. The more detailed the letter, the more likely it is to tip the admissions scale in your favor.

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FRONT MATTER

Sample Graduate School Recommendation Letters

The three sample recommendation letters that follow, which you can download by clicking on the link below, are effective because they detail what makes the students stand out as exceptional and because they paint individual pictures of each student. Note how these excerpts, excerpted from each of the three letters, individualize and humanize the student:

“I have been especially impressed by Janet’s determination and sparkle.” “I enthusiastically supported her application for the student position on the Mythic University Board of Trustees for the same reasons. She was the runner-up for that distinguished post, and Mythic University lost out on a true leader. But I believe her time is yet to come.” “In short, John is both scholarly and culturally entrenched, ambitious but not pretentious, self-deprecating yet confident, forthright but unassuming, delightfully irreverent yet appropriately respectful—a complex and whole human being.”

In addition, the writers of these three letters take advantage of many of the rhetorical strategies discussed in Chapters 3 and 4 of this manual: enhancing their own credibility, narrative technique, anecdotal evidence, recommending by citing others, and using active verbs and transitions.

Finally, a late paragraph in the last letter, at the prompting of the graduate scholarship application, even provides a few criticisms of the student. Because these criticisms are offered even-handedly and efficiently, I would argue that the letter has even more ethos, and it is noteworthy that the student still landed the desired scholarship.

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Letter Of Recommendation for PhD: Sample, Format & How to Write

Updated on 29 january, 2024.

Anupriya Mukherjee

Sr. content writer.

A letter of recommendation or LOR for a PhD is an important document required for admission into PhD programs at foreign institutions if you are planning to study abroad . While scores, transcripts, and other vital documents are mostly factual, the LOR is an independent objective analysis of applicants. PhD courses usually require two to three recommendations. These provide committees with an overview of the applicant’s core strengths, skills, and accomplishments.

Lor for phd : guidelines:.

Academic LOR:
Professional LOR:

Introduction:

Conclusion:, popular guides to simplify your study abroad journey, sample lor for phd:, important tips to write lor for phd, download country guides (free pdfs).

The vital part of writing a LOR is choosing the right recommender. For a PhD SOP, the recommender should be someone who can endorse your candidature and provide an unbiased application essay. Since all the other documents are self-prepared, they are likely to be biased. LOR provides an external perspective, which entirely depends on your recommender. It is unique because it is your assessment from an external viewpoint. Your recommender for PhD should be someone who can be described as follows:

One who has a good rapport.
Who understands your personality, achievements, and capabilities.
With whom you have shared your academic and professional experiences and journey
Who is aware of your current research ideas
Who supports your research ideas.

Types of LOR for PhD

International universities offering PhD require two to three LORs depending on your academic and professional experience. Two academic LORs are needed, and one professional LOR is required if you have work experience. Basically, the LOR for PhD is classified into two categories:

Academic LOR:

Academic letter of recommendation is provided by the professor of your educational institution. Most commonly, you are asked to provide two academic LORs for PhD in an international university. In such LORs, professors need to highlight the applicant’s capabilities and achievements. It should reflect the recommender’s perspective about you and your research ideas.

Professional LOR:

The applicant’s professional letter of recommendation is asked if they have any work experience. Only one professional LOR is needed in that case. It is provided by your immediate supervisor or employer. It should reflect the recommender’s perspective on your professional ability to work within a team.

How to write a LOR for PhD?

When your recommender is willing to write your LOR for PhD, you should share your research ideas, achievements, capabilities, objectives, and relevant information. The format of the LOR should consist of the answers to several questions related to your suitability for a PhD. The LOR, whether academic or professional, written by your recommender should sound realistic and authentic. The standard LOR format for PhD should have the following details:

This part of the LOR should include the details regarding the recommender. It is a brief introduction of the recommender with their current designation and professional experience mentioned in the LOR. They also need to mention their relationship and duration of association with the applicant. The details of the recommender’s association and guidance must be mentioned in the LOR.

It includes the details of the applicant’s technical skills, certification, internship work, research ideas, research outcomes, research goals, capabilities, qualities, work experience, presentations, seminars, extracurricular activities, etc. It is quite crucial to add all the relevant information required to consider the applicant’s candidature and future undertakings.

This last part of the LOR format summarizes the applicant’s desire for the PhD program. The closing part of the LOR essay application includes the recommender’s signature and contact details.

An excellent sample LOR for PhD highlights at least three attributes of the aspirant – a social attribute and two subject-linked or technical attributes. Here are some notable guidelines:

The LOR should be 1-2 pages long with 5-6 paragraphs.
Recommenders should start the LOR by introducing themselves and the aspirant.
Recommenders should also discuss how and from when they are professionally related to the applicants in the first paragraph.
The following paragraphs should be divided into three segments, each highlighting aspirant’s particular skill or quality.
Recommenders should emphasize analytical abilities, subject knowledge, time management skills, dedication, responsibility, research abilities, etc.
The conclusion will sum up the qualities of the aspirant while ending with a solid recommendation to the university for accepting the application.

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The following sample LOR for PhD is one of many ways of writing it.

I am pleased to get the chance to recommend (name of applicant) for the PhD position in (course/study area name) at your institution. I have taught (name of applicant) for the last (tenure in years) in the areas of (subject areas). I will be delighted to witness him/her excelling in this particular field.

The topic (title) proposed by him/her is vital for the modern-day scenario and needs extensive research. It will be beneficial for all the industry stakeholders in the (sector name) and also academicians who can access real-time insights on the subject.

(Name of applicant) has completed a research project over a period of (duration) on (name of project) under my supervision. I have witnessed his/her work efficiency, critical thinking abilities, and inquisitiveness regarding various findings. He/she also has brilliant communication skills and the ability to mentor and guide peers.

(Name) has a down-to-earth nature and respects others while adhering to rules and regulations. His/her independent or group work on research projects and studies has been immensely satisfying. He/she is an analytical thinker and is stimulated by new academic challenges. This trait makes him/her strive for innovative solutions to real-world problems with a strong desire to improve the world around.

Hectic timelines, various constraints, tough work conditions, multitasking, and dealing with multiple people along the way, are things that he/she can tackle with ease while delivering work seamlessly. With these positive abilities, he/she will be an asset to any institution.

