For foreign students who decided to continue their education in the best schools in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia , it is needed to pay attention to collecting recommendations.
The right choice of recommender will determine the future success of the entire enterprise. Do not choose a person only for the title and achievements: it is necessary that he knows you as a person and a student.
Letter structure:
| Element | English version |
| Contact Information | Adress, city, ST, ZIP, email adress |
| Greeting | Dear, Mrs. Deearie |
| Introduction | It is my pleasure and honor to recommend Maria for ... I have worked with her for 4 years ... I am confident that Maria's exceptional skills and professional experience make her a brilliant student. |
| Achievements
| Maria constantly demonstrated an extensive knowledge of the subject, as well as a superb communication skills. Her extensive knowledge helped to increase the amount of projects completed on-time and within budget by 23%. |
| Characteristic
| Maria's focus and strategic way of thinking always made her a stand-out member. |
| Employment
| Unfortunettely due to her mother's medical condition, Maria had to move out west and we no longer have pleasure of working with her. |
| Conclusion | Maria has my highest recommendations for this position. I have no doubt she will make a strong addition to your team. Please feel free to contact with me if you have any questions regarding her candidacy or past work. |
TOP-5 tips
- Sometimes students write by their own
Often, teachers are asked to write a letter on their own or to make a translation, but representatives of the acceptance distinguish letters written by students from these recommendations of teachers. Issues students:
- Unreasonable praise
- Lack of criticism
- Homogeneous structure
- Typical mistakes in vocabulary, grammar.
- Communication
A short interview with the teacher will tell a lot: interesting cases that revealed talents showed leadership qualities, critical thoughts, and comments. A quality interview will set the stage for writing a good letter.
- Mention strong qualities
The task of writing is to show a living, versatile person: you came with poor knowledge of mathematics, but during painstaking study you became one of the best students. A letter should not schematically reflect achievements; concrete examples from life will prove the strengths more reliable.
- Prospects
Reflect the huge benefit for the student when studying at the university, what he needs to work on. Foreign universities choose students with leadership qualities who can change the world for the better and become the pride of the university.
- No time trouble
Lack of time leads to errors - writing recommendations is no exception: it takes about a month to write. If a teacher writes for you, do not rush him: tell him in detail about the chosen program, university - this will greatly simplify his work. The selection committee wants to see in the recommendation the answers to the following questions:
| How well you know student
| What is most remembered in this students? |
| Distinctive Story | Do you think that this university (to which he / she enters) is suitable for the student? |
| Emphasis on unusual abilities, talents, leadership skills | How exactly will the learning experience at this university help? |
| How does a student interact with teachers? With classmates? Describe his communication skills. | Did the student fail? What did he do to rectify the situation? How does he usually behave in such situations? |
Do not forget to thank the recommender, because he will do a great job.
How to draw up a letter of recommendation?
- The volume of the letter should not exceed two pages
- The font size is 12: it will make the text readable and save space. It is allowed to use the 11th size to place the recommendation on one page
- Fonts: Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, and Garamond. Avoid stylistic fonts
- Margin size - 1 cm / 1.5 cm
- Left alignment.
