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Letters of Recommendation

When someone you respect and appreciate expresses confidence in you, they are also extending a level of personal acceptance that speaks right to your heart. People with whom you have personal relationships are more than equipped to talk about you to other people. Some relationships are more closely fused than others. The question is, do you want people from your personal life writing a letter of recommendation for you when you are applying for scholarships? The answer is, quite frankly, no.

Who to Ask
Letters of recommendation express confidence, shared values, and interests from people who occupy a unique place within your field of study. If you were planning on pursuing a degree in Music or the Performing Arts, where would you search for someone who had knowledge of these areas? The first place to look is former Music or Performance Instructors. "But I don't know my Music teacher that well," you say. "How can I ask him/her to write a letter of recommendation for me?" The answer is right in front of you. Start building professional relationships with your teachers. Make an appointment to meet with an instructor and get to know your instructor better. Creating positive, supportive relationships with your teachers works both ways. As you get to know and feel more comfortable with your teachers, they also get to know and appreciate you more. All it takes is a smile, a willingness to ask, and a level of confidence that starts with you.

Do not seek letters from individuals who have no knowledge or expertise in your area of interest. Letters of recommendation express subject-specific assessments. The more specialized your recommender is in a given field, the more favorable an impression the letter provides to the selection committee. Please note that selection committees are looking for how well you have positioned yourself within an academic interest. If you ask for letters from people who are too far outside your area, they do little good.

What to Write
Before you ask for a letter of recommendation, sit down and think about what you want the letter to address. The strategy you use should come from your brainstorming sessions and examples. As mentioned in previous pages, writing the essay is all part of "positioning" yourself for the scholarship. Suggesting to your recommenders what to write is also part of the "positioning" process. Once you have a strategy in place, stick with it. What can your recommender write about that complements the kinds of examples you provided? If you have written about your strengths and how you turned challenges into victories in your essay, how can your recommender reinforce that? Don't be afraid to tell your recommender what to write. You are actually making this an easier and more straightforward task for someone you definitely want to keep in your court. By clearly communicating your intentions and what you need the letter to accomplish, you will gain the respect and encouragement you deserve.

When the Letter is Needed
Along with specific guidelines for what you need the letter to say, give your writer a deadline for when you need to have the letter ready. This is not only necessary for your purposes, it is also professional. Deadlines are part of everyone's life. Without them a lot of important things would not get done. By the same token, do not wait until the last minute to ask for a letter and then expect to receive it in twenty-four hours.

Use Letterhead
Provide your writer with all the necessary letterhead, envelopes, and stamps as a courtesy. Remember this is all about positioning. The selection committee looks for the watermark of an institution on the top of the paper upon which your letter is typed. Plain, 8.5 x 11, bond paper is not acceptable for this task. Letters of recommendation must be typed on institutional letterhead.

Thank you
Last but not least, always send a thank you card to those who wrote letters of recommendation for you. The world of academia consists of many things, but maintaining positive professional relationships is at the top of the list.