(Name) has improved consistently every year and is a deserving candidate for an opportunity to work in the field of (topic name). I would be delighted if my recommendation helps him/her obtain admission in the (course name).

If you have any queries regarding research, academics, or other areas pertaining to (applicant name’s) candidature, please feel free to reach me at the following phone or email address. I am usually available on the phone between Monday and Friday from (time to time, i.e. 11 am to 4 pm).

(Name of Referee)

Designation:

Phone Number:

Following important tips should be considered while writing a LOR for PhD:

The selection of the right recommender is crucial. Choose your recommender carefully who meets the specifications mentioned in your PhD application.
Choosing your recommenders with finer academic and professional qualifications is of utmost importance.
Stay in contact with your potential recommenders and maintain good communication with them in advance.
Share your research proposal, goals, and achievements with your recommenders.
Your LORs for PhD should differ from each other.
Your LOR should showcase your qualities, capabilities, and strengths.
Online recommendation forms should be submitted much before the deadline.
The letter should be realistic and unbiased.
The relationship between the recommender and the applicant should be demonstrated clearly.
All the information stated in the LOR should be genuine, authentic, and accurate. Ensure that no information is false or exaggerated.

In conclusion, a well-crafted Letter of Recommendation is a crucial component of any PhD application, serving as a testament to the candidate's academic abilities, research potential, and character. It provides the admissions committee with valuable insights from a third-party perspective, often influencing the final decision. For recommenders, it's important to provide a balanced, honest, and detailed account of the candidate’s capabilities, tailoring the letter to highlight qualities that are most relevant to the PhD program. For applicants, choosing the right recommenders and ensuring they understand the importance of the letter in the context of a PhD application is key. A strong Letter of Recommendation, which effectively captures the essence of the candidate's skills and potential, can significantly enhance the application, making it stand out in a competitive academic landscape.

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June 1, 2023

Deciding Who Should Write Your Letters of Recommendation – PhD

Letters of recommendation (LORs) are a key part of your application. Strong ones provide meaningful support, while a lukewarm one can really hurt your chances for admission. In this post, we’ll answer two questions: Who should write in support of your PhD application? How can you make sure your LORs are as good as they can be?

How to choose the best LOR writers

It is important to select LOR writers who know you well and, ideally, for a reasonably long period of time. Select individuals who can comment specifically and knowledgeably about your abilities. It is helpful if you have stayed in touch with your recommenders since you studied or worked with them.

Select writers who can address your research experience and potential. The more closely the writer’s background aligns with your field of study, the better. You should select faculty members to write the majority of your LORs for PhD programs.

If you have relevant work experience, you can also ask a current or previous employer. The employer should focus on your research potential. You can ask internship supervisors if the type of work you did as an intern is related to your intended field of study.

When you ask your recommenders if they would be willing to write in support of your application, ask whether they feel they can write a strong, positive letter. This provides a gentle way for a hesitant recommender to decline – they can admit that they don’t think they know you well enough to do so (or you might sense their hesitation), and you can move on to someone else who can and will.

How to help your recommenders write strong LORs

It is important to provide information to your recommenders that will help them write the strongest letter possible. This can include your resume, copies of work you produced for their class (for faculty members), and a list of job accomplishments (for supervisors). Also provide a list of the schools you are applying to and the specific degree programs. Include a link with instructions as to what to include in the letter. Provide all these materials at one time in an organized manner.

Offer to meet with your recommender to discuss your plans and goals. You can also send them a link to Accepted’s 10 Tips for Writers of Letters of Recommendation .

Agree on a timeline of at least several weeks for them to complete their letter. Be aware of the academic calendar if you are asking a faculty member; the final weeks of the semester are often very busy. Remember that professors go on sabbatical and might not be available at all times.

A few days before the agreed-upon deadline, send a reminder to your letter writer.

Say thank you!

Always remember to follow up with a thank you note. (Ideally, you can write another thank you note after you get in, sharing the good news!)

You need to choose your PhD letter of recommendation writers wisely and then present them with the right materials to assist them in constructing strong letters that will represent your greatest strengths. We can help you with this and with any other element of your PhD application. Check out our catalog of Graduate School Admissions Services , and let us know how we can help you achieve PhD admissions success!

Plotting Your Way to a Phd - download your guide today!

By Alice Diamond , former associate dean for career and community service at Lesley University. Alice has a BA from Colgate University, an MA from Bryn Mawr College, and an MS from Cornell University. She has more than 35 years of experience in career and admissions advising for undergraduate and graduate candidates. Alice’s clients have been accepted to top programs in a wide range of fields. Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Choosing the Best PhD Programs , a free guide • An Admitted Johns Hopkins MD/PhD Candidate Reflects on His Journey • Lining Up Letters of Recommendation and Searching for Fellowships

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Reference letter for a phd candidate.

A successful application to a PhD program almost always requires letters of recommendation from former university lecturers and professors. They are the main point of reference when it comes to assessing an applicant's qualification for a PhD program. The letter below is a good example for a former MSc student, who now wants to pursue a PhD in the same field. It is already somewhat specifically addressed, as it directly refers to a doctorare degree in Linguistics.

Dear Sir or Madam,

it is my pleasure to acquaint you with one of my most outstanding students, Ravi Egilsson, who is keen to pursue the Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics at your esteemed institution.

I have known Ravi since 2010, when he enrolled into the Master of Science in Speech Analytics here at Oxbridge University. As part of this programme, Ravi took my course on Automated Speech Processing and joined my practical seminar on Pattern Processing. I also supervised him for his thesis project, a smartphone app that can translate a range of simple infant phonetisms into spoken language.

Ravi presented outstanding commitment to his studies, and finished his degree within the top 10% of his class. He was a quite remarkable student with a strong research interest. Among his peers, he stood out by always being up-to-date with currently topical discussions even within niches of linguistical research. The quality of his research work on his thesis project was compelling, and he managed to find beautifully simple solutions to very challenging problems.

With his multicultural background and fluent proficiency of English, Swedish and Hindi he was able to approach many scientific questions from different angles. During the courses, he always made many valuable contributions to group discussions. Finally, it should not be left unmentioned that Ravi is a very pleasant person to work with.

