Hi my name is Danine Farquharson and I'm the associate dean of Graduate Studies
at Memorial University. One element of graduate applications that students
worry a lot about is the letters of reference, so let me help. You're putting
together your application packages and have to get two maybe three letters of
reference many students have the same first question, who do I ask for a letter?
The answer is, that you want to ask professors or researchers who know your
work very well. You want to ask people who have taught you more than one class
is ideal or worked with you in an academic setting. You want to ask
professors from classes in which you have received high grades. Basically you
want people who can write about your intellectual achievement and your
potential to succeed in graduate school. The next question, is how best to ask
these people. Bear in mind an important fact here, faculty and researchers are
busy people and they probably want to help you out but you must give them lots
of notice and you must be highly organized. Make the process of writing
you a strong letter easy for them, so let's start with what not to do.
Hi Danine! How are you?" Would you write me some letters for grad school? That
would be awesome because I loved your class. Let me know. Okay? Steve. Right,
please don't do that. Believe me that email is all too common
in tone and style and it will never endear you to the person you're asking
to do something for you. Put simply this message is not professional,
it lacks specifics and it results in the professor having to ask a bunch of
questions that you should have already answered. So here's a much better way to
ask, Hello Professor Farguharson, This is Joanna Smith. I took English 3175 with
you in the fall of 2016 (I earned a final grade of 85 percent). I'm
writing to see if you would be willing and able to support my
graduate school applications with strong letters of reference that attest to my
academic ability and research potential at the graduate level. I'm applying to
four schools and the earliest deadline for the letters of reference is December
22 2017. If you can do this for me, I will follow up with a detailed list of
the schools and the deadlines and how to submit each letter. I look forward to
hearing from you soon, Joanna. This one works so much better
because you introduce yourself and you give important information. Even if you
know the professor really well always be professional. This message also says how
many letters you need, what the deadlines are and the kinds of details you need
included. Now the faculty member can answer quickly with either yes I can do
this for you or I am sorry I'm unable to help. Asking for a strong letter with
deadlines gives them the option of saying no. Most professors will agree
right away, but if something prevents them from writing for you do not take it
personally. You need people who will readily agree for whatever reasons, so
always have backup possibilities. When they agree to write you need to follow
up immediately with a thank you and clear directions. The best way to give
those directions is in a table like this one. This is a tidy list with dates and
how to complete the letters. This also indicates what programs you're applying
to and that's very important for letter writers so they can tailor their letters
to your applications. In your follow-up email with this kind of table I suggest
one more thing. Tell them that you will check in four working days before each
deadline, to make sure all as well and then do it. It's okay to remind your
letter writers, but do it only once. Things can happen to delay letters but
only you were in control of your application package. You need to be the
one to ensure every piece is in place by the graduate schools deadline.
So to recap. Ask early, be professional, be precise and you'll get great letters of
reference.