Recommendation letters are a crucial piece of your Master’s or graduate school application. An effective letter of recommendation (aka LOR) should provide those making admissions decisions with an assessment of your potential as a graduate student and/or researcher.
What is a Letter of Recommendation (LOR)
A letter of recommendation is a document that verifies your skills, character traits, and attitude for the desired program (or a job role). It can also help you gain financial aid or employment as a teacher’s assistant or research assistant at your graduate school. When you apply for a graduate school program, you typically submit the letter with your other application materials (CV, SoP/essays, transcripts, test scores, etc.).
Why do Universities Ask for Letters of Recommendation?
A “letter of recommendation” is required explicitly by an academic program and should be sent directly to the university by the professor or employer without you seeing it. The document should be 300-400 words long and should present your character, accomplishments, and abilities from an objective perspective.
Recommendations add credibility to applications, whether academic or non-academic. Universities use recommendations as a validation (by a 3rd party) on your academic potential, technical aptitude, character, intelligence, personality, and dedication. Like SOPs (and essays), LORs can also make or break an application.
You Shouldn’t Treat LOR as a Standalone Component of Your Application
With most of the master’s degree application material in your control (CV, SoP, essays, etc.), letters of recommendations, or LoRs, are the only bit which are beyond your control.
Recommendation letters need to align with the narrative you are putting forward about yourself in your application. More importantly, CV, SoP/Essays, and LoRs need to complement each other.
“Instead of looking at the resume, essays, and reference letters as standalone components, thinking of them as pieces of a bigger jigsaw puzzle can help. This would help the applicant plan the entire application, instead of assuming that a sharp and coherent picture will appear magically at the end.”
Why a Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is Critical for your Master’s Application?
A great letter of recommendation from a professor (or faculty member), manager, or senior colleague can set your graduate school application apart from other candidates. For effective letters of recommendation, choose people who are acquainted with your skills, accomplishments, and strengths. You can send a formal, written request to your chosen reference that includes information to help them write the letter.
Related Article: The role of a mentor when applying for a Master’s abroad
Whom to Choose as Your Referee (or Recommender)
Try creating a list of several people you work closely with, either in college or at work. Consider who you think recognizes your work ethic and who can write a positive review of your accomplishments.
If you’re an undergraduate student, you may choose to ask a few of your professors or an academic advisor to write your letters. Here is the specific article on how to secure effective LORs for undergraduate applications.
If you’re no longer in college, you may want to ask your manager and a colleague to write your letters. You might also consider a volunteer organizer or club president to write a letter for you.
Choose people whom you value and/or who have inspired you
For example, if you’ve asked your Finance professor to write a letter for your Master of Business Analytics program application, you could explain how their classes inspired you to pursue an advanced degree in the field.
Similarly, maybe you are from an Electrical-Electronics background and you are applying for MS Data Science. You should then approach the faculty member who taught you algorithms & data structures or linear algebra.
Consider including specific examples in the LOR
If you’ve chosen an employer or coworker, you can discuss how your opportunity with them helped you grow as a professional. You can highlight the skills they’ve helped you develop or the support they’ve given you as you find your ideal career path.
Remember, relationship matters over designation. Your CEO or VP might have a higher designation. S/he might be an alumnus from a top foreign university. But if the person doesn’t know you well enough, then it will not help your case.
Similarly, if your HOD hasn’t taught you for a couple of semesters or supervised you on a project, s/he might not write too much about your performance, ability, and aspirations.
Your Recommenders should Remember You Well
Lastly, your professor should be able to pick you out from a class full of students’ faces. You need to be an engaging participant, asking questions, and meeting in the office hours.
You may not even be in the top percentile in your class. However, if you have managed to exhibit a keen interest, you can be assured that your professor will know you by your first name.
Recommendations are given to the most deserving candidate who has regularly displayed an active learning interest. So choose a professor whom you know well and can act as a cheerleader for you.
Quick Tips for Asking a LOR for Master’s from Professors
- Send an email and let your intention be known.
- Mention the schools/universities and the degree you will be applying to
- Provide all the links and login details
- Share your transcripts, resume, and your Statement of Purpose (or essays)
- Let him/her know the details of the order of university deadlines. That way, s/he will know which ones to prioritize first.
Pro-tip: schedule a meeting (at least virtually) and discuss your motivation behind pursuing the MS degree, your interests & career goals, your strengths, and how the program would help you with your career goals.
Keep the timeline in mind. Make sure you give your referee enough time to prepare the letter. Give your recommenders at least 2 – 3 months’ notice. So, let them know in July or August if you are going to submit the applications in November or December.
Rushing at the very end will make for a very bad plan, and most Professors will either not entertain or might give you a superficial recommendation. After all, you want to give them enough time to write a comprehensive and accurate letter.
How to Approach Your Employer or Manager for a LOR
Reach out to your manager or manager’s manager for a Recommendation. The key is to have someone you knows you well and who is glad to be your biggest supporter as you move to the next phase of your journey to join a graduate program. You can also have a LOR from one of your team members to complement a manager’s LOR.
Don’t go for the title. Go for someone who will spend time providing an insightful LOR to the admissions team and can show they know you well over the last few years to make that recommendation. If it is not for the above, the value of LOR holds little meaning even if it comes from a senior CEO, owner, or a political minister.
Tell them about your goals and what you would like them to write to support your goals. Letters of recommendation are confidential so you may not have a full grasp on what is written, but providing a direction helps.
Provide them of a few examples to show them how you have taken steps and done work to achieve towards your goals over the last few years. Help them understand why you are looking at pursuing your MS degree and what you want to focus during your studies.
Make sure they write examples to support the good recommendation they are providing. There are thousands of LORs with just general words like “good standing”, “hard working”… Make sure your LOR highlights only a few of your personal strengths but shows clear examples to support it. Most of the letters of recommendation do not do much to help an applicant’s admission chances because they are too general in nature.
Have your recommender write what you have done at work and how your work supports your aspirations for the graduate degree and interests.
Lastly, give your employer enough time to write your Letter of Recommendation. A good LOR always takes time to write….so give enough notice to your recommender. If you do not receive it within 2 weeks, remind them of it.
What should be the content for a Strong Letter of Recommendation (LOR)
A recommendation letter is a formal letter, so it is not the kind of document to get creative with. Your recommender should respect the following structure:
- Introduction – Your referee will present themselves and their relationship with you (e.g., professor, employer, etc), as well as their general impression of you and the time they have known you for.
- Content – Your referee will argue why they think you are the best candidate for that Master’s program, mentioning your educational background, activities, and relevant details.
- The third paragraph should include your personality traits, including your strengths & weaknesses.
- Closing -Your referee needs to add a strong closing statement, which vouches for your application, followed by a standard closing phrase and his/her name, contact details, and signature.
It helps a lot if the referee can add how/why the MS program will be beneficial for your career.
Tanmoy Ray is an experienced admissions consultant and content marketer with a passion for helping students achieve their global education dreams. After completing his Master’s degree in the UK, he worked with leading universities including the University of Oxford (UK), Utrecht University (Netherlands), and the University of New South Wales (Australia). Tanmoy combines his deep expertise in higher education with a talent for crafting student-focused resources that simplify complex admissions processes.