I respect Ravi's decision to further pursue his specific research interests at your university, and I am confident that he will be a highly valuable addition to your PhD program, where he could develop and apply his extraordinary talents. Furthermore, I am certain that he would qualify for any means of financial aid that you could offer him, and I also strongly recommend him for a position as a teaching or research assistant. Should you have any questions with regards to Ravi Egilsson, I will be pleased to answer them.

Klemens Rapper

Professor Oxbridge University

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Letter of Recommendation FAQs

All letters must be submitted by your provider online. There are no exceptions to this policy.

PhD/Master's Application Process
Admissions - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does the letter of recommendation process work?

When you fill out an application, you will be asked to enter contact information for your recommenders. Your recommenders will then receive a notification email with instructions for uploading their letter. Please note:

Letters of recommendation will be automatically attached to your application as soon as they are submitted.
You may view the status of letters of recommendation within your application or from your Application Status Portal.

Q: How many recommendation letters are required?

The number of letters required varies by application type.

For degree programs, three letters of recommendation are required. (To a maximum of five).
For non-degree programs, two letters of recommendation are required.

Q: One of my recommenders wishes to submit the recommendation for me in paper form only. Is that OK?

Unfortunately, no. We will only accept letters submitted online.

If your recommender is only willing to provide a paper letter, you may want to consider a different recommender, as paper letters will not be considered.

Q: Can I add a recommender after I submit my application?

From your Application Status Portal, you will be able to remind, add, or exclude a recommender. This feature is no longer available once the minimum required number of recommendations (3) has been received.

Q: Can I delete a recommender?

Yes, you may “Exclude” a recommender from within your application or on your Application Status Portal.

Q: I started an application last year and requested letters of recommendation that were submitted. Can those letters be attached to the new application I will be preparing for this coming year?

Unfortunately, no. You will have to identify your recommenders again in your current year application. Your recommenders will have to submit recommendations again.

Q: Will Yale GSAS accept letters of recommendation from a dossier service such as Interfolio?

Yes. We will accept letters of recommendation from Interfolio or other dossier services that have the ability to upload a letter directly to our online recommendation system on behalf of a faculty member. In such cases, please enter the dossier service-specific email address provided by the recommender when adding a recommender for your application.

Please be advised that dossier services generally will not fill out optional questions on our recommendation form, including ratings of your Academic Performance, Intellectual Potential, and Motivation for the Proposed Program of Study.

Paper letters and emailed PDFs are not acceptable.

Q: I have been out of school for some time. May my recommenders be those who can attest to my professional work?

Yes; however, we suggest that at least one recommendation should originate from a faculty member of the last institution you attended as a full-time student. This is not mandatory and may not be feasible if you have been out of school for a number of years.

Q: One of my recommenders did not receive an email or is having trouble accessing the online recommendation system.

Once you enter your recommender’s information (including email address) and select “Send to Recommender,” an email is automatically generated and sent to your recommender. If your recommender does not receive the email, it is possible that their email provider is blocking the email. You may try resending the email or excluding the recommender and adding them again with a different email address.

Q: Is there a deadline for letters of recommendation?

Recommenders may upload letters after the program deadline. We will add their letters to your application for review as soon as they arrive. Some programs begin reviewing applications right away, so it is best for recommenders to submit letters as soon as they are able. Please note that we only accept letters uploaded online; we do not accept mailed or faxed letters of recommendation.

Prepare Your Application for CS PhD.

Before you read, introduction, what do i mean by managing research, why do you need papers, reference letter, research experience, publications, choosing programs and professors, meeting slides, personal history statement, paragraph 1, paragraph 2-4, last two paragraphs, research internship, connecting professors via email, after application.

This will be a long article which will take you approximately about 15 minutes to read. If you think it is too long to read. Please directly go to the end .

Let’s Start

During my preparation for PhD applications, the most response I got are rejection. However, I also received several offers including MASc/PhD in ECE from University of Toronto, PhD in CS from McGill University, PhD in CS from UMASS, PhD in CS from UTexus Austin, EDIC from EPFL, and PhD in CS from NUS. I would like to summarize the application for three stages, which are before application, during application and after application. In different stages, you need to put different things in priority. The key to getting your ideal offer would be mainly composed of your research background and your connections. The other things would be minors and I would like to share more of my experience about that.

Before we get started, I would like to introduce an open-source project: opencsapp , which is managed by my friends. It includes tons of past experience applying to graduate programs in CS. In this post, I would like to lay more emphasis on research.

Before Application

I would like to use the timeline of an undergraduate student who wants to apply for a direct PhD. as an example. For the preparation, it means the period before the last summer before your final year of study. The last summer is also included. As you can see from the colors in this graph, it will be relatively chill in the first two years and stressed in your third year. However, to make the application easier and smoother, I would like to provide my point of view: prepare early and distribute your workload evenly.

The most critical factor in deciding your application will be your reference letters and connections . However, to acquire them, you need a strong research background. Rather than saying have research experiences, I would like to say manage your research experiences. Some people may argue that published papers are important to application and some undergraduate students even have certain papers published in top conferences such as AAAI, CVPR or even SIGMOD, NSDI, SOSP. However, I would say it is only partially correct. I also have a few first-authored papers published in Ubicomp, ICDCS before applying for programs.

In fact, compared to having the name on author lists, what you really need is the experience of leading a project and doing research independently. Some students just help complete a partial of the source code or just run a couple of experiments. After that, they are granted as a third or fourth author, or even the first author in some particular cases. I would say such a kind of experience is useless and even if you have your name on published papers, it will not really help too much on your application.

Well, on the other hand, even if your paper is under review, the whole project is led by you. You participate and push the whole project forward from having the idea, writing to finishing all the evaluations. This is valuable and can grant you proper reference letters and connections. In this experience, you learn what research is and know how you can carry out research individually. This is also the reason why most experience of course projects is completely useless and professors do not care about them too much. Course projects are usually done in a group and it is very hard to show that you lead the project unless it is an individual project. In that case, you should emphasize that in your CV.

In summary, before starting research, you need to keep it in mind that your ultimate goal is having individual research experience before application .

