What you don’t want to know about recommendation letters

I was reviewing applications for a program today (not the REU, something completely unrelated), and was reading through an application folder, fairly far down in the stack. I got to the recommendation letter. It was very positive, but...

I’d seen it before.

I went back, and sure enough, found that two applicants had asked the same person for recommendation letters, and the referee had used the same damn form letter for both.

As a reviewer, it’s totally maddening. It reflect poorly on the referee, but you really can’t do anything about it. Worse, the poor applicants typically are going to have no idea that they’ve been stuck with a form letter.

Then there are reviewers who write two line recommendations, letters that say, “This student was in my class. This student got this grade in my class. I recommend them.”

Recommendation letters are tricky things for students applying to programs. They are out of your control. You rarely have any way of knowing who writes good letters and who takes the lazy route and writes form letters.

But is it a pure roulette table, where “you pays your money and you takes your chances”? Not entirely. There are ways you can maximize your chance of getting a strong recommendation letter.

Put yourself in the letter writer’s position. If you’ve taken a class from a professor, how much you enjoyed that class or how well you did does not determine how good a letter that person can write for you if the professor doesn’t know you. Did you ever ask questions in class? Show up for office hours? Engage in conversation?

Don’t think about how much you know about them, think about how much they can know about you. After all, who could you write a better letter for? Your best friend who you’ve known for years or a casual acquaintance you’ve seen at a few social events?

In other words, make it a point to get to know a couple of professors. To the point that when you walk into their office, they will say, “Hi [Insert your name here],” instead of, “What section of the class are you in?”

Referee choice

Another common question this year has been, "Who should I get to write recommendation letters?"

I can't speak for other programs, but in ours, there really is only one requirement: That your referee know you.

Now, that said, if you think about it, there are some characteristics that are going to be desirable for a recommendation letter.

Since research positions like our REU program are, fundamentally, academic positions, you want to have someone who can address your ability to learn and your learning style. Your referee might want to answer questions like whether you are a quick study or Whether you need a lot of guidance. Whether you learn better in groups or if you prefer to work independently. Your referee might also want to place your academic work in context. In some classes, many students get As, but in others, very few get As. Or perhaps you got a B or a C, but you just missed the dividing line by a point or two, as opposed to scraping by near the bottom range for that letter grade.

Second, since research work is work, you also want someone who can address your ability to work with others. So, generally, you want someone who has supervised you in some way in task-oriented situations. This might be volunteer work, work for pay, or academic classes.

In many cases, professors are good choices for writing recommendation letters.

Sometimes, teaching assistants can write helpful letters of recommendation, as they have more face-to-face interactions with students than in a lecture setting with a professor. Teaching assistants also get to see how you handle equipment and your lab technique.

The one thing you probably don't want, though, is a letter from your mother. We're sure your mom is nice and all, but she's your mom. She has to like you.