Regarding Requests for Letters of Recommendation:
Generally speaking:
students seeking letters of recommendation are advised to ask the two or three faculty members who know their work best--generally faculty members will not write letters for students unless they have had them in several classes. Students should not just assume that faculty members will agree to write a letter. Faculty members may not feel that they know the student's work well enough or they may not feel that they can honestly offer a sufficiently positive recommendation. If a faculty member declines, remember that it is better to have no letter of recommendation than to have a weak letter of recommendation. Where a faculty member does agree to write a letter of recommendation, the student should recognize that it takes time to respond to such requests and should provide the information necessary to ensure a good letter (a list of courses taken, student's background, personal statement, student's other academic activities and interests, etc.). Faculty members may also request copies of papers and exams that the student wrote for their courses, so keep them in a safe place! It is a good idea to provide the faculty member with phone numbers so that they can contact you if they have any questions as they write the letters. Students should provide the necessary forms (remembering to sign them), and clear directions regarding the individual the letters should be addressed to, and where the letters should be sent. While students may ask for either "open" or "confidential" letters of recommendation, they should recognize that the "open" ones are generally dis-valued, and they should respect the confidentiality of the recommendation if they ask for such a letter.
I take such requests very seriously. Only in exceptional cases that I will write a letter for a student I have had in only one class. In order to assess whether or not I can write a good letter for a student, and, thus, whether or not I will consent to write one, I need to know what the letter is to be used for (employment, graduate school, etc.). I retain my comments on student papers, so I will rarely ask for copies of your papers, but I do ask for a copy of your personal statement when I consent to write letters. Students should remember to completely fill out the forms and sign them before they are given to me. If you don't sign the forms, I won't either! I recommend that students request "confidential" letters, but I always send students a copy of the letter I propose to sent out via email, and await a response from the student before sending letters out.
Requests should be made several weeks prior to any deadlines for letters.
File revised on 05/10/2006.