Even the god needs seven days to create the world, it is impossible for you to start individual research once you touch it. For the first and second year, you should put your emphasis on your GPA . It may sound like a utilitarian but the truth is the reason for taking a course is you want a good GPA . Honestly speaking, with the fierce competition nowadays, the objective of going to universities has deviated from our original goals of acquiring knowledge. We just want to get good jobs, good lives, to get a green card in the US or a PR in Canada. But anyway, putting your emphasis on your studies is what I want to say. While in the meantime, get yourself involved in the labs and begin doing research with professors and PhDs.

At the very beginning of the first and the second year. The first thing you need to figure out is whether you really want to do the research in the future. The earlier you figure it out, the more benefits you will get. The next thing is to think about what you want to do in the future. You do not need to narrow down the scope on to a thesis level or a specific topic. This is what you need to think about right after you have just begun the PhD. Just think about a rough direction like machine learning, operating system, database, etc. If you are sure you want to do research and you know what you want to do, the third thing is to think about whether you are really good at it. You need to make sure you really have contributions during your research internship.

After thinking about all these, the next thing is to evaluate your opportunities. If you find that after spending two or three months working for a graduate student, you have nearly zero or very few chances to communicate and talk with the professor, you should quit that lab immediately without a second thought. You need to evaluate how much you have learned during your research assistant experience and whether you can learn to become an individual researcher. And you get a chance to collaborate with the professors! Not just the PhD. Students or master students. This is important. They have not got their degrees. I’m currently still a PhD student and I’m still learning how to do research. PhD students, candidates or even Postdocs are not necessarily clear on doing research and probably not. Otherwise, they should have got their faculty positions. So if you really make contributions and you are really good at what you are doing but you are always collaborating with graduate students or postdocs, it will be a waste of your talent. You should learn from the real professionals, the professors. They are the ones who really understand research. So the most critical thing is you need to make sure you are studying from professors during your research internship!!!

The publication and acceptance is highly random nowadays. Accepted papers are not necessarily good papers and good papers will not necessarily be accepted. Moreover, the difficulty to publish a paper varies from conference to conference, from journal to journal and from research scope to research scope. If you have publications when you are applying for the PhD, it will for sure make your application better as long as they are written by yourself. But it is completely fine that you don’t have.

The main reason is that you should have the process of managing your mind. You should understand how you build everything up and organize them to make your work well sounded and motivated. In other words, it is the process and what you learned from this process that matters, not the papers. If you don’t understand how you should write a good paper, it won’t help much for your application even if you have a lot of papers. Nowadays, it is easy to write a paper and submit it to a random conference. Some students may have a very long list of papers and many of them are arxiv preprints. I think this is useless and may even have some counter effects. What you need to do is show your understanding of research and understanding of how you can communicate with others in the form of static texts such as papers.

So, if you have a third or fourth authored paper, it does not help too much. If you have a first authored paper, it is a good thing but you need to know how you demonstrate your understanding of the research.

The Application

Connection : First year to 12/15.
Reference Letters : Sept. to Dec.
Research Experience : Second year to writing your applications.
Publications : Second Summer to 12/15.
Choosing programs and professors : Sept. to Nov.
CV/Resume : Sept. to Dec.
Meeting and meeting slides : After 12/15.
Personal History Statement *: Sept. to Dec.
SOP/PS/Research Proposal : Sept. to Dec.
GPA : First year to third year
Research internship : First/Second/Third summer.
Standard Tests : TOFEL: Third summer/GRE: Third year.
Connecting professors via email (they don’t know you before)*: Sept. to Dec.

Now, I would like to give a guide for each component in this checklist.

Connection can usually be viewed as the fastest track for your getting the offers. However, by saying the fastest , it is the slowest as you need to always manage it from the start to the end. You also need to prepare for it as early as possible. A strong connection can help you directly get the offer. There are usually two types of connection. First, you know the professor well and the professor also knows you well. Second, you have a good connection to a professor and the professor can introduce you to the professor you want to apply to. They have a strong connection.

Reference Letters are also quite important. They are not so determined as the connection. But strong reference letters can also help you get admitted by your dream school in some cases if you can do the all other things pretty well too. However, it is an important thing to establish a good connection with your referees. Not only do they need to know very well, you also need to know them much better. Don’t expect a professor who does not know your name until you come to ask for a reference letter to write a good reference letter. In most cases, a mediocre reference letter equals a bad reference letter.

When you are preparing for your application, you need to have it in mind the overall flow of idea of your research. It is like writing a thesis, but not so techniqual and also like writing a paper. You know the reason why you need to do these research and how they are connected to each other. Each experience should contribute to your current research question(s). If your research experiences are like several random pieces of topics in several unrelevant directions, it will be a big problem. You need to find a way to connect them together and generate a flow of ideas.

Always wish for the best and prepare for the worst. In today’s random review mechanism, especially in some communities, there is no guarantee that a good paper will be accepted and an accepted paper must be a good paper. So just try to write a perfect paper and submit it to the venues. That’s it.

Though this is not the most important factor for getting you admitted, this is one of the most important things you really need to think about. Especially today the competition for computer science applications is becoming more and more fierce. To the best of my acknowledgement, over 80 percent of my friends how used to not work in IT, all change their focus on coding. Hence, sometimes, you may want to give some sights on topics which are not so hot. Always choose the one that fits you most, not the one which is the most popular.

I have a list of questions you need to think when you choose programs and professors

What is the rank of the program and university? Will the rank make the program harder to apply then it should be?
How do the programs and professors match my career goals and research?
What are my dream schools/professors, list three? What schools/professors match my standard, list five? What are schools I will definitely get admission to, list three?
What is the program name? What is the admission link? What is the deadline?
Do I meet the minimum admission requirements for GPA/TOFEL/GRE?
Who will write reference letters for me?

CV is usually one of the material you can put your efforts on in the final stage of application. The CV should present your factual achievement. Hence, it should include basic information about you such as name, degress, education experience. It is always a good habit to include your email and phone number. You also need to present your research experience, publications and other experience.

I think putting the skills in the CV is a strange thing but a lot of people do it. It is useless and it is not supposed to be here. Because listing your skills is a subjective action. For example, you can write I have a second prize in an NOI competition where we programmed in C++. But it is not a proper thing to say I am mastered at C++. Also, you can list you have a bronze medal in a kaggle competition. But, it is not a proper thing to say you know deep learning or data mining pretty well.

Always remember to include facts in your CVs. When people are reading your CV, they will filter those statements not presented in the form of saying facts. This is not a good thing because they may accidentally omit some merits you want to express.

Here is a template for CV in the form of LaTex. If you want to share it on social media, please remember to leave a notice about where you got it.

It is always good to have a slide introducing yourself and your research. Remember to send it to the professors before the meeting. It does not need to be very long, you may only need five minutes to introduce one of your best projects.

The value of such a statement is case by case. If you believe you can contribute to the diversity of the school, you need to put much emphasis on this statement. If you are from a minority group, I suggest you write this as this is a good opportunity to fight for your own interests and rights. You should always do this. With all our efforts, we can bring a better word.

Writing in fluent English and good articles may no longer be a difficult thing with the present of large language models. However, the most critical thing in writing these materials is that you should have a flow of ideas. You need to write a story and a story should have its basic components. You need a start, a body, and an ending. You need to tell others why you did such research, what you did and how well you did it.

Writing a PS

Usually a personal statement is about 1000 words. Don’t make it too long.

Paragraph 1: Please do not use very long stories. Go directly to the point. Explain how you got interested in the field related to this program. For example, the simplest reason is that you major in this field and you’re interested. Or you can say that though your major is not, let’s say computer science. You feel interested in it and want to have a deeper professional study after taking several online courses such as xxx. Give a brief self introduction such as your name, major, or when you will get the diploma. Your GPA, best honors, ranking if there are attractive enough. The third sentence should be kept simple. Clearly illustrate the program you are applying for.

Paragraph 2-4, we usually write 2 paragraphs for the main body. Each paragraph should take about your best past projects, research or professional experiences. First, give the motivation of beginning the project. This is a different CV. You should take about for what reason, you get started this experience. Not the reason why the topic of this project is interesting. For example, the motivation in CV can be that previous transformer based method needs long training time. The motivation in PS is that I want to touch on some research related to machine learning, particularly language models and transformers. The second sentence should be a summary of the project. Starting from the third sentences to about the six one. You should place your own insights about this project, from a subjective point of view, not the objective point of view in a CV. You should also demonstrate your potentials and abilities in these sentences. For example, you can say that in this project, we implemented our ideas from algorithms to real applications, and we evaluated them in industrial cases. I think such an industry level evaluation is very important for the development of a project. I have always insisted that we will move our products into real-world case testing before it are put forward to the market. The last sentence is similar to a CV. Talk about your results. For example, how your product is implemented in the real world.

Last two paragraph: First tell the readers how your previous study related to this project with some course examples. Briefly speaking, how do you get yourself prepared for the project? You should sufficiently show why the program should enroll you. You should then explain why you need this project. Usually, we give three sentences (three reasons). First, the program scheduling including the modules, projects, professors. You should give detailed names of the professors you want to work with. The courses you want to take. If you are applying for a thesis based program. You must and only talk about 1-3 professors you want to work with. Remember, you should give a solid reason. For example, you research interest matches a lot. If you are applying for the thesis based program, these three sentences are simple. Just three sentences about professor and the reasons. If you are applying for a course based program, the other two sentences are different. The second sentence should discuss the program’s advantages. For example, it has group working and self project. It has cooperation with business and so on. The same thing, be detailed and have reasons. The third sentence should talk about the school’s advantage. For example, it is in California, with lots of opportunities to have internships in top companies. The last sentence is simple, try your best to praise the school and thanks for reading.

In fact, most people may think GPA is what it should be. But, in fact, there can be some little tricks in presenting GPA. You may choose to draw the committee’s attention to some courses you have better scores for, which you can call them the courses related to your major or the program you are applying for. However, it should have a rationale. For example, if you are applying for a research related to multimodal. You can’t say that computer vision is related and natural language processing is not related. While you can say deep learning is related but operating systems are not related or Physics is not related. Treat your GPAs wisely.

If you have decided to apply for a PhD, it is usually of benefit if you participate in research internships. Research internships can be in a research group or in a company such as MSRA, Apple, Amazon, etc. The most critical thing to applying for a successful research internship is treating it as if you are applying for a PhD or a job. You will gain you more chances to simulating applying for a PhD and collect precious experience.

I usually tell others that these two things will not affect your application. I changed my mind until I met a customer. The reason why these two are important is that if you have very low scores (TOFEL<90), you basically cannot apply to any school. But if you have very high scores (TOFEL>110), they won’t help anything regarding the application, regarding CS application.

Before you prepare for them, you can read the requirements list by each school on whether the GRE is required and what is the minimum score of TOFEL. This is also the reason why I recommend you to take the test in the third year. The policy usually won’t change too much.

For the TOFEL tests, I strongly recommend TSTPrep . It is really helpful. For teachers of TOFEL and GRE, you can contact me personally. I know several pretty good teachers and they are very professional.

You may get good luck to be in touch with professors. There are no particular standards for how we should write emails. Some professors like you to cut to the point directly. Some prefer you give more details. However, from my understanding, all professors have tons of things to handle everyday. So, you should organize a very clear subject and keep your words concise.

To choose from your offers, you should also do the same thing of evaluating your opportunities. If you find that after you enter the research group, you will work closely with senior PhD students, candidates and Postdocs rather than your professor, you should reject the offer. In my current and past research, I always have the chance to discuss ideas, progress, results, and writings with my advisors. Basically speaking, your advisor should be the one you collaborate with the most closely. This is a critical factor when you consider your offers.

I would also suggest you communicate with the current PhD students in the research group to understand all the necessary things you think you should acknowledge. In summary, the decision should not be based on what you have and what the prospective supervisor has. It should be based on what you are going to have and what you are going to bring to your prospective supervisor. I strongly recommend you go over these two checklists before you make the final decision.

Checklist for students .
Checklist for supervisors

I also provide advising service for CS/EE PhD application. Feel free to contact me via email or social media such as Zhihu .

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The letters kept on file in the Pre-HealthAdvising are intended only for colleges of dentistry, medicine (MD & DO), optometry, podiatry, veterinary medicine, or Post-Bacc Enrichment programs. Applicants who want their letters to be sent to other graduate schools, professional programs or scholarship programs will need to get the permission of their recommenders.

All letters of recommendation should be accompanied by the form below. Please remind your recommenders that health professions schools will not accept handwritten letters. The letter should be typed and signed. (We can not accept digital signatures at this time.) Letterhead is also preferred. The letters can be sent by email (scanned signed document), mail or by fax.

Who should I get my letters from?

You should have at least two letters from science professors who have taught you.
If you have done research it is a very good idea to obtain a letter from your research supervisor. (Keep in mind that if you are interested in an MD/PhD program, you should get two or more research letters.)
If you are applying to Osteopathic schools, some schools require a letter from a DO.
If you are interested in going into veterinary medicine, you need to get letters from all the animal-related venues where you have worked or volunteered (veterinary clinics, animal shelters, wildlife rehabilitation, etc.).

The following are other possible people you may ask for letters of recommendation:

a professor in your major department
a professor from an upper level science, math, or major course
a professor who taught you a humanities or literature course
a professor from a course that you just plain enjoyed and did well in
doctors, dentists, optometrists, veterinarians and other health care professionals

Can I ask for letters of recommendation now even though I am not ready to apply?

If you have recently completed a course, research experience, or health-related expereince with someone you want to write you a reccomendation now, please follow the instructions on the letter of recommendation form here .

If, however, you are not yet ready to ask your recommender for a letter for a prior or current semester, please wait until the end of Spring 2023 for additional information on this web page.

Do you have to get letters from professors in all of these categories? No! Might you? Yes. There is no maximum. The bottom line is this: if you believe that you can get a good letter of recommendation, ask for it.

If I transferred into Stony Brook from another school, should I get letters from my first school? Yes, you should if you can.

Can I get letters of recommendation from teaching assistants? Yes, if you believe that the TA knows you well and you can get a quality letter from him or her. Please note: letters of recommendation from teaching assistants and graduate assistants should be countersigned by a supervising professor.

Recommendation Worksheet

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Your application to BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development can be completed online . Be sure to fill out all the required information as incomplete applications will not be reviewed. We recommend not using an institutional or work-related email to create your profile. Emails sent to institutional addresses may be blocked or sent to junk mail.

Required Application Materials

Statement of qualifications & objectives, equity & inclusion statement, transcripts.

An official copy that has been opened and scanned
A degree progress report
An electronic transcript screenshot

If your transcript includes transfer or study abroad credits, we will require transcripts from those institutions as well if grades do not appear for those credits. All institutions attended should be reported on the application.

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All transcripts submitted to BU Wheelock need to be in English. If your school does not provide English copies, then a certified translation will be required. Applicants who have studied outside of the United States and Canada are required to upload unofficial international transcript(s) and certified translation(s) for all institutions attended. Please combine your transcript, certified translation, etc. for each institution into one document and then upload it.

Letters of Recommendation

Standardized test scores, english proficiency.

Whose first language is not English and,
Who have not previously received a degree from an institution in which the primary language of instruction was English.

Duolingo English Test

For spring/fall 2023 applicants, Boston University will evaluate scores from the Duolingo English Test , an online English proficiency test that students can take on demand. Select Boston University Graduate & Professional programs as a score recipient, and email www.ets.org/toefl/

Recommended minimum Duolingo score: 130

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

It is your responsibility to ensure that the testing agency can send us your official score report.

Recommended minimum IELTS score for all programs: 7.0 overall.

Submit all IELTS scores to us electronically. To send us your scores, email www.ielts.org

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Our institution code for the TOEFL is 3087 ; we do not use a departmental code. It’s your responsibility to ensure that ETS can send us an official score report. Note: ETS will report scores up to two years after the test date. BU Wheelock accepts TOEFL MyBest scores. Please submit these scores directly into the application system. BU Wheelock is unlikely to admit applicants with TOEFL scores below the minimum.

Recommended minimum overall TOEFL score or MyBest score for all programs: 100 on the iBT.

Analytical Essay

Optional essay, application fee, application fee waiver.

To obtain an application fee waiver, fill out the Application Fee Waiver form .

Prerequisite Requirements by Degree and Program

To submit your strongest application, view the prerequisite requirements for BU Wheelock degree programs.

Doctoral Applicants

Master's applicants.

MAT Applicants If you apply to any of the BU Wheelock Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree programs, you should have an academic background in the subject area you plan to pursue. If you don’t have a degree in your subject of choice, you will be asked to complete prerequisite coursework before applying to the MAT. For more information about the qualifying undergraduate degrees and coursework that would fulfill this requirement, visit your program’s web page.

MS in Child Life & Family-Centered Care Applicants to this program must complete at least 100 volunteer or practicum hours under a certified Child Life Specialist in a pediatric healthcare child life program. At least 50 of these hours should be completed by the time you apply. Applicants should submit a verification letter with their graduate application. This letter should include a signature from your supervising practitioner and the number of volunteer hours you’ve completed. We strongly recommend that you successfully complete a child development course.

EdM in Deaf Education Applicants to the Master of Education in Deaf Education are required to take the following coursework either before admission to BU or while enrolled in the degree program. Contact the program office by emailing [email protected] to discuss summer course scheduling for the following prerequisites:

WED LS 565 Introduction to Language and Linguistics
WED LS 566 Language Acquisition
WED DE 581 American Sign Language I
WED DE 582 American Sign Language II

EdM/MSW Dual Degree Applicants

Cags applicants.

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How to Apply to Capella University

Admission requirements.

Choosing a degree program or certificate is the hard part. Applying should be easy.

Admission Requirements

Before you apply: admission requirements

All Capella applicants must meet the following admissions criteria. Some degree programs and certificates have additional requirements. GRE, GMAT, SAT or ACT are not required for admission. Take a look at the requirements and find everything you need to start your application.

$0 Application fee

Apply today with no application fee and no hidden fees for transcripts or transfer credit evaluation.

Identification

Applicants must provide a valid, government-issued form of photo identification.

Transcripts

Provide copies of official transcripts from previous institutions for relevant coursework.

Minimum GPA

Each program has specific minimum GPA requirements for admission.

Acknowledgment agreement

Agree to abide by Capella policies and program requirements.

English proficiency

All applicants must understand, read, speak and write fluently in English.

Are you an international student?

Individual programs
Learning format requirements

Some Capella degree programs have additional admission requirements. See the program page or ask an enrollment counselor for details. These requirements may include:

Forms and documents disclosing licensure information, background and work experience
Letters of recommendation
Curriculum vitae or resume
Essay or writing sample
Faculty interview
Registration acknowledgement form
Masterâs degree from an institution accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency or an internationally recognized institution
Your official masterâs transcripts, minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale

GRE and GMAT are not required for admission. Also, admission requirements for international students may differ.

Learn more about doctoral programs at Capella

Bachelorâs degree from an institution accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency, or from an internationally recognized institution
Your official bachelorâs transcripts
Minimum GPA as determined by your chosen program

Certain degree programs â such as counseling, social work, and nursing â may have additional requirements. International students also must submit proof of English proficiency and transcript evaluation.

While some institutions may ask for scores from the GRE, GMAT, SAT, or ACT, these tests are not required as part of admission for Capella.

Learn more about masterâs programs at Capella

High school diploma or equivalent
Transcript of any reported GED
A valid, government-issued form of photo identification
Must be least 24 years old (may be waived for military/veteran applicants, those with at least 24 quarter credits of prior college/university coursework, and Capella Jumpstart participants)

SAT and ACT are not required for admission.

Learn more about bachelorâs programs at Capella

Certificate students and students taking individual courses must meet the minimum education requirements determined by the degree level of their course registration.
Bachelorâs students must be least 24 years old (may be waived for military/veteran applicants and those with at least 24 quarter credits of prior college/university coursework) and must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Masterâs students must have a bachelorâs degree from an institution accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency or internationally recognized institution.
Doctoral students must have a masterâs degree from an institution accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency or internationally recognized institution.

Bachelorâs programs

45 applicable college credits
The recommended minimum GPA is 2.8 OR at least 100 applied transfer college credits (Applicants with a lower GPA and less than 100 applied transfer college credits, may be considered by providing additional documentation for a holistic review.)

Masterâs programs

Recommended minimum college GPA: 2.8 (Applicants with a lower GPA may be considered by providing additional documentation for a holistic review.)
Some programs require that your bachelorâs degree be in your intended field of study, or that you have a minimum amount of relevant, professional experience in that field.

Donât qualify for FlexPath? You have the option to start your program in our GuidedPath format. When you successfully complete a set number of courses at a 2.8 GPA or higher, you can transfer into FlexPath.

When you apply: how the Capella University application works

Once youâve reviewed the admission requirements and gathered your materials, youâre ready to start your application. If you need more time, you can always save and finish it later.

1. Create your account

Create or log in to your account. This is where you can save your progress, pick up where you left off, check your status or start another application.

2. Personal information

Enter your contact information and your Social Security number for federal reporting requirements and financial aid. We keep this information secure and confidential.

3. Education history

Provide transcripts from past universities, including military and other providers such as Sophia or StraighterLine. With your permission, weâll request transcripts. Once we receive them, weâll apply eligible transfer credits to your program.

4. Upload additional materials

Depending on your program, you may need to provide additional materials, such as letters of recommendation, your resume, licensure information or assessments.

5. Submit application

Apply today with no application fee and no hidden fees for transcripts or transfer credit evaluation.

After you apply: financial aid and transfer credits

Youâll receive a decision on admission within two weeks of submitting your application. If youâre accepted and enroll in a program, we recommend that you create a financing plan and visit our online campus.

Financial aid

You may qualify for federal loans or grants to help fund your degree.

Transfer credits

In some cases, your transfer credit evaluations will be completed after you are admitted.

Scholarships and Progress Rewards

Capella Progress Rewards are scholarships for eligible new students and are not need-based.

Take the first step toward earning your degree and achieving your goals. 1.866.613.3676

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About PHIFP
What Fellows Do
Promotion & Recruitment Tools
Request Program Services and Support

Prepare & Submit Fellowship Application

Applicants should begin preparing information early to submit the application by the deadline.
Detailed instructions are provided as a guide to gathering and preparing required information, as well as for submitting the online application.

Eligible applicants should allow ample time to prepare the required information and submit the online application according to the deadline .

How to prepare

Eligible applicants should follow these steps to prepare required information for the fellowship application.

Update your resume or CV.
Gather all information about your education; graduate training and skills; work and volunteer experience; publications, presentations, and grants; honors and awards
What influenced you to consider a career in public health?
How will this fellowship help achieve your goals?
Identify three or more people to complete recommendation forms on your behalf.
If any of your degrees were obtained from an institution outside the U.S., you will also need a course-by-course credential evaluation.

Standardized letters of recommendation (SLORs)

At least two recommendation forms must be from persons who are not currently employed at the CDC.
Persons writing recommendation forms should typically be current or former supervisors or professors. Avoid requesting recommendation forms from colleagues or friends.
Recommendations must be specific to the PHIFP application and written in English.
Please inform all recommenders to expect a system-generated email from the PHIFP Fellowship Program ( [email protected] ) with instructions for submitting the recommendation forms.
All recommendation forms are required to be submitted by the application deadline .

Transcripts

Your application requires copies of unofficial transcripts for all earned degrees or qualifying degrees in progress.

For this requirement, an applicant must provide an academic credentialing evaluation for any degree from a non-US academic Institution before the December 1st deadline. This requirement applies to all Doctoral, Master's, and Bachelor's level degrees.
For more information about the academic credentialing evaluation process and to submit the applicant's degrees for evaluation, please visit The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services .
All academic credentialing evaluations documents or unofficial transcripts are required to be submitted by the application deadline .
Transcripts must state the applicant's degree of study, courses taken, earned grades, and graduation date if the degree has been conferred.
Transcripts and other proof of degree completion will not be returned.
For more information about submitting unofficial transcripts or foreign degree evaluation credentials, please see the PHIFP Application Checklist .

How to apply

Once you have prepared the above information, you are ready to start the online application. The link for the online application is only provided and active during open application periods.

The application will prompt you for:

Contact information
Post-graduate training and skills
Work and volunteer experience
Publications, presentations, and grants
Honors and awards
Personal statement addressing the following
Three recommendation forms
Unofficial college or university transcript

Please complete all sections of the application. When you are finished, select submit. You will receive an email notification stating that your application has been successfully submitted.

All supporting documents (e.g., recommendation forms; unofficial transcripts or evaluation of transcripts) must be submitted by the application deadline.

Information for recommendation writers

To complete the recommendation form, click on the link provided in the system-generated email from PHIFP to access the online recommendation form.
Recommendation forms must be specific to the PHIFP application, written in English, and completed using PHIFP's online fellowship application portal.
An additional system-generated email from  [email protected]  will be sent indicating that the upload was successful. If an email is not received, please contact  [email protected]  to confirm the submission.

Official transcripts

If the applicant is accepted into the program, CDC must receive their official transcript by June 30th of the fellowship year. Send official transcripts by mail to:

Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Rd., NE

Mailstop V24-5

Atlanta, GA 30329-4018

If the degree requires a completed thesis or dissertation, the applicant must have defended their thesis or dissertation on or before May 31st of the year they enter PHIFP. They will also need to submit their transcripts with the conferred degree as soon as they become available.

Contact the PHIFP program for questions about the application process.

Public Health Infrastructure Center
Division of Workforce Development

Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP)

The Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP) is a 2-year paid fellowship to apply information science and technology to the practice of public health.

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Entering and staying in the UK
Visas and entry clearance
Work and investor visas
Graduate route: rapid review
Migration Advisory Committee

Letter to the Home Secretary on the rapid review of the Graduate route (accessible)

Updated 16 May 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/graduate-route-rapid-review/letter-to-the-home-secretary-on-the-rapid-review-of-the-graduate-route-accessible

Migration Advisory Committee 2nd Floor Peel Building NE 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF

[email protected]

14 May 2024

Rt Hon James Cleverly MP Home Secretary 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF

Dear Home Secretary,

I am pleased to inform you that we have published the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) rapid review of the Graduate route, a copy of which has been provided to your office.

Our report provides insights on the five questions posed in your commissioning letter. We have not found evidence of widespread abuse on the Graduate route, where we define abuse as deliberate non-compliance with immigration rules, and we conclude that the route is not undermining the integrity and quality of the UK higher education system. However, we have reason to believe that some agents and subagents recruiting international students are mis-selling UK higher education and exploiting students in the process. We expect the impact on public finances of Graduate visa holders on the route to be small but positive, as most appear to work, are young, and have no recourse to public funds.

Having laid out in full our answers to these five questions in our report, we provide three sets of recommendations:

We recommend retaining the Graduate route in its current form. We found that the Graduate route is broadly achieving the objectives set out by the Home Office, while also supporting Government education policy as outlined in the International Education Strategy. The changes to the rules on student dependants which were implemented in January and are in effect a change to the dependant rules of the Graduate route, will likely have a significant effect on Graduate route usage going forward. Whilst initial data suggests these changes are already substantially reducing international student numbers, we believe their full impact should be assessed before considering further changes. Implementing additional restrictions or closing the route now could risk overcorrection. Given international student fees help make up the financial deficit that universities have from teaching domestic students and research, any significant restrictions to the route should only be considered once the structural funding issues in the higher education sector have been addressed. This speaks to the broader point that any changes to migration policy will likely involve trade-offs across other areas of Government policy.

We recommend that the Government establishes a mandatory registration system for international recruitment agents and subagents which encompasses the quality controls in the voluntary Agent Quality Framework, consulting with the Devolved Administrations to ensure UK-wide coverage. We recommend that universities should be required to publish data on their spend on recruitment agents and the number of international students recruited through such means annually as a starting point to improving disclosure. Whilst most agents play an important role in promoting the UK and in supporting international students, we found some examples of bad practice from certain agents. Our recommendations should help ensure that the quality of UK higher education is upheld, and students are protected from exploitation.

We provide several recommendations on data and monitoring for the route and the wider immigration system which are outlined in our report. Firstly, we recommend that the Government should only open new migration routes or make significant policy changes when it has a clear plan for how it will collect and monitor data to assess the effectiveness of the route against its objectives and understand wider impacts. We also recommend that the Home Office introduces a requirement for universities to provide it with confirmation of the course outcome (e.g., class of degree) on the Student route, in addition to confirmation that a course has been successfully completed which is currently required. We note that some of the data you referred to in your commissioning letter was incorrect. This data was not referring to those that had switched from the Graduate route to the Skilled Worker route, rather it covered those that had switched from the Student route to the Skilled Worker route. This takes us to our next recommendation; we recommend the Home Office undertakes a review of the data variables used for analytical purposes across the largest visa routes (including the Skilled Worker route, Student route and Graduate route) to develop a clear definition of what these data represent, and the quality of each variable collected. Finally, we recommend that the Government explore and make further use of the HO/HMRC matched data.

We look forward to your response to our report and to receiving the Immigration Salary List commission shortly.

On behalf of the Migration Advisory Committee,

Yours sincerely,

Professor Brian Bell Chair, Migration Advisory Committee

Tom Pursglove MP, Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border
Matthew Rycroft, Home Office Permanent Secretary
Simon Ridley, Home Office Second Permanent Secretary
Daniel Hobbs, Director General Migration and Borders Group

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Graduate School Letter of Recommendation Examples 2022-2023

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What style of writing should be used in a recommendation letter?

How to Write a Grad School Letter of Recommendation Letter: LOR Outline

1. Greeting to the recipient

2. Opening paragraph: position; relationship to the applicant; general assessment of the applicant

3. Second paragraph: positive skill or trait; evidence of trait or skill; anecdotes demonstrating this skill

4. Third (up to fifth) paragraph: Other skills or traits; evidence of character and skills; detailed anecdotes

5. Final Paragraph: clear recommendation of the candidate to the specific school or program.

6. Closing line: polite offer to be contacted if needed

Letter of Recommendation Template and Useful Phrases

Introducing yourself

Discussing your relationship with the applicant

Discussing the student’s general positive traits

Demonstrating evidence of student’s character and skills

Discussing the school/program the student is applying to

Final endorsement and offer to be contacted

Further Tips for Writing Admissions Essays

The Final Step: Editing Your Recommendation Letter

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation for Graduate School

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